The Festival of Flowers, Bathukamma Festival, is celebrated mainly in Telangana and some parts of Andhra Pradesh. As per the Sathavahana calendar, every year, Bathukamma is celebrated for nine days, from Bhadrapada Pournami to Durgashtami. Women will wear traditional sarees, perform pooja for Goddess Gauri/Lakshmi, sing Bathukamma DJ songs, and dance in the evenings. This festival usually comes between September and October in the English calendar.
This festival starts on Mahalaya Amavasya and ends on Ashwayuja Navami, two days before Dussehra. With this festival, Sharath Ruthu starts, and Varsha Ruthu ends. This festival stands in for the cultural spirit of Telangana.
Bathukamma means “festival of life” and celebrates to thank Goddess Parvathi, worshipped as Gauri Devi, for her blessings for the harvest income and asked to grow crops next year. It is a beautiful flower stack arranged with different and unique flowers of medicinal value in seven layers with a temple gopuram shape.
Bathukamma meaning is Bathuku means life, and Amma means Mother. Women of Telangana state celebrate this festival of flowers to felicitate themselves. Al, the women and Teenage girls will dress traditionally in beautiful sarees, half sarees, ghagra choli, jewellery, and other accessories. Brothers of the house bring flowers for sisters and mothers to prepare Bathukamma.
| Festival Name | Bathukamma |
| Type | Floral Festival of Gauri |
| Celebrations | 9 Days |
| Observances | Telangana |
| Begins | Pitru Amavasya |
| Frequency | Yearly once |
Bathukamma Flowers
Contents
- 0.1 Bathukamma Flowers
- 0.2 Types of Names of Bathukamma Festival
- 0.3 9 days Naivedyam Bathukamma festival
- 1 What is the story behind why the Bathukamma festival is celebrated?
- 2 Making of Bathukamma
- 3 How do Women Celebrate the Bathukamma Festival?
- 4 Bathukamma Festival DJ Songs
- 5 Why do we celebrate the Bathukamma festival?
- 6 In which state Bathukamma festival was celebrated?
- 7 Which is the Telangana state festival?
- 8 What is the name of the first day of Bathukamma?
- 9 When was the Bathukamma festival declared as a state festival?
Flowers Used for Bathukamma are wild plains-like
- Celosia
- Senna
- Marigold
- Chrysanthemum
- Indian Lotus
- Cucurbita leaves & flowers
- Cucumis Sativus leaves & flowers
- Memecylon edule
- Tridax procumbens
- Trachyspermum Ammi
- Katla
- Teku Flowers
All these flowers bloom in different colours and uncultivated and barren lands. The most abundant flowers are ‘gunuka’ (or ‘gunugu’) and ‘tangedu’. There are other flowers like the ‘banti’, ‘chamanti’, ‘nandi-vardhanam’ etc.
Types of Names of Bathukamma Festival
As Bathukamma is celebrated for nine days, there are nine types of Bathukamma.
- Angili pula Bathukamma
- Attukula Bathukamma
- Muddappappu Bathukamma
- Nanbiyyam Bathukamma
- Atla Bathukamma
- Aligina Bathukamma (alaka Bathukamma)
- Vepakayala Bathukamma
- Venna muddala Bathukamma
- Saddula Bathukamma or Pedda Bathukamma
9 days Naivedyam Bathukamma festival
Every day offers naivedyam, which is different daily.
- First day: Sesame seeds mixed with rice flour or coarsely ground wet rice.
- Second day: Boiled lentils, flattened and parboiled rice, and jaggery.
- Third day: Boiled lentils, jaggery, and milk.
- Fourth day: Wet rice, jaggery, and milk.
- Fifth day: Dosa or wheat pancakes
- Sixth day: No food offering.
- Seventh day: Deep-fried rice flour cakes shaped like the fruits of the neem tree
- Eighth day: Sesame seeds, jaggery, butter/ghee.
- Ninth day: Five types of cooked rice, such as curd rice, tamarind rice, sesame rice, coconut rice, and lemon rice.
What is the story behind why the Bathukamma festival is celebrated?
In the Chola dynasty, King Dharmangada and his wife Satyavati had a hundred sons and died in a war. The king and queen started praying to Goddess Lakshmi, pleading to be born as their daughter. Goddess Lakshmi was impressed with the dedication and was accepted as Princess Lakshmi.
As a baby goddess, Lakshmi survived many accidents and incidents in life. So their parents named her Bathukamma, and all the sages also blessed her as Bathuku Amma. This festival is primarily for young girls. They worship Goddess Gauri to get their desired husband.
In another story about Goddess Gauri, after killing Mahishasura, the demon, she went to sleep on the “Ashwayuja Padyami” after tiredness. To wake up the Goddess, the devotees kept chanting. After ten days, on Dasami, the Goddess Gauri woke up.
Meaning of Bathukamma
It means “Mother Goddess come to life”. Bathukamma represents the culture and identity of the people of Telangana and involves the worship of Maha Gauri – “Life Giver” in the form of Gauri Devi (patron goddess of womanhood).
Bathukamma festival celebration
It is for Nine Days. Boddemma follows the festival; it is celebrated two days before the Bhadrapada Amavasya and marks the end of Varsha Ruthuvu, which is the rainy season.
Making of Bathukamma
Women effectively make Bathukamma by arranging flowers. First, take a round steel, brass, or copper plate with a fine edge used as the foundation for Bathukamma. Make a plate with leaves and place it on it as a covering.
Arrange all the flowers in a conical shape in layers by flowers round, a hollow form of Bathukamma. Fill the space with the remaining flakes of flowers. On top of the Bathukamma, a pumpkin flower is placed.
How do Women Celebrate the Bathukamma Festival?
Women start the festival on Mahalaya Amavasya by preparing Angili pula Bathukamma with different flowers. They worship Goddess Gauri by making a turmeric idol on the top of Bathukamma and singing and dancing to Bathukamma songs.
Afterwards, the women carry Bathukamma on their heads and immerse it in the nearby ponds or lakes before sunset. Before engaging, they take the turmeric idol of the Goddess called Gouramma on top of it.
Last day of the Bathukamma festival
It is celebrated on Ashwayuja Ashtami Tithi. The day is called Durgashtami. Dussehra is celebrated on the second day after Durgashtami, i.e., on Ashwayuja Dashami (The tenth day in Ashwayuja month), called Vijaya Dashami or Dasara.
When is the festival Bathukamma 2024?
It is celebrated during September and October in the latter half of the monsoon. And the nine-day celebration of this festival looks more beautiful. It is celebrated from the Tue, 1 Oct, 2024 – Wed, 9 Oct, 2024.
How to perform Ritual?
Young girls gather around in large numbers in their areas in the evening. They form a circle and perform the Ritual, which involves them singing a folk song and revolving around the Bathukamma while clapping their hands and walking in synchronized steps. This entire performance invokes the Goddess’s blessings for good health and prosperity for their families.
App Download
You can download it from the Google Play Store.
Bathukamma Patalu
Some of the Bathukamma Patalu are:
Bathukamma Festival DJ Songs
Some of the famous Bathukamma DJ songs are
FAQs
Why do we celebrate the Bathukamma festival?
Bathukamma meant “festival of life” and was celebrated to thank Goddess Parvati for her blessings for the crop harvest and income she helped generate this (current) year and again ask her blessing for the next year.
In which state Bathukamma festival was celebrated?
Telangana.
Which is the Telangana state festival?
Bathukamma.
What is the name of the first day of Bathukamma?
Engili Pula Bathukamma.
When was the Bathukamma festival declared as a state festival?
2014.