City comes alive with riot of colours

Hyderabad: A riot of colours, pomp and pageantry marked the finale of Saddula Bathukamma festival, organised on a grand scale as an official fete here on Thursday.

The festival of flowers acquired a special significance as it was the first Bathukamma festival after the formation of Telangana State. Hundreds of enthusiastic families turned up in large numbers to be part of the festival, the cultural symbol of Telangana, which was officially celebrated by the Telangana government. Thousands of young women and members of self-help groups started trickling in at Lal Bahadur Stadium as early as 8 am to make the floral festival a grand success.

Different varieties of flowers besides green leaves were showcased as colorfully dressed womenfolk assembled to make an impressive array of cone-shaped Bathukammas.The culmination of the festival was as magnificent as one could imagine, with thousands of women carrying Bathukammas decorated using different varieties of flowers. Marigold, Celosia (Gunugu), Hibiscus (Mandara), Nelumbo (Thamara), Cassia (Thangedu), Cucurbita (Gummadi),Crossandra (Kanakambaram) were some of the flowers that were traditionally arranged in the Bathukammas.

Thousands of devotees arrived to witness the festival in all its grandeur where avatars of Kali Mata, Pittala dora, Yakshagana, Pradarsana, Vinyasanam, Dharmangada and many more were seen lighting up the celebrations by outfitting themselves traditionally.

Apart from floral decorations that are stacked in a circle, different types of dances such as Lambada dance, Kommu Koya dance and Kolattam dance were performed. Apart from that, different types of musicians such as Sheri band, Baindla band, Dappulu band and many others were also present from different parts of the State, adding fervor to the festival.

At around 5 pm, the main procession with thousands of people in traditional attire and holding Bathukammas headed to the Rotary Park on Tank Bund for immersion. Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, watched the cultural programmes for over two and half hours.

The cultural programmes included demonstration of tableaus, which were designed by the district administrations of all the 10 districts depicting their historic importance, a spectacular half an hour long laser show and the main Bathukamma event.

The laser show turned out to be the show stopper as the visitors glued to the sky till the completion of the event. The two week long promotional programmes by the state government succeeded in creating hype among the people of the state as thousands of people cutting across caste creed, age and race travelled long distances to reach the Tank Bund and witness the official state festival for the first time. It was an event of pomp and circumstance as there was cheer on the faces of all the visitors.

'Despite my old age I came here to watch the Bathukamma festivities along with my family members. This is my first visit to the Tank Bund. I am completely enamored by the venue and crowd and enjoying every moment here as there is a stream of happiness on the faces of all the people,' said a 60 year old Peddamma.

Her companion Ratnamala also expressed similar feelings. A software professional Kumar, who came to the venue along with his family all the way from Kukatpally was in complete awe of the arrangements made by the state government for the event.

'Such events would not only help us in protecting our rich culture and heritage but also prove to be a vital element for people like me to tell about it to our children. I thank the CM for organizing such a spectacular event by spending huge amount of money,' he said while waving at his young son, who was enjoying every bit of it.

Earlier, the Governor released a book entitled 'Telangana Pushpotsawam' and handed over the first copy to KCR. Similarly, KCR also released the first issue of Telangana Monthly Magazine published by Information and Public Relations Department on the occasion and handed over the first copy to the Governor.

Governor's wife Nimala Narasimhan, CM's wife Shoba Chandrasekhar Rao and Nizamabad MP and Telangana Jagruthi convenor K Kavitha, played Bathukamma along with other women. The event also saw the launch of a teaser (promo) made by GHMC to promote the ensuing international event Metropolis World Congress.

Elaborate arrangements made for the festival included provision of flowers, street lighting, ghats and pandals, transport and other domestic infrastructure that was necessary to make the celebrations a complete success.

A total of 35 tonnes of ten different flowers were provided by the government to the participants. Over 400 Self-Help Groups from across 10 districts participated in the event.

A galaxy of VIPs graced the event. Besides Governor and CM, several Ministers including G Jajadeesh Reddy, T Padma Rao attended the function. Telangana Assembly Speaker Maduhsudhana Chari, Deputy Speaker Padma Devender REddy, Telangana Legislative Council Chairman V Swamy Goud, Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, DGP Anurag Sharma, City Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy and other top bureaucrats of the state government also participated in the event.