Saturday 17 September 2011
bathukamma a telangana festival
Batukammais a spring festival celebrated by women in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. This festival usually is in the months of September/October (Aswiyuja), concludes two days before Dussera on durgashtami.
The name Batukamma is given to a flower mound, arranged with different flowers usually in seven concentric layers of potter’s clay like a cone.
Batuku means live, and Amma means mother, hence Batukamma. Batukamma celebrates the glory of Gauri goddess (meaning fair or white) – the patron Goddess of womanhood.This festival is an all-woman affair. Women celebrate this festival dressed-up traditionally in silk sarees, wear Jewelery and girls in a two-piece saree called as Langa oni, and participate with great fervour.
In the evenings, women gather different kinds of unique seasonal flowers, some coloured, some scented and arrange them on a wide plate called as tambalamu, in the shape of a conical mound.
Women then gather in large numbers along with their batukammas in their locality, place them in the middle and dance around them, synchronizing steps and claps in unison, and singing soul stirring batukamma folk songs.
After the singing and dancing, batukammalu are set afloat in a lake or river.
This festival goes on for seven days and concludes on Durgastami, the main festival day is called Saddula Batukamma. On this day they celebrate into wee hours and later go to a nearby village lake to set their Batukamma afloat. Lakes with floating batukammas in the evenings is a treat to the eyes.
the above details are taken from wikipedia.coming to my memories of this festival , it goes back to my childhood days,i enjoyed participating in this festival like any other girl of telangana region.i observed that the songs sung by elderly,middle aged married woman are not just about the ritual,but they had so much meaning in it.the songs are more of the stories of a common woman,her dreams as a girl,her responsibilities and plights as daughter-in-law and as wife once she is married.and sometimes just describing the beauty of nature.
its really rejoicing to participate in this festival forgetting all the nonsense that is going on in the world,away from the busy routine,forgetting all our sorrows for a moment.
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