6th Oct ‘21: All India Road Trip: Telangana: Warangal
So far:
2 States
Distance Covered: 845 km
Previous stops: Hyderabad, Anantapur, Bengaluru
Next stops: Jagdalpur, Raipur, Amarkantak
We drove to Warangal and visited the 1000 pillar temple built during the Kakatiya Dynasty in the period 1175 – 1244 CE. And we were pleasantly surprised to witness the colourful floral festival of Bathukamma celebrated by women.
In Telugu, ‘Bathukamma’ means ‘Mother Goddess come Alive’ and Goddess Maha Gauri-‘Life Giver’ is worshipped in the form of Bathukamma – the patron goddess of womanhood, Maha Gauri Devi.
It is believed that young woman pray with devotion to the Goddess to get husbands as per their desire and wish soon, while married woman do it for prosperity and good health for their families.
The flowers are carefully arranged row after row, in conical concentric circles, and alternating in colours in a brass plate (called taambalam).As evening approaches the women folk dress colourfully and adorn lot of ornaments and place the Batukamma in their courtyard or temple. The women sing songs and dance by circling it repeatedly, building a beautiful human circle of unity, love, sisterhood.
