Next: 10 to 18 Oct 2026
Bathukamma
The women of Telangana build towers of flowers and circle them each evening, singing and clapping.
What is danced for Bathukamma
Bathukamma is the flower festival of Telangana, kept by women for nine days from the new moon before Navratri. The name means mother goddess, come alive, and it honours the goddess Gauri. Each afternoon women stack seasonal flowers in rings on a plate to make a cone, with marigold, cassia and celosia. In the evening they set the stacks down together in an open place and move round them in a circle. They step sideways, bend and clap in unison, and sing songs passed from mother to daughter. On the last day the flowers are floated on water.
The dances
Also part of it, and being written: Bathukamma (The festival and its ring dance round the flowers.).
Written by the Ghungroo desk with AI assistance. Background: "Bathukamma" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Farandole: Hans Thoma, Public domain, source