ST LOUIS: Bathukamma, a unique Telangana festival of flowers, was celebrated with great enthusiasm by local Saint Louis Telugu community on Sunday October 5 at Castlewood State Park in St Louis.
It is a floral festival celebrated by the Hindu women before Dussehra in the Telangana region. To celebrate the event, women prepare colorful Bathukammas in an impressive array of patterns using various colorful flowers as the embodiment of Gauri, the goddess of womanhood. Later they sing songs and dance together to seek the blessings from the divine mother for good health, prosperity and happiness for their families.
The event, organized by newly formed Bathukamma volunteers, began around noon with the women arriving in the colorful traditional sarees carrying the gorgeous Bathukammas. After the wide variety of tasteful lunch, the occasion warmed up with kid games while the women gathered and placed their Bathukammas together and offered Puja.
Later, all women formed a big circle around the Bathukammas and danced with various Bathukamma songs, synchronizing steps and claps, providing a splendorous look to the festivities.
In the evening the Bathukammas were set afloat in the Meramic River with a warm and cheerful send off. Volunteers thanked everyone for their participation and for making the event a grand success.
Ashwin Patel
