From Dubai to Vienna, Telugu families abroad keep Bathukamma and Dasara alive

Thousands of kilometres from the lakes and temple courtyards of Telangana, Telugu families in the Gulf, Europe and North America spent the past week stacking flowers, singing Bathukamma songs and gathering for Dasara, as the nine-day floral festival reached its close on Sunday, 18 October.

Dubai: a 16th edition and a packed hall

The biggest gathering reported was in Dubai, where the Emirates Telangana Cultural and Welfare Association (ETCA) marked its 16th Bathukamma celebration on Sunday, 11 October. The event at the Shabab Al Ahli Sports Club drew more than 6,000 Telangana expatriates, the organisers said. Families travelled in from other emirates, and the crowd was so large that some visiting leaders struggled to get into the hall.

Balkonda MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy was the chief guest and lit the inaugural lamp. Korutla MLA Kalvakuntla Sanjay and Dr Emmadi Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, the Consul General of India in Dubai, who took up the post in August, attended as guests of honour. Women built Bathukammas and danced around them in circles. Folk singer Madhu Priya headlined the cultural programme, with Dr Kokila Nagaraju, Matla Thirupath and Anjali Pulinti among the other performers.

One of the evening’s talking points was a handloom piece by Veldi Hari Prasad, a weaver from Sircilla, featuring portraits of members of Dubai’s ruling family in silver thread. The association plans to present it to the ruling family. The gathering also had a political flavour, with slogans calling for BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao’s return to power, while BRS working president K T Rama Rao, who had been advertised as chief guest, did not attend.

Vienna and a second Dubai celebration

In Austria, Telugu Sangam Austria hosted Bathukamma and Dasara celebrations in Vienna on Saturday, 17 October. Women sang traditional Bathukamma songs and danced, children and young people took part in cultural performances, and families shared traditional Telugu food. The organisers said the aim was to keep Telugu culture and traditions alive among the diaspora.

Back in Dubai, the Telangana State Council of the Indian People’s Forum (IPF) held its Bathukamma celebration for the fifth year in a row. Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind, one of the chief guests, assured Indian workers in the Gulf, particularly those from Telangana, that he would stand by them and support efforts to address their problems. IPF national office-bearers Rakesh Boura and Rajiv Ranjan Singh were also among the guests.

United States

In the US, the Telangana People’s Association of Dallas (TPAD) had scheduled a free Bathukamma and Dasara celebration at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, 17 October, and the Telugu Association of Greater Chicago listed its Bathukamma Sambaralu at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, on Sunday, 18 October, according to organisers.

Saddula Bathukamma, the festival’s final and grandest day, is when the largest flower stacks are carried to water and set afloat. Vijayadashami follows on Tuesday, 20 October.

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