First Philadelphia Bathukamma Festival

First Philadelphia Bathukamma Festival Celebrated in King Of Prussia on October 6th at Valley Creek Park

Philadelphia Telangana NRIs under the banner of Telangana Cultural Association (TCA) celebrated the Bathukamma festival with great jubilation and joy at Valley Creek Park in Malvern. The scenic view of the Valley Creek park and the quietly flowing creek was a perfect setting and it reminded the Telangana villages. It also turned out to be a perfect day - sunny and warm. About 50 people from all over Philadelphia & suburbs participated in the celebrations. Women wore traditional and colorful clothes and brought beautifully decorated bathukammas.

As families started arriving, we started the celebrations with telangana cultural music. The program started with the introductions of all the participants. Lunch was served with different Saddulu, five different rice dishes and various authentic Telangana cuisine brought by the participants.

There were about 10 beautifully decorated Bathukammas and the traditional ceremony started with the Gowri pooja. Later all the ladies formed a big a circle and went around the Bathukkmmas clapping and singing "Bathukkamma Bathukamma Uyyalo Bangaru Bathukamma Uyyalo" . It was a visual treat to see ladies and girls clad in colorful sarees, stepping around rhythmically. Many felt nostalgic about the whole thing; it brought back their childhood memories. Later Bathukammas were immersed in the creek.

There were games for the kids and adults including the best Bathukamma competition. Adults and kids played musical chairs. Men's "musical chairs" was the highlight of the event. Meghana & Venu Bathini family, Neeraja & Sudheer Raju, Manjula & Nagender, Madhavi & Jayander, Soundarya & Ravi and Jamuna & Ravinder Puskur, won the best Bathukamma prizes.

Swamy Savithananda was a special guest for the event. He addressed the gathering and explained about importance meditation and yoga. Some other notable people attended the ceremony included Dr. Jayander, Dr Raghava Reddy, Dr Vijaya Bhaskar.

Special thanks to Jamuna & Ravi Puskur, who came all the way from New jersey to attend the event.

This event was organized with the help of many volunteers who actively participated and made this event a big success. TCA thanks the organizers of the event Sudheer Raju, Subhash Karra, Venu Bathini and Ravi Mayreddy.