Worshipping flower goddess ‘Bathukamma’, the cultural spirit of Telangana

HYDERABAD: The Telugu community celebrates womanhood by inviting goddess 'Bathukamma,' also known as Goddess Gowri, into their homes for nine days during the Navaratri.

While Gujaratis worship Durga as 'Ambe Maa', the Telugu community worships her as Gowri or Lakshmi. Telugus consider Bathukamma as mother, the giver of life, and source of energy. The Telugu community worships Goddess Gowri during the festival by building conical turmeric mounds called 'gauramma' atop the Bathukamma's flower shrines. It is worth noting that the nine-day Bathukamma celebrations coincide with the nine-night festival of Navaratri, or "nine nights".

The Bathukamma festival is marked by women making flower shrines in honor of Bathukamma as ‘Gauramma’ or ‘Gowri devi’. Bathukamma shrines are surrounded by women singing and dancing, while tales of the goddess are told in a distinctive Telangana dialect.

Special flower baskets, representing Bathukamma, are worshipped for nine days before being immersed in waterbodies on the ninth day.

On the first day, a small Bathukamma is prepared and on the ninth a larger one is prepared, which is decorated with seasonal flowers. On top of the Bathukamma, some people place an idol of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Every day during the Bathukamma festivities, women worship ‘Nava Durga’ or the nine 'avatars' (manifestations) of the goddess, mainly Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.