The way the Telangana government sought to showcase Bathukamma festival in a big way for the sake of world records and show put-up, rather than celebrating its spirit came in for some sharp criticism from the people of Telangana in social media.
The government spent crores of rupees on officially celebrating Bathukamma festival in a grand manner and invited authorities of Guinness Book of World Records to see that the large sized Bathukamma would get into the records book. But the heavy downpour that lashed different parts of the city played spoilsport for the thousands of women who had gathered to participate in the event at L B Stadium.
All the money spent on the event has gone down the drain, as heaps of flowers worth lakhs of rupees got drenched and became rotten due to heavy rains. Yet, the officials said they would conduct the event again in a week or two by spending huge money, which surprised netizens.
“It is a sheer waste of money. Bathukamma is a natural floral festival in the villages. It doesn’t need any publicity or records. One can understand the festival was celebrated officially for the first time in 2014 because of the Telangana state formation. But there is no need to waste money on it every year. Let the people celebrate the festival in their own way, rather than making it a public show,” a netizen argued.
The people are also critical of the government for reducing the rural festival into an urban show.
“Worse, even clubs, pubs and private organisations have started organising Bathukamma festivals. Instead of effective rural songs, these urban woman have started playing dandias and even recording dances in the name of Bathukamma,” another woman lamented.
