Bathukamma is a traditional, colorful , very own Telangana festival, which represents the Telangana culture, it has been successfully celebrated for the third year in a row in Detroit, Michigan and is organized by Detroit Telangana Community. The event had a mega turn around with over 1100 people participating with joy and jubilation. People came from Detroit metro area and even places like Lansing, Jackson and Canada. Starting at 3PM people started slowly trickling in, women in traditional and colorful attire, joyful and cheery children were the centre of attraction at the festival. It was very encouraging to see many non-Telangana families participating with interest and enjoy the colorful festival Bathukamma.
This event was started with Vandematharam sung by Madhumita Sanam, Anchita Sanam, Advaitha and few other women. The elderly visiting from India were very happy to be part of this event even though they were far away from their homes. Mr. Madhusudhan Reddy, a parent visiting from India, explained the importance & history of Bathukamma and how it originated in Telangana.
This year was a tough competition for the Best Bathukamma awards. Three elderly women, who were visiting from India, acted as the judges and picked the winners. First prize was bagged by Anitha Bommanaveni for her 3.5 feet tall Gauramma faced magnificent Bathukamma. Smt. Vasantha Challa bagged the second prize for her 3 feet tall multi-colored Bathukamma. Third prize went to SwarajyaLakshmi for her Tulasi kota shaped Bathukamma. Two other consolation prizes were also awarded.
All the women and children gathered in circles around the Bathukammas made of colourful flowers. As the Women sang "Bathukamma Bathukamma Uyyaalo" and rhythmically clapped for the songs, it was a visual treat to watch the women and girls play. Preeti Challa and Sirisha Sadhu facilitated the Bathukamma aata to go smoothly, which went on for more than 2 hours. There were some women volunteers who sang few Bathukamma songs while others followed them. Few elderly women visiting from India, helped the younger ones in performing Bathukamma pooja rituals in sequence. Later women performed the Nimajjanam (immersion) of the Bathukammas in two makeshift pools, by singing "poyi raavamma Gauramma".
This year the event was marked with memorable cultural programs by several kids and acclaimed dance artists Induvadana Malli and Bala Tripurasundari. Preeti Challa, Sirisha Sadhu and Shailendra Sanam anchored the event and Rajitha Marri, Vidya Gankidi helped them through. The programs included good mix of folk, classical, movie dances and recital of slokas and telugu songs by kids. All the kids who performed were awarded trophies for encouragement. The programs went on for more than 2 hours concluded with Finale dance by all..
This year kids got an opportunity to show their coloring skills. They competed by coloring beautiful pictures of Bathukamma. Gift cards were awarded to the Best colored pictures for different age groups among the kids. Sumptuous dinner with Telangana dishes was served to all attendees catered by Ruchi restaurant.
With many generous donations and active participation from Detroit Telanganites, this event was a mega success. ATG Corporation of Troy, MI was the Grand Sponsor for this event and Blind Care Foundation was a second major sponsor along with other two sponsors, Anandhula group of companies and Sindhu Restaurant from Lansing. Special guest was Brenda Lawrence, Mayor of City of Southfield who even enjoyed playing Bathukamma. The credit for the success of this event goes to many other volunteers of Detroit Telangana Community including Sunil Marri, Ashok Perumandla, Vijay Mareddy, Hari Maroju, Praveen Jonnalagadda, Damoder Gankidi, Ram Reddy, Murali Bommanaveni, Sridhar Bandaru, Raghu Boda, Raju Brahmandhabheri, Jaya Prakash, Laxman, Thiru, Prashanth and Dinesh. The event concluded with a vote of thanks to the organizing committee, the attendees and MIIndia.com for their support in publicizing the Event.
