Telangana American Telugu Association (T.A.T.A) celebrated it’s 2nd Bathukamma at Swami Narayan Temple, Monmouth Junction in NJ on October 9th 2016.
The event was moved from original venue "BOYD Park" in New Brunswick in the last minute due to inclement weather. T.AT.A team feels very fortunate to find the alternate venue.
The temple was very well decorated with flowers and garlands for the event. With the blessings and presence of various gods and goddesses the festivities began in a grand fashion with more than 1200 participants in attendance with lot of enthusiasm and gaiety.
The festivities started around 12.30 p.m. when Men, Ladies and children started coming in with colorful festive dresses and Bathukammas.
The backdrop of the temple deities, the colorful dresses and very well crafted colorful Bathukammas made the atmosphere even more joyful. People from all over NJ , NY and Philadelphia started to arrive to partake in the festivities and started taking pictures with their favorite Bathukammas that were on display, Lunch was prepared and their culinary skills were displayed by the volunteers of the organization. Sports activities began immediately after the attendees finished enjoying delicious and sumptuous homemade delicacies.
Not everyone was lucky to get in the first round of women’s best Bathukamma’s competition because of the overwhelming number of competitors. The music, ladies, children with colorful sarees and dresses, Bathukammas in the backdrop, delicious homemade food and men socializing with others looked very festive and celebrated like back home, everyone in their respective native villages in Telangana.
Kids enjoyed Mehendi , face painting and several other activities. All the kids had loads of fun playing and dancing to the favorite tunes of music. All the Bathukammas were brought to the middle of the hall in the temple and women formed a circle, started clapping their hands and move in circle singing “Bathukamma , Bathukamma Vuyyalo..” while the songs were being played in the background.
T.A.T.A Ladies team also performed kolatam choreographed by Bindu, this was well received by the audience who cheered them on every step.
Bathukamma is one of the most beautiful festivals which bring women from all sections of society irrespective of their class, caste, creed and it is one of the most unifying festival socially.
After the singing and dancing around Bathukammas, it was time for the prize distribution ceremony. Prizes were given away for the top 3 Bathukammas, organizers had a hard time selecting the best because all of them had their unique element of charm in them.
After the prize distribution ceremony, women started to play kolatam for about 30 mins. This was a big hit among the young ladies and kids who were really energetic singing and dancing to various tunes around the Bathukammas. At one point we had to form many a circle as there were lot of enthusiastic ladies.
Irrespective of their age women participated in all the activities that were held Finally the time has arrived to bid farewell to their Bathukammas. Around 5:00 PM women performed Puja to bid farewell to the Bathukammas. All the Bathukammas were carefully carried to the nearest pool in the temple which was just few steps away from where the festivities were going on.
The procession to the pool looked like a big mela. The pool was so beautiful to see with so many colorful Bathukammas floating and drifting. After this, men and women greeted each other wishing the best for each and every one during this festival time and Prasad was distributed to each and everyone.
T.A.T.A Advisory Council Chairman Dr Pailla Malla Reddy, President Mrs. Jhansi Reddy, Member Mohan Patlolla Advisory counsil member, Mahender Musuku President Elect,Srinivas Anugu EVP, Ramesh Chandra National Coordinator, Santhosh Pathuri Internal Affairs , BOD Ram Reddy Malladi, BOD Suresh Reddy and RVP Dhanraj Seri thanked all the sponsors, organizers, volunteers and especially the families who participated in the event in spite of bad weather and change in venue to make it a grand success.
The event was well attended by dignitaries from other associations, Dr Prem Sagar Reddy ( N.AT.A Advisory Council Chairman), Rajeshwar Reddy Gangasani (N.A.T.A) President Elect and NATA AC ,EC and Rvp’s , Mohan Krishna Mannava (NATS President). Murali Chintalapani TDF and Guru Alampalli TFAS Presdient , Suresh Chatakondu NRIVA BOD.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Mall Reddy garu expressed his happiness to see the festivities in full flow by various T.A.T.A teams all across USA , he also thanked Dr.Prem Sagar Reddy for graciously accepting the invitation to attend this event along with his family. He also thanked all the volunteers who worked so tirelessly to make this event successful. Dr. Prem Sagar Reddy also spoke and expressed his happiness to be part of this wonderful event and thanked T.A.T.A core team for their invitation and hospitality and wished them all the best. He wished everyone a very "Happy, Happy Happy" Bathukamma and Dussehra.
T.A.T.A President Jhansi Reddy grau and President Elect Mahender Musuku also wished everyone and thanked Dr.Prem Sagar Reddy garu for accepting the invitation and attending the event. They also thanked the volunteers especially women team for their hard work and dedication in making the event a very huge success.
This event was led by RVP Dhanraj Seri, Bindu Madiraju TATA Womens chair and Raja Lakshmi Palwai Womens Coordinator NJ with the help from strong ladies team : Saritha Komatireddy, Devi Bandala, Suneetha Kambhaladinne, Neelima Bhonagiri, Varalaxmi Palghat, Saritha Vuppala, Keerthi Reddy, Pallavi Reddy, Saritha Chintawar, Saritha Arjula and Deepthi Mamidi .
This event was definitely not possible without the help from TATA team: Standing Committee Chairs Ravi Peddi, Prudhvi Reddy,Prashanth Vemuganti, , Venkat Mukkamala, Sudheer Miryala, Satya Yalala and Baswaraj Tammaly and Regional Coordinators Srinivas Pathuri, Sateesh Mekala, Srinivas Dhulipala, Prashanth Chintawar, Gangadhar Vuppala, Shyam Bhonagiri, Srinivas Radhakrishna, Ravi Chennam, Vijay Vaidyula and Upender.
T.A.T.A also handed over volunteer certificates to all the children who helped with the event in various capacities.
T.A.T.A team from N.Y, R.V.P Ranjit Kyatham, Usha Mannem , Mallik Reddy and B.O.D from Philadelphia Suresh Reddy Venkannagari also attended the event.
Special thanks to the ladies team on preparing almost all the food.
