Bayarea Bathukamma Festival

TDF Bayarea chapter celebrated auspicious “Bathukamma” festival in a unique way at Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont, California on Oct 4th, 2008. Over 500 guests gathered from various parts of Bay area to reinvent their cultural identity of this unique festival of Telangana. The gathering was more than expected, though it rained the night prior to the event, the weather turned favorable, sunny and perfect for the picnic by mid-day. Guests brought several colorful Bathukammas  and park was filled with people in traditional attire while playing melodious “Bathukamma” songs in the background. 

The event started with self introductions among the women gathered, that helped breaking the ice. An article explaining the significance of “Bathukamma” festival was read by two girls Meghna Dropathi and Manisha Vuppala. Women in colorful silk “Saris” and traditional Indian dresses started playing Bathukamma after lunch, forming a huge circle. The size of the circle surprised the onlookers and participants. They were extremely enthusiastic, and enjoyed in singing and dancing around beautiful Bathukammas for more than an hour, while men took care of their children. It was a rare experience for most of the women and girls living away from home country. It was a first time experience for some. The elders visiting from Telangana really appreciated the gaiety of the event surpassing the festivities back home. It was fascinating for non-Telanganites including visitors of the park, seeing women in traditional attire moving around colorful Bathukammas singing and dancing. Bathukammas were immersed by singing traditional “Bathukamma” immersion song. Mrs. Kavitha Vuppala won the prize for the best “Bathukamma”.

Various games were conducted after women completed playing “Bathukamma”. Games included running for girls and boys of different age groups, spoon and marble for women, volleyball and running for men etc. Women enjoyed very much participating in spoon & marble game and men enjoyed playing volleyball and participated in running competition. It was very exciting for all of them. Prizes were distributed to the winners at the end of each game. Every child participated in the games was presented with a complimentary gift. Children were very excited to receive the prizes and lived in the moment. Raffle was also one of the exciting parts of the event, won by a little girl, presented with a grand gift at the end of the event. 

This event would not have been so successful without the generous sponsoroship from our Bayarea restaurants; “Masala Grill”, “Dosa Place”, “Udupi Palace” and “The Mynt”. The food was delicious and highly appreciated by everyone. Some of the guests also brought their favorite dishes to share with others. Thanks to Mrs. Prabha Duneja of “Gita Society” for sponsoring the Holy Bhagavad-Gita books and CDs. Special thanks to Dr. Gopal Reddy Gade for his generous monitory contribution and support for this Bathukamma event. He is one of the key persons for successfully conducting this event under TDF banner.

This event would not have been successful without countless hours spent on planning and execution by a cohesive, dedicated and hard working TDF-USA Bay area chapter volunteer team comprising of; Alwal Putta, Baswaraju Vuppala, Jagan Bearelly, Raja Reddy Kappera, Rajesh Reddy Vattipelli, Somashekar Kancharla, Srikanth Mothkupally and Srinath Muskula. Thanks to Mrs Rama Kappera, Mrs Shailaja Bearelly, Deepak Chigullapalli, LVN Reddy and Ganesh Chiruvuri for the co-coordination at the event, and to Chandra Ananthuni for volunteering to take pictures with his creative photography skills. Thanks to our young volunteer Manisha Vuppala for anchoring the sports events.

Thanks to all of our guests for active participation and inviting their friends and relatives to the event. We look forward to many more TDF events in future, one such near future events is coming on 25th October 2008 @2.00 PM, Bathukamma movie Bayarea premiere at Park Theaters in Fremont, CA.

We are looking forward to have much grandeur Bathukamma celebrations next year.