A unique festival, considered the pride of Telangana, Bathukamma is a state festival celebrated by the Hindu women of Telangana. Every year this festival starts on Bhadrapada Amavasya, also known as Mahalaya Amavasya, usually in September–October of Gregorian calendar. Bathukamma is celebrated for nine days during Durga Navratri.

It starts on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya and the 9-day festivities culminate on "Saddula Bathukamma" festival on Ashwayuja Ashtami, popularly known as Durgashtami, which falls two days before Dussehra. This unique festival celebrates the inherent relationship between earth, water and the human beings.
During the entire preceding week, women make ‘boddemma’ (a deity of Gowri, i.e. mother Durga which is made with earthly mud) along with Bathukamma and immerse it in the ponds. This helps reinforce the ponds and helps it retain more water. Boddemma festival marks the ending of Varsha Ruthu whereas Bathukamma festival indicates the start of Sharath Ruthu. Bathukamma is a beautiful flower stack, arranged with different unique seasonal flowers, most of them with medicinal values in seven concentric layers in the shape of temple gopuram.

In Telugu, ‘Bathukamma' means ‘Mother Goddess come Alive’ where Goddess Maha Gauri - ‘the Life Giver’ is worshipped in the form of Bathukamma. On this special occasion women dress up in the traditional sarees, accompanied by traditional jewels and other accessories. The ninth day of Bathukamma, Saddula Bathukamma is celebrated on the eight day of Ashwayuja masam, coinciding with festival of Durgashtami. The offerings made on this day involves five different types of cooked rice dishes like perugannam saddi (curd rice), chinthapandu pulihora saddi (tamarind rice), nimmakaya saddi (lemon rice), kobbara saddi (coconut rice) and nuvvula saddi (sesame rice). The final immersion of Bathukamma is done in lakes and ponds by the faithful in the state of Telangana. Women, during the festival, make small ‘Bathukammas’, and then later immerse them in lakes and ponds. On the final day, immersion of Bathukamma (Bathukamma Visarjan/Nimarjanam) in water bodies is done with utmost devotion while rhythmic drum beats throughout the cities and towns of Telangana.

Gowramma, which is a symbolic idol of Goddess Gowri made of turmeric is separated from the Bathukamma before immersion and married women apply this on their Mangala sutra which marks the solemnization of their marriage, accompanied by a wish that their husbands should be protected from any evils and ill fate. Maleeda, which is a combination of Roti and Jaggery, is prepared on this grand day and distributed at the end of the day, marking the formal end of Bathukamma festivities. This year, the festivities were celebrated on a low-key note and also with mandatory precautions due to Covid-19, but let’s hope for a bright tomorrow, where the grace of the goddess helps us to ward off the threat that has arisen from this pandemic.