After two-year Covid gap, pomp and grandeur mark Bathukamma in Gulf

A celebratory mood is prevailing among the Telangana expatriate community across the Gulf region as Bathukamma festivities are being organized with renewed vigour

Jeddah: A celebratory mood is prevailing among the Telangana expatriate community across the Gulf region as Bathukamma festivities are being organized with renewed vigour as it in the pre-pandemic times. After being a low-profile affair owing to Covid-19 in the last two years, and the volatile job market prior to that, the excitement for elaborate Bathukamma celebrations has been rekindled this year.

The Bathukamma celebrations are being held throughout the ten days of Dasara. Families from Telangana in the Gulf region are more enthusiastic given their time and space constraints in addition to local norms upon gatherings. The floral festival is being celebrated on a grand scale with hundreds of families thronging the venues where programmes are being organized. Various organizations and individual groups in different cities of the gulf have been organizing the festival with full fervor for the last two days.

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The United Arab Emirates is the foremost among the Gulf region in conducting Bathukamma festivities. A grand festival was held by the Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association (GTWCA) at a local stadium on Sunday, with hundreds of families gathering at the stadium.

“It is a celebration that is observed without any barriers of class, caste or creed. Yet, over the last two years, we could not celebrate because people were suffering due to Covid-19,” said Juvvadi Soumya, a resident of Dubai and native of Rajanna Sircilla district.

Telangana Friends Association (TFA) in Abu Dhabi organised Bathukamma celebrations on Saturday, with senior Indian diplomat R. Balaji attending. The Tangidi flowers and Saddula pindi were exclusively brought from India, according to A. Pavani of TFA.

Dubai-based Indian Peoples Forum (IPF) also held a grand celebration at Ajman under leadership of K. Mahinder Reddy that recorded an impressive footfall. In Qatar, the floral festival became a grandeur affair that witnessed a huge crowd. Indian Ambassador Dr. Deepak Mittal formally inaugurated the Bathukamma festival organized by Telangana Jagruthi.
“The attendance was more than our expectation,” said Abbagoni Nandini, President of Telangana Jagruthi.

In the Oman capital of Muscat, some hundreds of women thronged the venue to attend Bathukamma organized by the Indian Social Club’s Telangana Wing. In Kuwait, Telangana Chaitanya Sravanthi organized the event in which several families participated. In Saudi Arabia, Jeddah Telugu Mitrulu (JTM) organized the event in the port city where mostly young couples participated.

In Bahrain, Telugu Kala Samithi held a grand event on Sunday and another one by Telangana Jagruti is scheduled to be held on Monday.