The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Savouring Telangana flavour in the US

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Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Savouring Telangana flavour in the US

Ravi Reddy

The Telangana festival ‘Bathukamma’ was celebrated recently in San Francisco by a group of NRIs

Rooted: NRIs celebrating ‘Bathukamma’ in San Francisco

HYDERABAD: It was an event hundreds of Telugu families from Telangana, who have made America their home, will remember for long. Dozens of Telugu women dressed in traditional silks, brought ‘Bathukammas’ to Lake Elizabeth Park, Bay Area, San Francisco in California, where the typical Telangana festival was organised on Sunday.

Eye-pleasing floral arrangements on plates, with turmeric on top, were placed on the ground. Women formed circles, clapped and sang ‘Bathukamma, bathukamma uyyalo, bangaru bathkamma uyyalo’, while moving around them. The three-day celebrations culminated in the immersion of ‘Bathkammas’ in the lake. During the festivities, Telangana delicacies were served to the gathering and it was a gourmet’s delightsaid Buchanna Gajula, president, Telangana Cultural Association (TCA), Bay Area.

“The first Bathukamma began in the afternoon and women split into groups, taking turns to dance and sing,” he said, adding that men enjoyed kite-flying with kids. “Telangana games like marble spoon and musical chairs for women, kept the gathering busy.”

Rendition of ‘Ramayana’ in Telangana dialect by Dilip Kondiparthy, TCA vice-president, drew applause, while the ‘Jaya Jaya Telangana Janani’ sung by Arshad Hussain, another vice-president, had the crowd joining in chorus. The park echoed with slogans of ‘Jai Telangana’.

A “peerla panduga” was also organised.

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