MANATELANGANA

Telangana: Name means land of Telugu people, The place where Telungu is spoken is called Tailangana Desha, meaning land of thill. Telangana region has 10 districts: Warangal, Adilabad, Khamman, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Rangareddy, Karimnagar, Nizambad, Medak and Hyderabad. The Krishna and Godavari rivers flow through the region from west to east. 86% of Telangana is Hindu while 12.4% is Muslim and 1.2% is Christain. Hyderabad city has 41% of the total Muslim population. Telangana districts have 8.4% of Muslim population. More than 80% of Telangana people speak the Telangana dialect of Telugu which is primarily Telugu with Urdu influences. About 11% of Telangana people speak Hyderabadi Urdu. Telangana has its own distinctive culture and identity. Most prominent is the Hyderabadi Culture also called Deccan Culture.


Telangana Festivals:

The best of Indian festivals are all celebrated in Telangana.

The art forms of the Telugu people manifest all-year round in the form of dance, drama, music and other performing arts including folk arts. They depict varied expressions of joy, hope, love and sheer zest for life.

Telanganites not only celebrate the main festivals, but also celebrate certain regional festivals like Bonalu in Hyderabad, Batakamma all over Telangana districts, Yedupayala Jatara in Medak, Sammakka Saralamma in Warangal district.


Batakamma:
Batakamma is a special festival celebrated with religious fervour in the Telangana region. Batakamma means ‘immortal woman’. It is a month long festival where Goddess Batakamma’s idol is worshipped and is made to float on the rivers and lakes. Basically, this is a floral festival. It falls on ‘Asvija Shuddha Dasami’ (September -October).This festival is celebrated to glorify womanhood and her celestial place in the family set up. During these days, Goddess ‘Gauri’ the patron Goddess of womanhood is worshipped by all the women folk with utmost devotion and piety.

Batakamma or ‘Parvati’, according to one legend, is a lover of flowers. Flowers are arranged on a square wooden plank or a square bamboo frame with the size of frames tapering off to form a pinnacle on top. They resemble the shape of a temple ‘Gopura’. A lump of turmeric is kept on top of the flowers. This little floral mountain is worshipped as Goddess Batakamma


DGR