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Bathukamma in Hyderabad
Women circle towers of flowers, singing, then set them afloat at dusk
For nine evenings Telangana's women stack seasonal wildflowers into a cone, circle it singing, and float it on water, and on the ninth evening the city brings its Bathukammas to Tank Bund and the Hussain Sagar.
Where to watch
Tank Bund and NTR Marg: the state's Saddula Bathukamma evening, with the procession finish, performances, a laser show and fireworks (in 2024 the procession left the Martyrs' Memorial at 16:00 and the main programme ran 17:30–19:30). Free and open; decorated Bathukammas also stand at about 150 junctions across the city.
Hussain Sagar shore at Necklace Road: the immersion, at designated points on Necklace Road and near the children's park at Tank Bund.
LB Stadium: set-piece events of the state programme in some years. Venues shift: in 2025 the record attempt moved to Saroornagar Stadium, where a Bathukamma about 63 ft (19 m) high was built from some seven tonnes of flowers.
Neighbourhood courtyards: the festival's everyday form on all nine evenings, in the open ground and courtyards of residential colonies. Nothing is ticketed or scheduled centrally.
Free viewing
- Tank Bund itself, on the lake side, for the procession arrival and the immersion
- NTR Marg, which fills with families carrying Bathukammas down to the water
- Necklace Road near the designated immersion point
- People's Plaza, used for the Best Bathukamma display in the state programme
- Any residential colony courtyard on the earlier evenings, which is where the singing is unamplified
Programme
Day 1: Engili Pula
The first stack is built and the first offering, sesame with rice flour, is made.
courtyards and streets across Telangana
Days 2–8
A named day with its own food offering each evening: Atkula (flattened rice and jaggery), Muddapappu (lentils and milk), Nanabiyyam (wet rice and jaggery), Atla (pancakes), Aligina (no offering), Vepakayala (rice flour shaped like neem fruits and deep-fried), Vennamuddala (sesame and butter). Women build the flower stack in seven concentric rings shaped like a gopuram (celosia, marigold, chrysanthemum), set it down in the street, and circle it singing.
streets and courtyards, and the Tank Bund in Hyderabad
Vennela Muddala Bathukamma: a courtyard evening
In colony courtyards women set the day's Bathukamma down on the ground, form a ring around it, clap in rhythm and sing. At the end of the evening the stack is carried to the nearest water and floated, and maleeda or the day's offering is shared out.
Residential courtyards across Hyderabad; the older colonies and the Telangana districts keep the fullest form
Saddula Bathukamma: building the stack at home
The tallest Bathukamma of the nine is built: flowers are laid row on row in a brass plate called a taambalam, in concentric rings of alternating colour, rising into a cone like a temple tower. Gunugu (celosia) and tangedu (cassia/senna) are the two wildflowers the stack is built on, with banti, chamanti and nandivardhanam among the rest.
Homes across the city
Saddula Bathukamma: the procession to Tank Bund
The state procession sets off: in the 2024 programme about 10,000 women carrying Bathukammas walked from the Amar Veerula Smaraka (Martyrs Memorial) to Tank Bund, with cultural troupes along the way.
Martyrs Memorial to Tank Bund
Saddula Bathukamma at Tank Bund
The main Tank Bund event: performances, a laser show off the Buddha statue and Sanjeevaiah Park, and fireworks.
Tank Bund, Hyderabad
Saddula Bathukamma: immersion in Hussain Sagar
Immersion. Arrangements for floating the Bathukammas are made at Necklace Road and near the children's park at Tank Bund.
Hussain Sagar, at Necklace Road and Tank Bund