WARANGAL/HANAMKONDA: Bathukamma, the festival of flowers, commenced on a vibrant note on Sunday. The nine-day festival begins on Mahalaya Amavasya, also known as Engili Poola Bathukamma. The first day of Bathukamma is celebrated with the Naivedyam prepared of sesame seeds with rice flour. With the festive atmosphere in the air, roads were filled with street vendors selling different kinds of flowers.
Women thronged the main thoroughfare to buy the flowers on Sunday morning. During the nine days of the Bathukamma festival, men and youngsters in rural areas will go to their nurseries or forest areas to pick flowers. The family members will sit together and help each other make Bathukamma, with celosia, cassia, marigold, chrysanthemum, pumpkin plant, and luffa as the main ingredients.
On Sunday evening, women carried plates with beautiful flower decorations adorned with incense sticks. Everyone was trying to look their best in their traditional attire. In the following days, the women will gather in the evening near a temple or their respective designated places to sing and dance, praising Goddess Durga. The Bathukamma celebrations conclude a day before the Dasara festival.
Warangal city police closed the roads leading to historic temples of Padmakshi temple, Thousand Pillar temple, Bhadrakali temple, and others for vehicular traffic; only devotees who were walking on foot were allowed. Meanwhile, the historic Thousand Pillar, Bhadrakali, and Padmakshi temples were decked up for the festival.