Telangana Festivals

Telangana celebrates the Hindu, Muslim and tribal calendars with equal enthusiasm. Two festivals, Bathukamma and Bonalu, are the state's own, and were declared state festivals after Telangana was formed in 2014.

Bathukamma

Bathukamma, "come alive, Mother goddess", is the flower festival of Telangana's women. For nine days in the autumn, ending on Durgashtami before Dasara, women stack seasonal flowers such as tangedu and gunugu into colourful conical towers, gather in circles around them in the evenings to sing Bathukamma songs, and finally float them in lakes and tanks. The last day, Saddula Bathukamma, is the grandest; in Hyderabad thousands of women gather at the Tank Bund on Hussain Sagar.

Bonalu

Bonalu is held in the month of Ashada (June to July) in honour of the goddess Mahankali and her forms such as Yellamma and Pochamma. Women carry pots of rice cooked with milk and jaggery, decorated with neem leaves, turmeric and a lamp, as an offering (bonam) to the goddess. The festival begins at the Jagadamba temple in Golconda Fort and moves on to the Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad and the Lal Darwaza temple in the old city, with Potharajus dancing ahead of the processions.

Sammakka Saralamma Jatara

Held every two years in the month of Magha (around February) at Medaram in Mulugu district, this jatara honours Sammakka and her daughter Saralamma, Koya tribal women who, according to tradition, fought against the Kakatiya rulers' taxes. Over four days, millions of devotees come into the forest to offer jaggery, called bangaram (gold), equal to their own weight. It is one of the largest tribal gatherings in the world.

Nagoba Jatara

The Mesram clan of the Gond tribe holds the Nagoba Jatara at Keslapur in Adilabad district, in the month of Pushya (January to February). Clan elders walk to the Godavari to bring holy water for the serpent god Nagoba, and the fair that follows brings together Gond families from Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated across Telangana for ten days. Hyderabad's best known idol stands at Khairatabad, one of the tallest in the country, and on the last day processions from all over the city carry the idols to be immersed in Hussain Sagar.

Ramzan, Muharram and Milad-un-Nabi

During Ramzan the old city around the Charminar and Mecca Masjid comes alive at night with food stalls selling haleem, and Id prayers draw huge congregations at Mecca Masjid and the Mir Alam Idgah. Muharram is marked in Hyderabad by the Bibi-ka-Alam procession, in which a revered standard is carried on an elephant through the old city to the Musi river. Milad-un-Nabi is celebrated with processions and illuminations.

Other festivals

Makar Sankranti in January is the season of kites, with the sky over Hyderabad full of them and the state government holding an international kite festival. Ugadi, the Telugu New Year in March or April, is welcomed with ugadi pachadi, a chutney of six tastes. Dasara is followed by Alai Balai, a gathering where people embrace and exchange jammi leaves as a sign of friendship. Sri Rama Navami is celebrated with the celestial wedding of Rama and Sita at the Bhadrachalam temple. Diwali, Christmas and Easter, especially at Medak Cathedral, and the Telangana Formation Day on 2 June complete the calendar.