Raksha Bandan(Rakhee) the bond of love
This is my second rakhee festival away from home,but iam too unhappy this time with the services provided by a online rakhi services,i agree that i was a little lazy and i could find time just 4 days before the rakhee festival to order online,but then i guess for an online order thats suffecient.after almost 2 hours of browsing i could find only one safe and secure online store for rakhi which was using paypal.i was happy and content and ordered the rakhi thaali and few chocolates.all went well until i saw few instructions and notes at the end of the homepage of the website saying it cant guarantee the delivery of rakhee on or before the rakhee festival.what a terrible waste of time i thought,but was hoping they will deliver it on time at least.but to my disappointment when i check out with my family today they did not recieve it.first time realising the disadvantage of staying away from home.
bathukamma a telangana festival
Batukammais a spring festival celebrated by women in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. This festival usually is in the months of September/October (Aswiyuja), concludes two days before Dussera on durgashtami.
The name Batukamma is given to a flower mound, arranged with different flowers usually in seven concentric layers of potter’s clay like a cone.
Batuku means live, and Amma means mother, hence Batukamma. Batukamma celebrates the glory of Gauri goddess (meaning fair or white) – the patron Goddess of womanhood.This festival is an all-woman affair. Women celebrate this festival dressed-up traditionally in silk sarees, wear Jewelery and girls in a two-piece saree called as Langa oni, and participate with great fervour.
In the evenings, women gather different kinds of unique seasonal flowers, some coloured, some scented and arrange them on a wide plate called as tambalamu, in the shape of a conical mound.
Women then gather in large numbers along with their batukammas in their locality, place them in the middle and dance around them, synchronizing steps and claps in unison, and singing soul stirring batukamma folk songs.
After the singing and dancing, batukammalu are set afloat in a lake or river.
This festival goes on for seven days and concludes on Durgastami, the main festival day is called Saddula Batukamma. On this day they celebrate into wee hours and later go to a nearby village lake to set their Batukamma afloat. Lakes with floating batukammas in the evenings is a treat to the eyes.
the above details are taken from wikipedia.coming to my memories of this festival , it goes back to my childhood days,i enjoyed participating in this festival like any other girl of telangana region.i observed that the songs sung by elderly,middle aged married woman are not just about the ritual,but they had so much meaning in it.the songs are more of the stories of a common woman,her dreams as a girl,her responsibilities and plights as daughter-in-law and as wife once she is married.and sometimes just describing the beauty of nature.
its really rejoicing to participate in this festival forgetting all the nonsense that is going on in the world,away from the busy routine,forgetting all our sorrows for a moment.
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