The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, screened a show to celebrate Telangana's Bathukamma festival on October 23, Saturday night. The screening featured the map of India, map of Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and Bathukamma flowers, with the specially composed song 'Allipoola Vennela' playing in the background highlighting the heritage of India and Telangana. The slogans of Jai Hind, Jai Telangana, and Jai KCR were also displayed on the Burj screen. Telangana Legislative Council member Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who heads the cultural organisation Telangana Jagruthi, and other leaders from the state were present at Burj Khalifa to witness the show. The folk festival celebrations were screened from 9.40 pm IST.
The show was live across various platforms around the globe. Telangana Jagruthi made arrangements to play a documentary on Bathukamma on the big screen for invited delegates and separately for local residents. This year, the organisation launched a Bathukamma song ‘Allipoola Vennela’, composed by AR Rahman and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The song has been sung by Uthara Unnikrishnan, written by Mittapalli Surender, and choreographed by National Award winner Brinda. The song video shows a family visiting Telangana for Bathukamma and was shot in various districts in the state. It also received criticism from a few quarters for lacking the characteristics of folk music and the Telangana dialect.
Photos from the #Bathukamma celebrations in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa was lit up to celebrate the #Telangana floral festival. pic.twitter.com/9YgH8bhvcV
— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) October 23, 2021
Bathukamma, a colourful floral annual festival considered a symbol of Telangana culture, was celebrated from October 6 to 14 this year. During the nine-day festival, women and girls sing and dance around specially arranged flowers. At the end of the festival, they immerse the specially arranged flowers called Bathukamma in local ponds. Ever since the formation of Telangana state in 2014, Bathukamma has been celebrated as the state festival by the TRS government. Telangana Jagruthi is a cultural and literary organisation that was formed during the statehood movement for Telangana.