Celebrating Bathukamma

Bathukamma means “Mother Goddess come alive” and the floral festival, celebrated predominantly in the Indian state of Telangana, is symbolic of the beauty and eternal glory of Goddess Gauri, the patron of womanhood. Heather Li (CFA’25) (from left), Caitlyn Alysha Aryanto (Questrom’25), and Anvita Reddy (ENG’25) are building a Bathukamma, a flower stack made on the ninth day of Bathukamma, arranged with different seasonal flowers in seven concentric layers in the shape of a gopuram, or temple tower. Reddy is from Telangana and says she likes to follow the traditions because people don’t observe the festival as much as they used to. (Rhett seems unfazed by their project.) Photo by Cydney Scott