Flowers, folk songs, and kolatam beats are filling the air at Amberpet Municipal Ground in Hyderabad — and Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy, who also serves as BJP Telangana state president, is making sure everyone knows it. On Saturday, 17 October 2026, Reddy posted about the Bathukamma celebrations in Amberpet, signalling the festival is in full swing.

In his post (translated from Telugu), Reddy wrote: 'Everything is ready for the Amberpet Bathukamma celebrations. A Bathukamma has been set up magnificently at Amberpet Municipal Ground, standing 72 feet tall, to showcase Telangana's culture and traditions. Women are arriving in large numbers to play kolatam and sing songs around the colourful floral Bathukammas, celebrating the festival grandly.' The hashtag #Bathukamma accompanied the post, which included four images from the venue.

What Bathukamma Means to Telangana

Bathukamma is not simply a local fair — it is the heartbeat of Telangana's distinct cultural identity. Celebrated annually by women during the Ashwiyuja month of the Telugu calendar, the festival centres on large, layered floral arrangements — typically built from seasonal wildflowers — around which women gather to dance kolatam and sing traditional songs.

After Telangana's formation as a separate state in 2014, Bathukamma was officially elevated to a state festival alongside Bonalu, a recognition of the region's long-standing demand for cultural acknowledgment. Since then, public Bathukamma installations in urban centres like Hyderabad have grown steadily larger and more elaborate, becoming civic spectacles as much as religious observances.

BJP's Cultural Outreach in Telangana

Political leaders across party lines in Telangana have made Bathukamma participation a fixture of their public calendars — and Kishan Reddy, wearing both his ministerial hat and his state party president's role, is no exception. Amplifying a grassroots cultural moment from a high-profile national platform is a well-worn playbook in Telangana politics, where regional identity has driven electoral outcomes since bifurcation.

The Amberpet event — with its reported 72-foot floral installation at the Municipal Ground — represents the kind of large-scale community spectacle that draws women from across the locality and beyond, turning a neighbourhood celebration into a statement about Telangana pride.

As the kolatam circles widen and the songs rise louder across Hyderabad's neighbourhoods, Bathukamma 2026 is shaping up to be as much a cultural assertion as a celebration — and every leader in the state knows it.