The nine-day Bathukamma festival, which culminates today, proved to be a costly affair for people this year due to the decline in the availability of flowers, following drought-like conditions.
Though flowers arrived in the market, they were costly and people were forced to shell out huge sums for them.
The traditional Bathukamma is made by arranging flowers in a conical shape by using tangedu (Cassia Auriculata), gunugu (white lettuce), katla, alli, marigold, chrysanthemum, lotus, cucumber etc.
A huge bundle of gunugu flower was priced between Rs. 100 and Rs. 150. Similarly, the tangedu flower, was on the brink of extinction and therefore, its prices shot up. A small bundle of tangedu flower was priced at Rs. 50. Similarly, other flowers were also available at very high rates.
Bharatavva from Mannepalli village in Thimmapur mandal said that the yield of flowers was lesser this season due to drought. Only gunugu flowers were available in good number while tangedu flowers were tough to gather.
“We had to find flowers in the forests to sell them in the market. We hardly got a daily wage of Rs. 500 this season,” she added.
The decline in the arrival of flowers and escalation of prices had become a burden for the people. Narayana Prakash says that earlier he used to spend Rs. 300 for purchasing flowers for making Bathukammas of two different sizes. But this time, he had to spend over Rs. 1,500.
Besides, the women also complained that the conduct of Bathukamma as a State festival had also cast its impact on the celebrations in each household as the flowers were shifted to the State capital.
Women say that the conduct of Bathukamma as a State festival also had an impact on the celebrations in each household as the flowers were shifted to the State capital
