The Telangana State government has announced plans to celebrate Bathukamma on the lines of Brazil’s Rio Carnival, aiming to draw international tourists and showcase Telangana’s cultural heritage on a global platform. Bathukamma is the festival of flowers, celebrated before the Dasara festival in Telangana, in which women worship goddess Gowri by placing her on a floral arrangement.

The state will also attempt a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of women. The nine-day festivities will begin on the 21st of this month at the Thousand Pillar Temple in Warangal. State Tourism Minister J Krishna Rao briefed the media in Hyderabad last evening about the details of the celebrations.