Some of the ecological and environmental aspects associated with the famous Bathukamma festival, or Boddemma, as known locally, are on the verge of extinction. Thanks to the recent changes that have kept the focus only on the celebration part of it.

At least some of the freely available flowers that went into the making of the Bathukamma cone and which had a role to play in agriculture have become rare even in the rural confines of Adilabad.

Natural pest controllers

The bright red velvety flower Seethammavari jeda or cockscomb (Celosia cristata), or banthi(marigold), which grew or cultivated as part of main agriculture are examples. While the former grew in patches in every agriculture field year after year, marigold used to be cultivated on the perimeter of the fields, and both were natural pest controllers.

With cultivation of traditional crops vanishing, many of the related traditional activities too are disappearing. Now, farmers are not sparing even an inch of land for growing pest controlling plants. Now the velvety flowers and marigold are cultivated commercially. The latter in extents much larger than that of the red flower which is why its use in making the Boddemma cone is much less. The generation of farmers which understood the environmental importance of the plants is nearly extinct. Ignorance of the tradition and its link to environment among the current generation is widespread.

“Seethammavari jeda gives out pyrethroids which controlled pests in various crops. The plants were once grown in every field in a patch or two, or cultivated in backyards,” recalled former Adilabad Agriculture Officer B. Muralidhar, also a writer who has devoted an entire chapter to traditional Bathukamma festival in the second and updated version of his award winning book, Nirudu Kurisina Kala.

“The colour of the Celosia flowers also attracted pests which sort of relieved the main crop from its attack. Mostly leaf sucking pests used to be controlled by the plant with the brilliant flowers,” he added.