A brew of Telangana culture

The recent outburst by chief minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao against those 'insulting' Telangana culture has once again raised a crucial question. What exactly is Telangana culture?
If it was the Kakatiya dynasty's rule that defined the culture of the region between the 11th and 14th centuries with Warangal as their capital and, subsequently the Qutub Shahis and Nizams, who ruled the Hyderabad state, the TRS government has embarked on its own exercise in defining Telangana culture.
Much of the culture of the region has evolved as a result of the environment people lived in. While the Kakatiya rule led to evolution of dance forms such as Perini Sivatandavam, inspired by temple art, the commoners, faced with the challenges of daily life developed traditions of story-telling coupled with problem solution discussions through Oggu Kathalu and Gotralu. The influence of the subsequent rule by the Qutub Shahis and the Nizams made qawallis, ghazals and mushairas the sought-after cultural events in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
In addition to art, an enduring aspect of life in Telangana was resistance to authority, which resulted in long-standing traditions. The Medaram Jatara, that is an integral part of the lives of tribals in Warangal and surrounding districts, celebrates the lives of Sammakka and Sarakka, the tribal mother-daughter duo who stood against the Kakatiya rulers in the 13th century and lost their lives in the battle protesting against collection of taxes during an extended drought. Similarly, the fight against oppression by landlords and the rulers from Hyderabad led to the development of a quick beat folk singing style designed to pep up the listeners.
If there is one aspect that is striking about culture of Telangana, it is the different dialect of Telugu that did away with some of the classical rules of grammar and focused essentially on the ease of communication. "The slang is different," says Goreti Venkanna, a popular folk song writer who is considered an icon of that art form, "but the goal remains the same, which is effective communication." But the portrayal of the language in Tollywood movies as one typically reserved for comedians and crooks, did not sit well with the TRS which channelized the perceived insult to the language during the election campaign and while demanding a separate state.
Festivals such as Bathukamma or Bonalu that were celebrated with much colour and vigour, even if in somewhat restricted areas, have been around for a long time and are important signposts in the progress of each year in the region. In a bid to revive the culture of the state encompassing the festivals, the state government declared Bonalu and Bathukamma as state festivals and recently announced a Rs 10 crore plan to celebrate Bathukamma in a grand style in the state this year.
"It is normal for those in power to patronize cultural aspects they are familiar with. That is the order of the day. And this is precisely what the present TRS leadership is doing," said Syed Rafi, a Telangana filmmaker and director, who is also the secretary general of the Telangana Cinema Chamber of Commerce.
In its efforts to revive the history of the region, the TRS government appears to be pulling various strings in its bid to create a tapestry for Telangana culture. Be it conducting, for the first time, the Independence Day at Golconda Fort, the decisions to include history of the region and the glory of Kakatiyas and lessons about writer Kaloji Narayana Rao among others in school textbooks and promoting festivals that are unique to the region, the TRS government has placed importance in identifying the cultural roots of the new state and in curating a cultural identity for the state and its people.