Kansas City Telangana Cultural AssociationVerified
Na Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena
Telangana Association · Overland Park, KS · Since 2015
- 2015Formed
- 20th annualBathukamma 2026
- Free, dinner includedFestival entry
- $75 single · $100 familyLife membership
Plan a visit
Next up: Bathukamma
Saturday, October 17, 2026 · time to be announced (the last two ran 3–9 PM)
Venue to be announced
The 20th annual Bathukamma & Dussehra Sambaralu — flower stacks, Gowramma pooja, kolaatam and live folk songs, then a free dinner. Free entry, everyone welcome; wear a saree if you have one and bring your Bathukamma. Their events page carries the flyer and a PayNow link for sponsors.
Directions open Google Maps for Kansas City Telangana Cultural Association's Venue to be announced.
Coming up1
Bathukamma & Dussehra Sambaralu — 20th annual
Sat · Saturday · time to be announced · Venue to be announced
Free entry and free dinner; all are invited. The flyer is a save-the-date — check their events page for the venue as October nears.
Details & tickets ↗
Programs8
Bathukamma & Dussehra Sambaralu
Everyone — the whole familyOne Saturday in late September or October · 3–9 PM in 2024 and 2025 · A school auditorium in Overland Park (Blue Valley Academy in 2025, Lakewood Middle School in 2024) · Free entry · free dinner
The flagship. Telangana's flower festival, done the way it is done back home: Jammi Chettu and Gowramma pooja, Bathukamma aata-paatalu (the circle songs and games), kolaatam stick-dance to live traditional Bathukamma songs, and the nimarjanam at the end when the flower stacks are sent off. A folk playback singer headlines — Rela Ravi in 2024, Janardhan Pannela in 2025 — with raffle prizes and Bathukamma prizes for the best stacks. 2026 is billed as the 20th annual, on October 17.
Details on their site ↗Bonalu & Chetla Kinda Vantalu
EveryoneA Sunday afternoon in July or August · outdoors · Heritage Park, 16050 S Pflumm Rd, Olathe (Shelter 7 in 2025, Shelter 9 in 2026) · Free · prasadam served
Bonalu offerings to Goddess Mahakali under the trees — a bonam procession, the Potharaju dance, cultural programs, then prasadam for all. KCTCA pairs it with Chetla Kinda Vantalu, the Telangana tradition of cooking and eating together under the trees, and calls the afternoon a blend of faith, gratitude and community. The 2026 edition ran August 2, 4–8 PM, with the procession from 4:45 PM and cultural programs from 5:30 PM.
Details on their site ↗Celebration of SHE
Performers of any age · vendors · sponsorsA women-centred showcase KCTCA is building on its events page: an open enrollment form for performers in singing, art and painting, dressing competition, essay writing, dance, comedy, musical instruments and special talents; a vendor-booth registration on the Donate page; and sponsorship tiers of Gold $500, Diamond $750, Platinum $1,000 and VIP $2,000. No date or venue is published yet — enroll and watch the events page.
Details on their site ↗Telangana Formation Day
EveryoneJune
Marks the birth of Telangana state. On KCTCA's events list since at least 2020 (June 5 that year, celebrated virtually during the pandemic, alongside Telangana Nite). The site carries no 2026 date — check their events page or Facebook in late May.
Membership
18+ residents of Kansas per the by-laws · family = you, spouse and kids 17 and under$10 single / $25 family a year · $75 single / $100 family for life
Join online through the membership levels page — pick a level and pay at checkout. Annual memberships run the calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and expire after a year; life memberships never expire. A single membership is one vote at the general body; a family membership is two, one each for member and spouse. Members in good standing before April 30 vote in that year's election of officers. Dues are non-refundable and non-transferable; single-to-family conversion is by paying the difference.
Details on their site ↗Volunteering
Anyone, any backgroundEvery festival runs on volunteers — food, decoration, logistics, hospitality, program, outreach, youth outreach are all committee names on the executive team page. Sign up through their Google form (it carries the volunteer rules); the home page keeps a public roll of honored members, unconditional volunteers and supporters.
Details on their site ↗Weavers Support — Chenetha sarees
Anyone who wants a handloom saree, or to helpKCTCA's give-back program for Telangana's handloom weavers: promote modern Chenetha sarees, dress materials and furnishings — Pochampally ikat, Gadwal, Narayanpet, Warangal durries, Karimnagar bedsheets — so the weaving families keep their craft, with sale proceeds directed to disadvantaged women. They work with weavers across the state; email to buy handloom sarees directly from the weavers or to join the program.
Details on their site ↗Giving back to Telangana
Their stated objectives include adopting villages (a first goal of ten, focused on primary education), health awareness, immunization and treatment camps in rural and tribal areas, first-aid and medical-emergency help, and sessions that prepare students in Telangana to study and work abroad. The gallery documents a Kandhibanam school project (2022 photos). Donations go through PayPal on the Donate page.
Details on their site ↗
About Kansas City Telangana Cultural Association
Formed in 2015 by Kansas City's Telangana families because the metro's Telugu organizations carried no Telangana-specific culture — Bathukamma and Bonalu at Heritage Park and Overland Park schools, free and open to all, plus Chenetha weaver support and village, school and health projects back in Telangana. Volunteer-run by an executive committee and a board of trustees; works alongside, not against, the other Telugu organizations.
Kansas City Telangana Cultural Association was formed in 2015 and incorporated as a not-for-profit in Kansas by Telangana families of the Kansas City metro. The reason, in their own words: the metro already had Telugu organizations, but nothing carried the region-specific culture of Telangana — Bathukamma, Bonalu, the food cooked under the trees, the folk songs — and nothing passed it to children growing up here. KCTCA is careful to say it is not a rival to the existing Telugu organizations in Kansas and Missouri; it collaborates with them, and in 2019 it was serving Banthi Bojanam lunch and dinner at the Hindu Temple's Sita Rama Kalyanam.
What that looks like on a Saturday in autumn: a school auditorium in Overland Park dressed as a Kakatiya Kala Thoranam, lit KCTCA marquee letters on the stage, a Bathukamma of marigolds and celosia taller than a person, women in sarees carrying the flower stacks in for the songs, a folk singer flown in from Telangana, and a free dinner for everyone who walks through the door. Bonalu in summer moves outdoors to a Heritage Park shelter in Olathe, with a bonam procession and prasadam under the trees. Both are free and open to all — you do not have to be from Telangana, or a member, to come.
Behind the festivals is the second half of the mission: give back to Telangana. The association promotes Chenetha handloom sarees so weaving families keep their craft, has documented a school project at Kandhibanam, and lists village adoption, rural health camps and study-abroad guidance among its objectives. It is run entirely by volunteers — an executive committee elected each year and a board of trustees that guards the nonprofit status (Tax ID 47-4293998) — and it invites anyone who shares the culture to join hands: "Na Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena."
The festival year
Two anchors, both free, plus the events they are building around them:
- Bonalu & Chetla Kinda Vantalu — a Sunday afternoon in July or August at Heritage Park, Olathe: bonam procession, Potharaju dance, cultural programs, prasadam
- Bathukamma & Dussehra Sambaralu — a Saturday evening in late September or October in an Overland Park school: Gowramma pooja, aata-paatalu, kolaatam, live folk singer, nimarjanam, dinner
- Telangana Formation Day — June; on their calendar since 2020, no 2026 date published
- Celebration of SHE — performer enrollment and sponsorships open on the events page; date to come
- Earlier years also carried an International Women's Day event (2018), a Kuchipudi dance drama Rukmini Kalyanam (2019), Balala Sambaralu children's talent programs and a virtual chess tournament (2021)
Bathukamma, the way it is done here
Bathukamma is Telangana's own festival — nine days of women stacking seasonal flowers into a cone, singing and circling it, then floating it away. KCTCA compresses it into one evening: families bring their own Bathukammas, the association builds a giant one on stage in front of a Kakatiya Thoranam backdrop, and the program runs from pooja to dinner. From the 2024 and 2025 flyers, expect:
- Jammi Chettu and Gowramma pooja to open
- Bathukamma aata-paatalu — the circle songs and games, with prizes for the best Bathukammas
- Kolaatam with live traditional Bathukamma songs; a folk or movie playback singer headlines
- Bathukamma nimarjanam — the send-off
- Raffle prizes, then free dinner for everyone
- Sponsor booths from the Indian grocers, restaurants, realtors and IT firms whose logos fill the flyer
How it grew
- 2009Bathukamma celebrations begin in Kansas City, by the About page's account
- 2015KCTCA formed and incorporated as a Kansas not-for-profit
- 2017First membership year — annual memberships free that year under the by-laws
- 2018International Women's Day event; Bathukamma & Dussehra celebrations
- 2019Bathukamma & Dussehra; Kuchipudi dance drama Rukmini Kalyanam; Banthi Bojanam served at HTTC's Sita Rama Kalyanam
- 2020Virtual Bathukamma and virtual Telangana Formation Day during the pandemic
- 2022Kandhibanam school project documented in the gallery
- 20235th annual Bonalu celebrations at Heritage Park
- 2024Bathukamma at Lakewood Middle School with folk singer Rela Ravi
- 202519th annual Bathukamma at Blue Valley Academy; Bonalu & Alai-Balai at Heritage Park
- 2026Bonalu on August 2; 20th annual Bathukamma & Dussehra on October 17
Membership, in plain terms
Four levels at checkout: Annual Single $10 a year, Annual Family $25 a year, Single Life $75, Family Life $100. The by-laws add the rules that matter:
- Eligibility: 18 or older, resides in Kansas, endorses the mission. Membership is non-transferable and dues are non-refundable
- Family = member, spouse and their children aged 17 or under; a single membership is one person
- Annual memberships run January 1 to December 31 of the enrollment year; life memberships never expire
- One vote per single member; two per family (member and spouse). Be in good standing before April 30 to vote in that year's officer election
- The by-laws (2023) still print older dues — $250 family life, $150 single life, $15 annual single — the checkout prices above are what you actually pay
Who runs it
A volunteer executive committee, selected each year by a nominating committee the trustees form by December 1, and a Board of Trustees of three to fifteen that holds the corporate status and can veto anything that would endanger the nonprofit standing. Trustees serve two-year terms; the immediate past president sits on the board for a year. As published on the site (executive team page updated July 2026, trustees March 2026):
- Founder & advisor — Raj Cheedella
- Board of Trustees — Gouri Cherukumudi (Chairman); Sudheer Chada (Secretary); Sunil (Treasurer); Sreenivas T (Board executive); Bindu, Vijay Kondi, Manjula, Sreenivas M (Board)
- Trustees, continued — Prashanth T, Venkat Manda, Viswa Ammula (Outreach board); Shekhar C (Relations board); Kiran K (ex officio); Sreedevi G and Dinesh Chinalachaligari (ex-board; Dinesh a former president)
- Executive committee 2026–27 — Neelima Poondla (EC Chair); Shyam Dugyala (General Secretary); Uday (Joint Secretary); Abhishek Boga (Finance/Treasurer); Srini Patnana (Sponsorships)
- EC, continued — Anusha and Teja (Program Chairs); Srilatha (Cultural Chair); Sudhakar (Event Coordinator); Akki (Web/Program); Srinath Pyaraka (Overseas); Hemanth (Outreach)
- Named president-elect on the same page: Nikhil, Shravan Padur, Mahathi, Shailaja and Sarala Kotha (also Outreach chairman) — the page does not name a sitting president; reach the team at vice-president@kctca.org
- Committees — Food: Rohith Reddy, Rama, Lakshmi · Hospitality/Cultural: Nandana, Sreepoola, Padma · Past officers listed: Sandeep Mandula (ex-Treasurer), Jaya Kanakadandila (ex-Vice President), Sushma Reddy (ex-Decoration chair), Bharathi Reddi (ex-Public Relations)
Sponsor, perform, volunteer
- Sponsor — tiers published for Celebration of SHE: Gold $500, Diamond $750, Platinum $1,000, VIP $2,000; every festival flyer carries a wall of local sponsor logos, and the PayNow button on the events page goes to the Donate page. Sponsorships contact on the EC: Srini Patnana
- Perform — the enrollment form on the events page takes singers, dancers, artists, essay writers, comedians, instrumentalists and special talents of any age
- Sell — vendor booth registration for Celebration of SHE is on the Donate page
- Volunteer — fill the Google form; food, decoration, logistics, hospitality and outreach committees always need hands on festival day
- Give — PayPal on the Donate page funds both the Kansas City programs and the Telangana projects; Tax ID 47-4293998
Flyers & photos
Tap one to open it full size — handy for forwarding.
Questions people ask
Do I need to be from Telangana, or a member, to come?
No. Every festival flyer says "All are welcome" and "Free entry" — Bathukamma and Bonalu are open to anyone, and KCTCA explicitly works alongside the other Telugu and Indian organizations in the metro. Membership is for those who want a vote and a hand in running it.
When is the next event?
Bathukamma & Dussehra Sambaralu on Saturday, October 17, 2026 — the 20th annual. The venue and time have not been announced yet; the last two ran 3–9 PM in Overland Park school auditoriums. Bonalu 2026 already happened on August 2 at Heritage Park, Olathe.
Are there tickets?
No tickets — entry is free and so is the food (dinner at Bathukamma, prasadam at Bonalu). Sponsors and donors use the PayNow button, which goes to their Donate page.
What do I bring to Bathukamma?
Your own Bathukamma if you can make one — the flyers advertise Bathukamma prizes and the aata-paatalu circle is built around the stacks families bring. Sarees and traditional dress are the norm in every photo; kids come in pattu langas and kurtas.
How do I become a member and what does it cost?
Pick a level on their membership page and pay at checkout: $10 a year single, $25 a year family, or $75 (single) / $100 (family) for life. Annual memberships run the calendar year. Per the by-laws you should be 18 or older and live in Kansas.
Is there anything for kids and youth?
The Celebration of SHE enrollment form takes performers of any age in singing, dance, art, essay writing, comedy, instruments and special talents; earlier years ran Balala Sambaralu children's programs and a virtual chess tournament, and the executive committee has a youth outreach seat. The festivals themselves are family evenings.
How do I volunteer or perform?
Volunteers sign up through the Google form linked on this page (it includes the volunteer rules). Performers enroll through the form on the events page. For sponsorships or a vendor booth, email vice-president@kctca.org or use the Donate page.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
KCTCA publishes its nonprofit Tax ID, 47-4293998, in the site footer and is incorporated as a Kansas not-for-profit; donations go through PayPal on the Donate page. Ask them for a receipt if you need one for your return.
Can I buy handloom sarees through them?
Yes — the Weavers Support program sells Chenetha sarees, dress materials and furnishings sourced directly from Telangana weavers (Pochampally, Gadwal, Narayanpet, Warangal, Karimnagar). Email info@kctca.org to buy or to get involved.
Where are the photos from past years?
The Gallery page links albums by year: Bathukamma 2024 on SmugMug, 2023 and 2021 on Google Photos, 2019 and the 2018 Women's Day on Ainapurapu Photography, plus the 2020 virtual Bathukamma.