“We went on a tour to Nagrjuna Sagar last year. We visited the museum there. It has a huge collection of antiques,” said Indu.

“And the Salar Jung Museum of Hyderabad is one of the three national museums which has antiques and portraits collected by a single person,” Kiran added.

“We visited the Golconda fort last sunday. There we saw the place where Bhakta Ramdasu was imprisoned.” Indu added.

“Not only that, our great poets contributed to our rich culture. Bammera Pothana’s Bhagavatham is known for its literary fragrance. Kancherla Gopanna, known as Bhakta Ramadasu, made our literature great with his keerthanas. Mallinganti Suri , Kaloji Narayan Rao, Dasharathi Ranga Charyulu and Dasharathi Krishnama Charyulu are the jewels of Telangana,”said Laxmi.

“ Oggu Katha is a very popular folklore singing, praising and narrating the stories of Mallanna, Beerappa and Yellamma. The narrator and the chorus- two narrators dramatize and transform themselves into the characters. Perini Shiva Tandavam is the dance form originated in Telangana. It has historical prominence. During the dynasty of the Kakatiyas, the soldiers performed this dance as the invocation and dedicated it to Lord Shiva. This dance form was revived by Sri. Nataraja Ramakrishna,” Hari said.

“It is high time for us to remember our great personalities who dedicated their life for Telangana.”

“The temples, the antiques, the art forms, the literature and our language contribute to our culture and heritage. We need to preserve them. I hope our government will also take necessary steps in this regard,” said Hari .

emotion (n) : excitement
red letter day : a very important day
dialect (n) : a form of language
fervor (n) : a strong feeling of enthusiasm
fete (n) : public celebration