Wednesday, July 23, 2025
In frenetic central Hyderabad, a radical idea is taking shape – one that could provide Telangana with an edge over the world most have drawn of it. Addressing a high-powered meeting on tourism development, Jupally said the state was aiming to host an international carnival on the lines of the Rio Carnival held in Brazil.
But this isn’t just about colorful parades and raucous music. The objective of the government is based in celebrating the native traditions of Telangana, and at the same time becoming a global destination and an engine of economic growth. The coming initiative is not just a festival — it’s an invitation to rethink tourism in the state.
Spinning International Dreams at Local Festivals
The Minister’s idea is to take Telangana’s well-known traditional events like Bonalu, Bathukamma, Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara, and Nagoba Jatara to the international level. These celebrations, which are already alive with music, worship and ritual, will be extended to include large visuals, public participation and traveller-friendly experiences that do not take away their realness.
This mix of traditional and global is all in a bid to put Telangana on the world tourist map as a top cultural destination. It echoes a broader thrust from the state government to brand Telangana as not only a destination, but an experience in heritage, hospitality and harmony.
Anchoring the Vision in Policy
The timing of this announcement can’t be a coincidence. New hotel investments will not have waiting: “We have addressed everything from project approvals to clearances and provided all support”, he said. The carnival is part of this larger strategy.
Under the policy, a network of twenty-seven Special Tourism Areas (STAs) has been proposed in the state that would get better developed infrastructure and promotional benefits from investors under Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). These sites will be the venues for cultural spectacles bringing not only people from all over India, but from all over the world.
Economic Pulse of the Carnival
A global-model carnival is not simply a cultural show, but quite a powerful economic generator. The ripple effects for the tourism ecosystem of Telangana is massive:
Lodging and Hospitality: The increment of tourists will mean filled-up rooms in low cost as well as high-end chain hotels such as Telangana Tourism’s Haritha.
Transportation and Logistics: Local movement like buses, taxis and adventure travel is likely to rise.
Retail and Local Businesses: Small restaurants, street vendors, hawkers, food stands, and local markets will all profit from the money tourists will spend at the festivals.
Employment Opportunities: Ranging from including performers & choreographers to support staff, event planners, guides and security staff, the model for a ‘carnival’ could create work for thousands.
Artists in the Heat of the Celebration
The carnival-style of events should directly help the local artists and performers of Telangana, added Minister Jupally. This is not a matter of outsourcing glamour, but of giving local talent — folk dancers, tribal musicians and traditional craftsmen — the chance to shine on the world stage.
Such initiatives also serve to preserve cultural lineages that might otherwise die out. By building economically sustainable earning models around performance, travel and merchandising, Telangana can make certain that its heritage isn’t just preserved — but that it thrives and stays alive too.
Upgrading Infrastructure for the Experience
In order to facilitate this jump in culture, emphasis is laid on infra-structural upgradation:
Wayside Facilities: Upgraded rest rooms, signages, and mobile toilets and water would be made available along the National Highways.
Tents and Mobile Facilities for Environment Friendly Tourism: The short-term accommodation will be set up within natural destinations with a low environmental impact.
NA- Adventure sports : The water and land adventure sports are being arranged and planned out for the festival season with the areas of Bhongir Fort and Laknavaram Lake for diversification.
The government also wants to incorporate branding and promotion on various digital media platforms and media channels for the events of Telangana to have the ambience it deserves.
Learning from the Best
The Ministry of Tourism’s intention to study successful designs from carnivals held across the world, as a practical guide to standardize and strategize. Officials will travel to other states and countries to learn more about organizing large-scale, crowd-pulling festivals. This learning will be contextualized to the specific cultural canvas of Telangana.
Heritage as a Living Canvas
The landscape of Telangana is specked with history: the stately Charminar, the spiritual Bhadrakali Temple, the tribal echoes of Medaram. Insensibly the carnival plan is not only intended to draw multitudes to these places — it’s intended to reinvent them.
For example, if it is a carnival at Warangal Fort, then it can be a themed carnival telling the story of the Kakatiya dynasty with costumes, parades and live acts. A lakeside festival at Laknavaram could combine tribal performances with boat parades. Each event might then become a curated experience — one that brings together history, landscape and, of course, emotion.
Local Communities: Spectators or Stakeholders?
What this initiative truly represents is unprecedented – an opportunity to reach everyone. The goal is not to put on a show for outsiders, but to organize an event for and by the people of Telangana — a place where villagers will present folk customs, women’s collectives will run craft workshops, and local chefs will prepare regional dishes for global audiences.
These festivals will become platforms where Telangana will show the world what it’s really all about—on its own terms, and in its own voice.
A Roadmap with Milestones
Here is how the rollout of the carnival is expected to work:
Blueprint Development – Ideas, Costs, and Where in 2025.
Community Onboarding – To include artists, local panchayats and business groups for capacity building.
Infrastructure Activation – Tenders floated for tents, stages, sanitation, transport in PPP mode.
Trial Events – First carnivals of (carnival-style )Bathukamma and Bonalu by mid 2026.
Mid-Cycle Activations—national and international marketing around festival season 2026-2027.
Challenges and Mitigation
Though the vision is lofty, it will be a challenging path going forward. Problems such as traffic management, ecology protection and security must be planned for in advance. The government is expected to then come out with standard operating procedures in detail to ensure its smooth and all-encompassing rollout.
There will be a middle path between commercialization and cultural sanctity, with oversight committees ensuring that the festivals do not lose their soul.
A Story That the World Will Remember
Imagine you are walking in a vibrant bylane in Hyderabad and the air is filled with the aroma of Telangana food while the beats of the tribal drums fill your ears as nature shows off its color and flowers. Now picture this not taking place in just one day, but in a week-long gala of life, art and history.
This is the Telangana the government wants the world to see — and it is going all out to get it.
As Minister Jupally Krishna Rao describes: “This is not about hosting events to the sound of applause, but developing a self-sufficient model of culture forward, economically attractive tourism that puts Telangana on the ‘must visit list’ of the traveler.”
