To commemorate the valour of the tribal women Sammakka and Sarakka against the imperial Kakatiya kings, local tribals who worship them as goddesses gather at the tiny Medaram village in Tadvai mandal here every year for the Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara .
The State government conducts the tribal fair — also known as Medaram Jatara — every alternate year on a big scale. However, devotees keep thronging every year to pay their obeisance to the goddesses and put up with the inadequate facilities.
Unofficial but massive
During the official jatara held over four days, a whopping one crore people arrive at the village and during the unofficial jatara held alternately, about one lakh people converge.
Speaking to The Hindu , TSRTC regional manager T. Surya Kiran said they are operating special buses now from Bhupalpally, Mulugu and Warangal in view of the increased flow of devotees to the Medaram Jatara this time. Superintendent of police R. Bhaskaran said though it was being celebrated by the tribal priests and ardent devotees, the department has been monitoring the celebrations posting necessary number of personnel round the clock. “It goes without saying, the police are here to ensure smooth passage of the tribal fair,” he said.
According to folklore, the Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara is a celebration of valour of tribal women Sammakka and her daughter Saralamma who fought the Kakatiya kings for forcing the tribals to pay cess despite continued drought. The unrelenting kings waged a war against the tribals and both mother and daughter went down fighting the Kakatiya army eight centuries ago. Ever since the tribals gather to pay their obeisance to the women duo.
Tribals from different parts of Telangana, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh make a beeline once in two years while some come every year. This year the jatara began on Wednesday with the arrival of Sarakka.
The deity Sammakka would be brought to the altar at Medaram on Thursday from Chilkalgutta hillocks. Friday is auspicious for the devotees to pay their respects and the jatara concludes on Saturday with the priests taking back the deities to their respective places. Massive arrangements such as battery of taps for bathing at Jampanna rivulet, scores of toilets and barricading to manage serpentine queues were all absent this time, but the devout did not mind the inadequate facilities.
