Medaram and surrounding areas in Warangal district of Telangana on Wednesday turned into a sea of humanity with hundreds of thousands of people thronging the place to participate in Sammakka-Sarakka Jatra, the biggest tribal festival in the country.
The four-day festival, for which the State Government has pulled out all the stops to make the flow of pilgrims smooth, began on Wednesday with the customary arrival of Sarakka, tribal Goddess from Kannepally village which was placed on a platform. The image of the goddess covered in red cloths was brought in a vessel laden with vermillion and turmeric powder.
At the same time Sarakka’s father Pagidigidda Raju and husband Govinda Raju’s images also reached Medaram and they were also placed on the sacred platform this evening.
The festivities of the biennial festival will reach the peak when the image of Sarakka’s mother Sammakka comes from Chilalagutta village on the second day of the festival. The occasion is celebrated in a much grandiose manner with the government and the police officials also joining the frenzied tribal devotees to welcome the deity.
Sammakka-Sarakka festival, in which the women pilgrims carry jaggery over their heads as an offering to the goddesses has grown in size and popularity over the years in to a massive celebration of tribal culture and religious traditions. Since the formation of Telangana, the State Government has accorded it a status of an official festival to celebrate the tribal culture of the region.
Jatra is also seen as a celebration of womanhood as both the main deities are women and women folk make offerings like bangles, sarees, jaggery and coconut. The men folk perform the animal sacrifice as their offering. The festival attracts more than 10 million pilgrims from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and other states with the belief that the spirits of the deities come to Medaram during the sacred days and bless them.
Sammakka and Sarakka were in fact legendary warriors from the Koya tribe who fought against the Kakatiya empire 800 years ago and attained martyrdom.
While several cabinet ministers including law minister A Indrakiran Reddy and Chandulal were leading thousands of government and police officials in supervising the arrangements, the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Reddy will visit Medaram on Friday and offer prayers and fulfill his vows. The Government has released whopping 154.5 crore rupees for making the arrangements.
Normally desolate and dark forest and hilly area around Medaram has now turned in to an illuminated city and the nights have turned in to day by the flood light towers.
