Largest Tribal Festival Sammakka-Sarakka Medaram Jathara Started

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 21-02-2024

Largest Tribal Festival Sammakka-Sarakka Medaram Jathara Started

Festival 4 min read

Sammakka Sarakka Medaram Jathara, Asia’s largest tribal fair, started in Telangana’s Mulugu district witnessed thousands of devotees who paid obeisance to tribal deities.

Highlights of festival

The four-day Medaram Jathara festival began with the traditional arrival of Sarakka's idol from Kannepally village. The idol, covered in a red cloth, was brought on a vessel filled with vermilion and turmeric powder and placed on a platform in Medaram.
The tribal priests gathered in a small temple located four kilometers away from Medaram to offer prayers and invoke the goddesses for hours.
After completing the rituals, they came out of the temple and accorded traditional honors to the deity, along with district officials.
This event marked the official beginning of the Medaram Jatara, the largest tribal festival.
Following the traditional practice of the priests, the devotees took a holy dip in Jampanna Vaagu before heading towards Kannepalli village, wading through the stream instead of using the bridge.
People believe that taking a dip in the Jampanna Vaagu stream heals all diseases, so they vie with each other to make their way towards the rivulet.

About Sammakka Saralamma Jathara or Medaram Jathara

Sammakka Saralamma Jathara, also known as Medaram Jathara, is a festival celebrated in the state of Telangana, India in honor of the Gods and Goddesses.
The Jathara takes place in Medaram, Tadvai Mandal, in Mulugu district. It commemorates the fight of a mother and daughter, Sammakka and Saralamma, against an unjust law imposed by the reigning rulers.
It is believed to attract the largest number of devotees in the country after Kumbh Mela. The Jathara is celebrated during the time when the tribals' goddesses are believed to visit them.
Medaram is a remote place located in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a part of Dandakaranya, the largest surviving forest belt in Mulugu.
There are so many legends about the miraculous powers of Sammakka. According to a tribal story, about 6-7 centuries ago, in the 13th century, some tribal leaders who went hunting found a newborn girl (Sammakka) playing amidst tigers and emitting enormous light. They took her to their habitation, and the head of the tribe adopted her as a chieftain.
Later she became the protector of the tribals of the area. She was married to Pagididda Raju, a feudal tribal chief of the Kakatiyas who ruled Andhra Pradesh from the city of Warangal between 1000 AD and 1380 AD.
She was blessed with two daughters and a son, named Sarakka, Nagulamma and Jampanna respectively.