Largest Tribal Festival Sammakka-Sarakka Medaram Jathara Started

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.