Medaram Jatara: Devotees bid adieu to tribal deities

Medaram (Mulugu): A large number of devotees bid adieu to tribal deities - Sammakka and Saralamma - here on the last day of the four-day carnival on Saturday.

With the rain gods also making their presence felt, the four-day biennial Medaram rendezvous came to an end with the deities returning to their abodes.

The rain that lashed Medaram for about half-an-hour in the afternoon didn't dampen the spirit of devotees as they fulfilled their mokkulu (vows) to the deities.

Later in the day, the tribal priests took deity Saralamma to her temple at the Kannepalli, 4 km from Medaram, deity Sammakka took to Chilukalagutta hillock, a couple of kilometres from the altars, marking the end of jatara for the year.

Although there was no official confirmation, more than one crore devotees descended on Medaram in the last four days.

The overall footfall of the devotees is expected to be close to 1.20 crore including pre-jatara and after. It may be mentioned here that devotees in d numbers continue to turn to Medaram for at least another fortnight.

According to Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, the TSRTC which operated 4,000 buses (36,000 trips) had ferried more than 20 lakh devotees to various destinations in the State.

"It's going to be tough for the 1,000-odd sanitation staff for the next 10 days as they have to clean up the jatara area," Mulugu In-charge Collector R V Karnan said, terming the sanitation staff as unsung heroes.

Meanwhile, the medical camps set up in Medaram will continue for about one month so that to keep a tab on spread of epidemics. He said that administration will take care of people's health living Medaram and neighbouring villages.

Claiming that the jatara was a huge success, Minister for Tribal Welfare Satyavathi Rathod and Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao attributed it the officials of 21 departments.

They thanked all the officials who dedicated themselves to serving the devotees. Errabelli said that the Government will take measures to ensure permanent infrastructure at Medaram besides turning it into a tourist hub.

The administration will acquire 100 acres to provide all infrastructural facilities at Medaram.

Satyavathi Rathod lauded the efforts of the administration for playing a crucial role in the success of jatara. She had a special praise for Tribal Welfare Department Commissioner Christina Z Chongthu.