Hyderabad: Chopper ride to Medaram Jatara @ Rs 20k

Hyderabad: The devotees of Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara can now take a chopper ride to reach the venue to pay their obeisance to the tribal goddesses.

The Telangana Tourism Department has tied up with a private aviation company to operate helicopter services to the Jatara venue. It would cost about Rs 20,000 per head for to-and-fro chopper ride.

The eight-centuries-old tribal festival – Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara held at Medaram village witnessed a lot of changes over the decades. There were times when the people from near and far walked for miles while some travelled by bullock carts for days through the thick jungles to reach the venue. They used to pay their obeisance to the tribal goddesses camping there for a week or more much ahead of Jatara.

Temporary sheds with tarpaulin sheets or bamboo cut from the jungles were arranged for their stay. They used to come from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Khammam, Bhadrachalam and many other tribal habitations all along the river Godavari on both sides.

As the crowds began swelling, the State government pitched in to provide facilities for the devotees and since 2010, helicopter facility for those who could afford has been introduced. The chopper is operated from Mamnoor Airport in Warangal and used to charge Rs 6,000 to-and-fro. But it did not get a good response. Similar efforts were made in 2014 and 2015, but in vain.

Now, the Telangana Tourism Department in collaboration with the Thumby Aviation Private Limited has decided to provide the helicopter services from Arts College Grounds in Hanamkonda to Medaram village this year.

Also, the Tourism department decided to provide chopper facility from different parts of the State with different price range. From Hyderabad and Karimnagar, the charges would be Rs 75,000 and from Mahbubnagar, the charge would be Rs 1,00,000. For a joy ride to have an aerial view of Jatara, the charge would be Rs 3,700 for seven-eight-minute ride. The chopper services will be in place till February 20. About 1.25 crore people are expected to visit the Jatara.

Meanwhile, the TSRTC has also decided to operate about 4,000 buses and expects that nearly 30 lakh people would be travelling by these buses. Even some city buses from Hyderabad have been withdrawn and drafted for Jatara special services. In addition, devotees in about 3.5 lakh private vehicles are also likely to visit Jatara this time.