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Warangal: Medaram all set for Jatara
The stage is set for the biannual Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara considered the world's largest tribal religious congregation attracting several millions. The Jatara will begin on Wednesday at Medaram in Warangal district.
Warangal: The stage is set for the biannual Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara considered the world's largest tribal religious congregation attracting several millions. The Jatara will begin on Wednesday at Medaram in Warangal district.
Meanwhile, the administration has made elaborate arrangements for the comfort of devotees turning up at Jatara. For the safety and security of devotees, the State government has deployed 10,000 policemen besides installing 400 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at all vantage points in Medaram. This apart, the police are also banking on drone surveillance.
As far as accommodation is concerned, the authorities have set up upscale camping at Haritha Hotel and Reddygudem, two kilometres from Medaram tent. The tents have all the comforts of home with spruced up interiors and attached washrooms. Although the administration has tents installed at Haritha Hotel in its possession, nearly 100 camping tents put up at Reddygudem are up for the grabs of devotees.
Each tent with a double bed and attached washroom is priced at Rs 3,500 a day. This apart, the tents erected near Tribal Museum with mobile toilets are priced at Rs 2,500 per day. Meanwhile, the South Central Railway (SCR) is set to operate 20 special trains on Hyderabad-Kazipet-Sirpur Kagaznagar route from February 4 to 8.
Although there is no corroborative evidence to support the bravery of mother-daughter duo, Sammakka and Saralamma, the legend has it that centuries ago, a Koya chieftain found a little girl playing with a tiger in the forest, also known as Dandakaranya. The Koya king, who adopted the girl and named her Sammakka, got her married to Pagididda Raju, a feudatory tribal king. A war broke out between Pagididda Raju and the then Kakatiya rulers after the former failed to pay 'Kappam' (tax) to the latter due to continuous drought.
Unhappy with this, the Kakatiya forces attacked the Koya kingdom on the banks of Sampenga Vagu. After her husband Pagididda Raju, son Jampanna, daughters Saralamma and Nagulamma and Govindarajulu (Saralamma's husband)
die in the war, Sammakka resolved to take revenge against the Kakatiya forces. Unable to withstand the Kakatiyas' powerful army, she also got injured severely. Before she disappeared into the thickets of Chilakala Gutta, Sammakka who promised to protect her tribe cursed Kakatiyas to perish.
Later, when the Koyas searched for Sammakka they found a red ochre box, her bangles and pug marks of a tigress. Incidentally, it was exactly the place where she was found as an infant by the Koya chieftain. Since then, the Koyas and Vadderas have been holding the Jatara in memory of Sammakka and Saralamma.
