Devotees in hordes continue to swarm mini altars of Sammakka-Saralamma deities

Devotees in large numbers visited the Sammakka-Saralamma mini-altars in Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts on the third day of the biennial fair. Many offered prayers after bathing in the Godavari and camping near the riverbed

Mancherial: Devotees continued to swarm the mini-altars of deities Sammakka-Saralamma in Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts on the third day of the biennial fair on Friday.

Around one lakh devotees from several parts of the district visited the altars and formed serpentine queues to perform special prayers. They took a holy bath in the Godavari River before going for darshan of the deities. They presented rice, jaggery and bonam to the deities to thank the goddesses for their well-being.

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The devotees camped under makeshift tents on the riverbed of the Godavari and in agricultural fields for at least a day. They cooked dishes and dined with their family members. They arrived at the sacred place using different means of transport, including trolleys, jeeps, auto-rickshaws, bullock carts, motorcycles and cars.

Priests said that the two deities would vacate the altars and enter the forests at night, marking the culmination of the fair. Officials said that over two lakh devotees thronged the altars till Friday. Former Mancherial MLA N Diwakar Rao, along with his son Vijith and family members, visited the altars and performed prayers on the final day of the fair.

Meanwhile, a large number of coal miners and devotees made a beeline to similar mini-altars installed at the RK1 mine in Ramakrishnapur, on the premises of the Mukkidi Pochamma temple in Srirampur and at some other places on the outskirts of Bellampalli, Mandamarri, Luxettipet, Chennur, Thandur and mandal headquarters.

The altars witnessed a huge influx of devotees in Kagaznagar, Asifabad and rural parts of the district.