Medaram Jatara comes to an end, deities return to forest

The jatara ended with the goddesses’ “Tallula Vanapravesham” (entry into the forest) as the vermilion casket was carried back to Chilukalagutta and kept there until the next jatara.

Mulugu: The four-day tribal fair Sammakka Saralamma Jatara, popular as the Medaram Jatara, at Medaram village of Tadwai mandal ended on Saturday as lakhs of tribal devotees left for their hamlets and villages after paying obeisance to the tribal goddesses.

The jatara ended with the goddesses’ “Tallula Vanapravesham” (entry into the forest) as the vermilion casket was carried back to Chilukalagutta and kept there until the next jatara.

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Goddess Sammakka was taken to Chilukalagutta, Saralamma to Kannepalli, Govinda Raju to Kondai and Pagididda Raju to Poonugonda.

Devotees, both tribal and non-tribal, from different parts of Telangana and neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka converged at the place to celebrate the tribal fair. A huge number of devotees thronged Medaram from early hours on Saturday while those who had darshan and offered prayers, camping in temporary tents, returned to homes with the blessings of the tribal deities.

It is estimated that more than one crore devotees visited Sammakka and Saralamma in three days. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy earlier visited the Jatara and paid tributes to the tribal deities. Around 20 lakh devotees reportedly paid their respects to the Goddesses on the last day.

Thousands of devotees offered ‘bangaram’ (jaggery) to the goddesses and took the holy bath in Jampanna Vagu. Panchayat Raj Minister D Anasuya, who camped in Medaram for the last four days, supervising the arrangements for smooth conduct of the tribal fair, thanked all officials and staff members of medical, sanitation, revenue, police and other departments for making the jatara a huge success.

BRS MLC K Kavitha on Saturday offered jaggery of the weight of BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to Sammakka and Sarakka. The jaggery offering made to the tribal deities on behalf of Chandrashekhar Rao was dispatched online to Medaram. The jaggery offered to the tribal deities is viewed as precious as gold and is called ‘bangaram’.