Over 2 crore devotees to visit Medaram: Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy

The Minister said the government had sanctioned Rs. 110 crore for the conduct of the Jatara and that efforts were being made to provide all kinds of facilities to the devotees.

Mulugu: Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said over two crore devotees were likely to attend the three-day biennial Sammakka-Saralamma tribal fair, popularly known as Medaram Jatara, scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

Speaking to media after reviewing the arrangements along with Panchayat Raj Minister Dansari Anasuya on Monday, Srinivas Reddy said in the last three weeks over 58 lakh devotees offered prayers to the presiding tribal deities Sammakka-Saralamma and in the next one week the authorities were expecting over two crore people to visit the Jatara.”Going by the way people are thronging the jatara each day we are expecting a record crowd this time,” he said.

---

The Minister said the government had sanctioned Rs. 110 crore for the conduct of the Jatara and that efforts were being made to provide all kinds of facilities to the devotees. “Our aim is to see that every devotee who visits the Jatara returns home satisfied,”he said.

Stating that the district administration had made elaborate arrangements for the Jatara, Dansari Anasuya said steps had been taken to provide all kinds of facilities to devotees. “Officials have been working hard since the last two months to make available facilities to the devotees. We have never seen such a crowd in the past. This year over 58 lakh devotees visited the temple before the commencement of the Jatara. Which is a record,” she said.