Hyderabad: Even as the three-day popular biennial Sammakka-Sarakka Jathara (fair) is scheduled to begin from February 5 in Medaram, a large number of devotees are pouring into the tribal village to have a darshan of the two goddesses and fulfill their vows. State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Sunday made a visit to Medaram ahead of the festival and inspected the ongoing works like repairing and laying new roads, renovating and constructing bathing ghats, water & power supply and parking of vehicles.
The Chief Secretary instructed the officials concerned to expedite the ongoing works and make elaborate arrangements as hundreds of people were coming from Adilabad, Nirmal, Warangal, Karimnagar districts and also from parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and other States. The State government had released Rs 70 crore for the Medaram festival for making elaborate arrangements. It also urged the Centre to accord national status to the most popular tribal festival.
The biennial tribal festival is also known as Telangana Kumbhamela as thousands of devotees pour in and take a bath in a stream called Jampanna Vagu. After a holy dip in the Vagu, they have darshan of the presiding deities Sammakka and Sarakka and perform special pujas and offer “Bangaram” (jaggery) the main prasad. The tribal-dominated Medaram under Tadvai Mandal of old Warangal district was taking a new shape with new roads, basic facilities and hundreds of makeshift shops.
On Sunday, Director General of Police Mahendra Reddy also visited the temple of Sammakka-Sarakka in Medaram village and worshipped the goddesses. The DGP offered “Bangaram” (jaggery) equivalent to his body weight to the goddesses to fulfill his vow. Earlier, Mahendar Reddy sat in a balance pan and purchased jaggery equivalent to his body weight and offered it to the presiding deities.
