Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya today paid a visit to the famous biennial tribal festival of Sammakka and Sarakka at Medaram in Mulugu District. Accompanied by MP Santhosh Kumar, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao took a helicopter to reach Medaram jathara site from his Erravalli farm. The ministers, who were present at the site, received KCR.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed her happiness to have a darshan of the tribal goddesses as tribals always remained close to her heart. She said the Medaram fair is the biggest festival in Asia being held in Telangana. I wish all people well, she added. Earlier, she participated in the rituals of offering saris and “Bangaram” (jaggery) to the deities.
The two Governors and the Chief Minister attended pujas at “Gaddes” of Sammakka and Sarakka, the presiding deities at the jathara site. As a part of the rituals, the two Governors offered prayers and weighed themselves in a balance with Jaggery called “Bangaram” at the festival site.
Ministers Indrakaran Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Satyavati Rathod, and local leaders and officials accompanied them. Dayakar Rao said as per KCR directions, lakhs of devotees were getting hassle-free darshan of the goddesses. The State government made all arrangements, he said. “I have been coming to Medaram jathara for the past 40 years and praying the goddesses”, Dayakar Rao said.
The four-day tribal festival began from Wednesday It would conclude on Saturday. The Telangana tribal fair was attended by devotees from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.
Around 12,000 policemen have been deployed as part of the security arrangements.
As many as 300 CCTV cameras and 10 drone cameras were installed as part of the security detail. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation operated 4,000 buses to ferry people to and from Medaram.
