Hyderabad: The state government is gearing up for the successful conduct of ‘Sammakka Saralamma Jatara’ in the thick forest of Medaram from February 21 to 24. The commencement commemorates ‘Maagha shuddha dwadasi’, said Medaram priests association general secretary Chanda Gopal Rao. Popularly known as ‘mini kumbh mela’, the four-day festivals draws around two crore devotees from across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Following a request from endowments minister Konda Surekha, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy sanctioned Rs 75 crore for the ensuing festival, which is touted as Asia’s biggest tribal festival. Devotees from various tribal sects - koyas, gonds, gothikoyas, chenchus, lambadas, adivasis, mayakpods, rajagonds, muriyas and mariyas, among others, camp in open lands and fields near the temple and stay there for three days.
Before taking darshan of the deities, Sammakka and Saralamma, devotees have a holy dip in the rivulet – ‘Janpanna Vagu.’ They offer jaggery during prayers at the temple. Such would be the rush that queues would be stretched beyond eight km. VVIPs, including the Chief Minister, his cabinet colleagues, IAS and IPS officers, are likely to attend. Meanwhile, Surekha is to conduct a review meeting with officials of all concerned departments in two days.
She met priests, who came from Medaram, to felicitate the endowments minister. Interacting with them, she said that the administration would make all arrangements for a successful conduct of the festival. They will also improve the condition of roads leading to the temple and other amenities, she said.
