Indian Tribal News Service
Hyderabad/New Delhi
Telangana’s own Kumbh-like mega event, the ‘Sammakka Saralamma Jatara’ or ‘Medaram Jatara’ kicked off on Wednesday.
The Jatara commemorates the fight of a mother and daughter, Sammakka and Saralamma respectively. Against the Kakatiya rulers for imposing unjust taxes.
The Jatara begins at Medaram in Tadvai Mandal, Jayashankar Bhupalpally district. Medaram, a remote hamlet in Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, part of Dandakaranya forest range. Believed that this time the Goddesses of the tribals visit them.
The State Festival of Telangana, the Jatara initially celebrated mostly by the Koya tribal. But over the years, devotees from many other tribes also started celebrating the festivals. Even non-tribal come here in huge numbers. It is a festival with no Vedic or Brahminic influence.
A large number of devotees from Telangana and states like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand are thronging the event, declared a State Festival.
The police expect about 1.25 crore people to participate in the festival, considered the largest repeating gathering of tribals globally.
As many as 3.5 lakh private vehicles and 4,000 RTC buses are also expected to descend on the hamlet and district. Over 9,000 police personnel drawn from various districts are deployed as part of jatara duties. Officials said adding a total of 382 CCTVs, two drone cameras, 20 display boards. A huge command control center to monitor the jatara round-the-clock also put in place.
However, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) expects to transport nearly 30 lakh people. And operating 4,000 buses while the rest all expected to arrive by 3.5 lakh private vehicles
Government officials said an estimated 10 million people gathered in 2018. Easily said that it attracts the largest gathering of devotees after Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh. Read more about The Indian Tribal News about our blog on our website.
