Telangana has scaled up its ambition to showcase one of the largest tribal congregations in Asia once every two years at Medaram, a small hamlet in Jayashankar Bhupalapally district.
Medaram, home to about 300 Koya tribals, hosts the biennial Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara, a four-day festival that honours a legendary tribal mother-daughter duo who attained martyrdom while fighting the army of Kakatiya kings in the 11th century. People revere Sammakka and her daughter, Saralamma, as goddesses. The festival begins Wednesday and the administration is waiting for a sea of humanity to descend on Medaram, about 250km northeast of Hyderabad.
“In 2016, the footfall for the jatara was around nine million. We expect it to cross 12 million this year,” said district sub-collector VP Gautam.
Read more of this in a report by Srinivasa Rao Apparasu published in Hindustan Times...
