Over 70 lakh pilgrims throng jatara on Day 3

Officials expect at least 10 lakh devotees to make the climb on the fourth and final day of the jatara.

Published: 08th February 2020 05:42 AM  |   Last Updated: 08th February 2020 12:45 PM   |  A+A A-

Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan and her Himachal Pradesh counterpart Bandaru Dattatreya carry offerings to the tribal deities Sammakka and Saralamma at Medaram

By u mahesh
Express News Service

MULUGU: FRIDAY, the third day of the Medaram Jatara, saw at least 70 lakh devotees visiting the tribal village. Day three is considered the most auspicious as both the tribal goddesses, Sammakka and Saralamma, are present at the altar of the temple.

As a result, on Friday, the queues were longer than ever at Medaram. Devotees arrived at the temple after taking the holy dip or the punyasnanams in Jampanna Vaagu. Several women, decked up in traditional attire, offered sarees and sacred rice or odibiyyam to the deities at the altar. The jatara marks the fight of the mother-daughter duo, Samakka and Saralamma, against an unfair law enforced by the Kakatiya rulers. On any given day, the population of Medaram village, where the festival is conducted, is no more than 500. But on the days of the jatara, it rises to over one crore, with both tribal and non-tribal devotees hailing from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and other states visiting the village.

Officials expect at least 10 lakh devotees to make the climb on the fourth and final day of the jatara. On this day, the tribal priests take the deities to their respective abodes, marking the end of the festival.