The Hindu : Colourful start to Sammakka-Sarakka jatara

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Colourful start to Sammakka-Sarakka jatara

By G. Srinivasa Rao

MEDARAM (WARANGAL DT.), FEB. 4. A surge of tribal devotion for the legendary Koya women -- Sammakka and Sarakka -- saw one of the largest-ever congregation of people assembling in this forest village of Medaram in the Eturunagaram Tiger Reserve on Wednesday.

An estimated 40-lakh pilgrims from various parts of the country descended on this village lending a colourful, though rather crowded, start to the four-day biennial festival to pay homage to the two martyrs who went down fighting the imperial armies of the Kakatiya monarch, Prataparudra-II, eight centuries ago.

They came in motorised vehicles, bullock carts, on foot in thousands causing an unprecedented traffic jam from Medaram whose tail could be traced 26 km away towards Warangal.

Villages located in the thick forest adjoining Medaram were bursting at their seams with new settlements springing up overnight. Reports indicated that the throng of people might touch a staggering 60 lakhs on Thursday when goddess Sammakka is brought from the forest to the Medaram jatara site by tribals after performing traditional rituals.

Men and women attired in their best and many swathed in turmeric turned up for the jatara. For tribal youth, it was a no-holds-barred celebration. They reached the Sammakka Sarakka "gaddhelu'' (platform) dancing to the tune of drums with gay abandon while elderly people tried their best to have darshan. A large number of tribal men and women behaved as if "possessed'' by the tribal goddesses.

Police had a tough time controlling the surging crowds. According to the Joint Collector, C. Parthasarathi, over 6,000 officials had been drafted for the festival duty, including 4,000 policemen. A control room has been set up where the District Collector and other senior officials are camping.

However, these arrangements gave way in the face of a sea of humanity. Pilgrims coming from Hanamkonda were put to a lot of convenience as vehicular traffic came to a standstill for more than four hours near Tadvai and Pasra. It took more than nine hours for the pilgrims to reach Medaram from Warangal.

The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who reviewed the arrangements, said 11 persons were admitted in a local hospital after they fell ill while 10 others were under treatment after taking an overdose of alcohol. He said the APSRTC operated 1,638 buses carrying about 1.70 lakh passengers while 136 hand pumps were installed for providing drinking water to pilgrims.

He asked officials to take effective steps to ease traffic jams, particularly in Pasra-Narlapur-Medaram stretch. He also impressed upon them to maintain high standards of hygiene at the jatara site.

Our Karimnagar Staff Reporter writes:

The festival got off to a colourful start on a traditional note amid chanting of Sammakka-Sarakka songs in various parts of the district. In Rekurthi village on the outskirts of Karimnagar town, the tribal priest from Warangal had brought the presiding deity of Sammakka from the Laxminarasimha hillocks and installed at the traditional platform at the jatara venue.

Reports reaching here said similar mini-Medaram jataras were being held in various parts including Godavarikhani, Kalwa, Srirampur, Huzurabad, Husnabad, Bheemadevarapally, Kamanpur and other mandals. Lack of water for bathing and drinking purposes had become a cause of concern at Rekurthi as the SRSP canal passing along the jatara site had dried up following stoppage of water release from the project.

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