Sammakka Saralamma Jatara Concludes 

Hyderabad: The four-day mega tribal religious festival 'Sammakka Saralamma Maha Jatara' or 'Medaram Jatara' concluded today at Eturunagaram of Jayashankar Bhupalapally district of Telangana, with lakhs of devotees offering prayers.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh were among the prominent personalities who visited the sacred place and offered jaggery as mark of respect, a statement issued by the Deputy Chief Minister K Srihari, said.

"I thank our chief minister Chandrasekhar Rao for announcing Rs 200 crore for development of this place including setting up permanent infrastructure," Srihari said. The chief minister also said his party MPs would talk to the Centre to declare Medaram Jatara as a national festival. Over one crore people visited the religious place during the festival.

The state government's website describes the festival, which is held every two years, as the largest tribal religious gathering in the world. Tribal devotees from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and parts of Jharkhand, among other states, attend the festival.

White jaggery is the traditional offering made to the two deities. Devotees often offer their own weight in jaggery to Sammakka and Saralamma. They also take a holy bath in Jampanna Vagu (stream).

PTI