Fairs and Festivals

Sammakka Jatara

Medaram is a small village in the forest area of the Mulugu taluk of Warangal district. Here Sammakka Jatara is celebrated once in two years on a very large - scale for three days before Magha.  Purnima Sammaka is a tribal goddess and the patrons and the priests are Koyas. All the tribals of Mulugu area and the thousands of other Hindus congregate there during the celebrations. There is no permanent idol of the deity. A Koya tribal boy who gets a vision before the festival roams about in the forest for a week without food and sleep and finally brings the goddess in the farm of vermilion caskets, one representing

the main duty sammakka and the other her daughter Sarakka both tied to a piece of bamboo. This is installed on an earthen platform raised under a tree. Animals are sacrificed and vows are redeemed, intoxicants are widely used.  Hundreds of people who are often possessed by the goddess come there dancing ecstatically throughout their journey. The special offering to the deity is jaggery which collects in huge piles. Those who fulfill vows offer jaggery equal to their weight and jaggery is distributed as prasadam.  More than lakh of people congregate every day.