Mande Melige celebrated as prelude to Medaram Jatara

WARANGAL: Tribal community of Medaram celebrated on Wednesday the Mande Malige, which is a prelude to the four-day Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara in the Mulugu district.

Mande Malige is observed on the second Wednesday of the Jatara month and a week before the arrival of the deities of Sammakka and Saralamma from the forest to give darshan to devotees.

Members of Siddaboina clan purified the Sammakka Temple in Medaram and Saralamma Temple in Kannepally by fetching the holy water from Jampanna Vagu.

After installing arches festooned with mango leaves, pumpkin, red chillies and a hen, reflecting the tradition of Adivasis for dispelling effects of evil spirits, temple priests perform special prayers to the forest Goddesses at their respective shrines.

As is the tradition in both Medaram and Kannepally villages, tribal families invited their daughters to celebrate the “Telangana Kumbh Mela” on a grand note, which signifies the preference given by Adivasi people to their daughters.

The main Jatara will begin on the third Wednesday, February 21, with Saralamma from Kannepally, Govindarajulu from Kondai and Pagididda Raju from Penugondla villages arriving at Medaram, where Goddess Sammakka presides.

The fourth and last Wednesday, February 24, will be observed as Tirugu Vaaram. Adivasis celebrate the occasion by purifying all the four temples and offering prayers.

Thousands of people, not only from various corners of Telangana, but also from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, have started visiting Medaram to avoid the heavy rush during Jatara.

District administration has made elaborate arrangements for the convenience of devotees attending Asia's biggest biennial tribal festival.