Mulugu: Devotional frenzy marked the conclusion of the four-day Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara, popularly known as Medaram Jatara, Asia’s biggest biennial tribal fair, on Saturday.
At the concluding ritual, priests from the Koya tribe took back the idols of the tribal goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma and gods Pagadiddha Raju and Govinda Raju to their abodes in the jungles.
Main priests took Sammakka to her abode of Chilukalagutta and Saralamma to her abode of Kannepalli situated near to the temple in Medaram accompanied by the police and revenue officials. Pagadiddha Raju was taken to Penugondla village and Govinda Raju to the Kondai village where they will be placed for the next two years.
The jatara which began on February 16 concluded with as many as 1.25 crores of devotees turning up. Not only from within the state, but devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also thronged to Medaram, apart from leaders of various political parties.
A huge number of devotees thronged Medaram from early hours on Saturday while those who had darshan and offered prayers, camping in temporary tents, returned to homes with the blessings of the tribal deities.
Traditional tribal folk dance forms performed by artistes from Bhadrachalam, Naikpod and Gond tribes along with their instruments captivated the gathering on the final day of the jatara.
Of the total 1.25 crore of devotees, around 30 lakh to 40 lakh of them visited Medaram, a month before the jatara began in view of the widespread Coronavirus Omicron variant and offered prayers.
Ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Allola Indrakaran Reddy who camped in Medaram for the past four days, supervising the arrangements for smooth conduct of the biggest tribal fair, thanked all officials and staff members of medical, sanitation, revenue, police and other departments for making the jatara a huge success.
They felicitated the district officials for their active role during the jatara and hoped that the Coronavirus would fade away with the blessings of the tribal gods.
District collector Krishna Aditya said they had planned the jatara meticulously for the last six months and conducted it on a grand note without any untoward incident.
