History

Sammakka Saralamma Jatara or Medaram Jatara is a tribal Hindu festival of honouring the goddesses celebrated in the state of Telangana, India. This Jatara is known for witnessing one of the largest people gatherings in the world. The Jatara begins at Medaram in Tadvai mandal in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

It commemorates the fight of a mother and daughter, Sammakka and Saralamma, with the reigning rulers against an unjust law.

There are many legends about the miraculous powers of Sammakka. According to a tribal story, about 6-7 centuries ago, that is in the 13th century, some tribal leaders who went for a hunting found a new born girl (Sammakka) emitting enormous light playing amidst tigers. She was taken to their habitation, and the head of the tribe adopted her and brought up as a chief. She later became the saviour of the tribals of the region. She was married to Pagididda Raju, a feudatory tribal chief of Kakatiyas (who ruled the country of Telugus from Warangal City between 1000 AD and 1380 AD). She was blessed with 2 daughters and one son namely Sarakka, Nagulamma and Jampanna respectively. Jampanna died in this attack and fell bleeding into a vaagu (stream) and later the whole sampangi vaagu has turned red due to which it was later on called JAMPANNA VAAGU near the place where the present mela is taking place.

Sammakka Sarakka Jatara is a tribal festival, held at about 100 km from Warangal city. It is the time for the largest tribal congregation in the world, held every two years (biennial), with approximately ten million people converging on the place, over a period of four days. Many tribal devotees from different states of India (Andra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and parts of Jharkhand) reach to the festive place to celebrate the Jatara.