Sammakka Saralamma Jatara is the second-largest fair of India, after the Kumbh Mela, celebrated by the second-largest group Community of Telangana- the Koya team for four days. Ministry of Tribal Affairs has sanctioned Rs 2.26 Crores for various activities pertaining to Medaram Jathara 2022.
Key Points
- Medaram Jatara is also known as Sammakka Saralamma Jatara.
- It is a major Tribal Festival held bi-annually in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district to honour the twin goddesses Sammakka and her daughter Sarakka.
- Central government is likely to declare Medaram’s Sammakka-Sarakka/Saralamma Jatara a national festival.
- Union government had in 2015 declared Vanaj, a tribal dance and music festival, as national festival.
- Once declared a national festival, Jatara can be considered for ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’ tag of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
- UNESCO had given the tag to Kumbh Mela, which is world’s biggest festival which sees participation by up to 10 crore persons.
- Out of the huge congregation which comes to Medaram, 50 % are non-adivasi making the Jatara the most popular Tribal festival in India.
- People from Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh come for the festival.
- Several communities in Telangana society support Jatara as it is also a mythical narrative of two tribal women leaders who fought against the Kakatiya rulers who tried to annex their land and forests.
- It was declared a State Festival in 1996.
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