Unique crowd management practice on display during Medaram Jatara

Several security arrangements are being made to manage the traffic and crowd but still, people are heading each other in groups with a flag as a sign of indication so that others can follow them if they forget directions or cannot track each other during Medaram Jatara festival in Telangana.

Mulugu: While millions of people from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are visiting here to attend the festival in a span of four days to offer prayers to goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma, the devotees have come with a unique idea to keep a track of their family members if they lost contact with each other in this huge rush.

Several security arrangements are being made to manage the traffic and crowd, but still, people are leading their groups with a flag as a sign of indication so that others can follow them if they forget directions or cannot track each other.

Devotees mark a sign on their flag so that it can be easy for their family members to differentiate it from others.

If a person gets lost he/she can easily trace the group by searching and identify their group flag.

The four-day tribal festival Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara is being celebrated in Medaram village of Mulugu district in Telangana.

The four-day mega tribal festival will conclude on February 8.

The state government has released Rs 75 crore for providing necessary facilities for the devotees.

Around 12,000 policemen have been deployed to oversee security arrangements.

As many as 300 CCTV cameras and 10 drone cameras were installed as part of the security detail, it added.

State-owned TSRTC is operating 4,000 bus services to ferry people to and from Medaram.

During the Jatara, declared a state festival by the Telangana government, tribal devotees offer obeisance to goddesses Sammakka and her daughter Saralamma.

As per folklore, the festival commemorates the fight of Sammakka and Saralamma against the oppression of Kakatiya rulers. On the first day, the arrival of Saralamma on the 'Medaram Gaddhe' (platform) is celebrated while the second day marks the arrival of Sammakka.

White jaggery is the traditional offering made to the two deities.

Devotees often offer jaggery equivalent to their weight to Sammakka and Saralamma.

They also take a holy bath in Jampanna Vagu (stream).