At Medaram, deep in the forests of the Mulugu district of Telangana, is honoured the Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara — one of the largest gatherings of people anywhere in the world, held every two years to worship the tribal Mother-goddesses Sammakka and her daughter Saralamma. Revered by the Koya people as manifestations of the Adi Parashakti, the two are remembered in legend as a warrior-mother and daughter who gave their lives resisting injustice, and who live on as protecting deities of the forest.
Conducted entirely according to Koya tradition by tribal priests, the Jatara draws many millions of devotees to the remote forest shrine, who offer jaggery (bangaram) and bathe in the sacred Jampanna Vagu. Sammakka and Saralamma are among the most powerful folk-goddesses of the Deccan.
