CM KCR visits Medaram jatara, announces Rs.200 Crore for jatara

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 11:37 AM

CM KCR visits Medaram jatara, announces Rs.200 Crore for jatara

Medaram, Feb 03: The Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday announced a special fund of Rs 200 crore to provide permanent facilities at the abode of Sammakka and Saralamma, the tribal deities worshipped biennially as part of the jatara.

He also announced that he would take up the issue of getting the festival a national tag during his next visit to New Delhi.

The Chief Minister had darshan of the deities amid tight security and made the ritual offerings, fulfilling his solemn promises that he had made at the height of the fight for Telangana State.

Later, speaking to mediapersons, he said: "Medaram Jatara is the Kumbh of the South, and it deserves the tag of national festival. Despite our representations to the Centre, it has not been considered yet. I will bring it to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on my next visit to New Delhi."

Stating that the deities were worshiped once in two years, Chandrashekhar Rao said devotees were now thronging Medaram every day on a large scale. "There should be adequate facilities to meet the needs of devotees almost on a permanent basis. The venue around the "Gadde", the platform on which the deities are worshipped, needs to be expanded further," he observed, adding that the government would acquire 200 to 300 acres of land in its vicinity.

Chandrashekar Rao was accompannied by wife Shobha, daughter and Nizamabad MP Kavitha, grandson Himanshu and other family members. He offered 'Bangaram' (jaggery) equivalent to his weight to the goddesses and also presented sarees to them. Speaking about what he had wished this time, he said he prayed for removal of hurdles in the path of irrigation projects.