Venkaiah Naidu says, Medaram jathara is 'Khumbha Mela' of South

Medaram, Feb 03: The Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday had darshan of the tribal deities Sammakka and Saralamma at the Medaram shrine. The flow of devotees into the temple was stopped for some time due to his arrival.

The Vice President reached here on Friday on a chopper and offered special prayers to tribal deities. He presented silk clothes and yellow colored sarees to Sammakka and Sarakka, Pagididdaraju and Govindaraju respectively.

Following the customs, he also offered his weight in jaggery. The tribals consider jaggery as gold and offer it to the deities.

Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari, Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary and endowments minister A. Indrakaran Reddy welcomed Mr Naidu.

The Vice-President said he was happy to have come to 'the tribal Kumbh mela'. Mr Naidu said he had visited Medaram earlier but the place had changed completely. There was the need to preserve Adivasi traditions, he said. "From the helicopter, the congregation of devotees looks great. It shows the integrity of the nation. It is amazing to see so many people from different parts of the country visiting Medaram.

There is a need for national recognition for this jatara. It is amazing how devotees from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh are coming this far to seek blessings of Sammakka and Saralamma," he said.