Sammakka Saralamma Temple Medaram

Sammakka Saralamma Temple is located in Medaram Village of Tadvai Mandal deep in the heart of the thick forests of Mulugu district- Andhra Pradesh.Sammakka and Saralamma are revered by devotees as tribal goddesses, and devotees make offerings to propitiate them to bestow health and wealth.

Once in 2 years Sammakka-Sarakka jatara , billed as the country’s biggest tribal fair, to commemorate a tribal revolt led by Sammakka and Saralamma, a mother-daughter duo, against levy of taxes on tribal people during drought conditions by the then Kakatiya rulers in the 12th century.

Temple Legend
Legend has it that in the 12th century, a tribal chieftain Medaraju of ‘Polavasa’ region (undivided Karimnagar district in modern times) found a baby in a forest during a hunting spree. He named her Sammakka, brought her up and got her married to Pagidigidda Raju, a tribal leader of Medaram, who was a feudatory of Kakatiya rulers. Sammakka had three children Nagulamma, Saralamma (Sammakka) and Jampanna.

When the then Kakatiya king insisted on payment of taxes by people of Medaram despite drought, Pagidigidda Raju refused to obey his diktat. Enraged over this, the king announced a war on Medaram and deployed a large contingent of his army.

Undeterred by the military might of the Kakatiya reign, Sammakka and her husband joined the battle. Sammakka, unfazed by the death of her husband, daughter and son, continued the fight and suffered grievous injuries. She vanished into Chilakalagutta hillock nearby and the locals found a container of vermillion on the hillock. They believed Sammakka had turned into a goddess to protect them with her divinity.

The jatara symbolises the traditions and heritage of the Koya tribal people.One of the striking features of the tribal fair is the offering of jaggery to the tribal goddess at the altars (bamboo poles). It encompasses common features of tribal fairs – die-hard devotees going into a trance besides pulsating traditional drum beats accompanying folk songs.