MEDARAM: Tribals from various states attending the biennial Medaram Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara continue to uphold the spirit of defiance and sacrifice shown by Sammakka and her entire family to protect their land from Kakatiyan King Prataparudra’s invasion. Koya priests hold the rituals with utmost devotion. However, over the decades, a new form of cultural, economic, political and religious invasion as affected the indigenous character of the fair.
Ippah sara made of Mahua flowers, which was traditionally offered to the deities has been substituted by whiskey. Prasadam made of jaggery is slowly being replaced by laddoos for devotees. The carnival atmosphere on the streets speaks in itself of the non-tribal ways of worship, with Potharajus and Teenmaar beats are replaced by traditional tribal folklore, though not entirely. Devotees have started displaying new forms of Sammakka. Some show her as Hindu goddess Durga holding sword and a trident in her hands, sitting on a lion, tiger or a deer.
In the fascination for balloon and helicopter rides, somewhere the tribal connection with nature has started disappearing. “The priests who perform rituals are given lot of importance during the Jatara. Later, nobody cares about them. The tribals whose lands are being used for the festivities have been approaching courts due to delayed and low compensation. Stalls are allotted to tribals, but there is no financial support to help them operate. As a result, non-tribals become the vendors through a kind of subcontracting agreement for which tribals are paid less. Most of the lands in Medaram are under the control of non-tribals who have made the tribal people indebted. They have been reduced to labourers and tribal priests, to occasionally paraded idols.” said Gondi Venkata Ramana, a tribal welfare activist.
There is little representation of tribals in the Jatara committee. Sources tell Express that higher-ups of alcohol and jaggery syndicate hold much authority in the committee. “There are places like Bayyakkapeta, Kannepalli, Kondai, Poonugondla, which are associated with Sammakka’s family members, where rituals are held. But since the fair is held at Medaram, those villages get neglected. If Medaram has to be developed under the tribal circuit, all historic dots need to be connected. Otherwise, the story of their valour and sacrifice may be lost in this invasion against tribal culture,” said Gummadi Lakshminarayana, a member of Adivasi Writers’ Forum.