Full of mystique and frenzy, the Medaram Jathara celebrates the valour of two goddesses.
This is not an unusual story at the Sammakka-Sarakka Jathara, a biennial tribal festival that attracts lakhs of people from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand. For many tribal women, giving birth during the four-day jathara—said to be the largest in the country after the Kumbh Mela—is the ultimate blessing from goddess Sammakka and her daughter, Sarakka.
In 2016, seven deliveries were recorded at the hospital mentioned above—one of the 41 run by the state government during the festival. This year, there were two deliveries on the first day of the festival. “It is their sentiment. How can we discourage them?” asked Dr K. Dayananda Swamy, who is in charge of the hospital. “The mothers and the newborns are healthy. We are there to take care of them.”
This story is from the July 08, 2018 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the July 08, 2018 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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