Adivasi activists are enthused by the decision of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to include images of Medaram Sammakka Saralamma and Nagoba goddesses in the new Telangana state emblem. Sammakka (mother) and Saralamma (daughter) were considered Adivasi warriors who fought against the Kakatiya rulers' oppressive actions as also suppression of their rights.
The Medaram Jatara that takes place in Mulugu district is considered the biggest Adivasi congregation and festival in the Asian continent. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Medaram Sammakka Saralamma temple priests’ association president Siddaboyina Jaggarao said, “We have been offering pujas and Jaggery (bangaram) to the Narapa tree by considering it sacred and auspicious.” He said it would be good if an image of a Narapa tree wrapped in saris is incorporated in the Telangana emblem as a symbol of Adivasi culture.
“The Narapa tree that was in the premise of the Medaram temple for many years was uprooted in rains and heavy winds a few years ago,” said Jaggarao. He said they had planted a new tree in the same place and raising it by erecting a fence around it. Jaggarao said right now they have a trunk of the fallen Narapa tree and sarees wrapped around it.
They also keep a few bamboo tree branches beside it and are worshipping and offering jaggery to these by symbolically considering them as their traditional Sammakka and Saralamma goddesses. “There is special significance to bamboo, turmeric and ‘Kunkuma’ in our .