The magnificent temple of the thousand pillars at Hanamkonda is one of the most important parts of the Warangal City. The temple was constructed in the 1162 – 1163 AD by the great Prataparudradeva I/ Rudradeva and the deity is Rudreshwara Swamy, a personification of Lord Shiva.
The temple has an old and long history and dates back to the Chalukyan era. Constructed in the 1163 AD by Rudra Deva, Thousand Pillar Temple in Hanamkonda is one of the finest specimens of Kakatiya architecture and sculp- ture. The temple depicts the typical Chalukyan style of architecture.
While the gopuram (tower) was tragically knocked down by vandal invaders, the main structure itself has managed to survive the test of time. The pillars of the temple in particular are known for their detail, design, and resplen- dent polish.
The temple base is a star shaped with three shrines devoted to Rudradeva (Siva), Vasude- va (Vishnu) and Surya (Sun). Siva’s shrine faces east and other shrines face south and west. On the fourth side is Nandi. Adding to the unique- ness, the Nandi in the Thousand Pillar temple looks east, unlike most Nandis in Indian temples that look west facing Lord Siva.
The main deities are arranged in square sanctums fronted by an antarala leading to a common natya mantapa with a long portico entrance from the south. Between the temple and the portico entrance from the pavilion, houses a huge monolithic Nandi made of black basalt open to the sky. Behind the Nandi, there existed a splendid edifice, a hall of columns, nearly 300 in number called the Kalyana Mandapam. Though there are sup- posed to be 1000 pillars in the building complex, yet no pillar obstructs a person standing at any point of the temple from viewing the deity in the other temple.
Every part of the temple depicts the typical Chalukya style of architecture. The Thousand Pillar temple has three presiding deities, Lord Vishnu, Shiva and Surya Deva. The temple stands as a statement of the finest of arts of the Kakatiyas. It is dedicated -to the god Rudra, the thunderer, who seems to have been the tutelary deity of the Kakatiyas, and contains, carved on a :square pillar in what is now an outlying portion of the temple, a long Sanskrit inscription “Mahamandaleshwara (‘l the great Lord “) Rudradeva, son of Prolaraia, Jagatikesarin Kakatiya, son and successor of Tribhuvana Betmaraja of Warangal.
The temple also contains another inscription of much later date, in Telugu, which commemorates the heroism of a Muhammadean general named Shitab Khan.
The existence in a Hindu temple of an inscription written in a Hindu language in praise of a Muhammadan general
The sculptural beauty of the temple is a reminiscent of the rich cultural of heritage of Kakatiya Kingdom.
The intricate designs and carvings at the temple have always been a riddle to common public visiting the temple from different parts of the country and the world.
The super structure consists essential of stone columns and roof with plan dimensions of 31 m X 25m. All the pillars are carved out of coarse-grained porpheritic granite and dolerite.
The shrines have no deities except for a ‘Lingam’ in one of them. The huge granite Nandi, which is a splendid specimen of monolith. The Nandi figure measuring six feet in height presents itself in beautiful form with exquisitely chiseled ornaments and garlands.
The Thousand Pillar Temple perched elegantly on the slope of a hillock is one of the finest specimens showcasing the rich architectural legacy and skill in stone sculpting of the Kakati- ya Period. The rock-cut elephants on either side of the main shrine and the black basalt Nandi measuring about 6 ft in height, clearly brings out the fine carving skills of these craftsmen. Their mastery is evident from the richly carved pillars in the main temple.
This temple is one of the important tourist attractions in the city with most visitors of all the other tourist places. Almost on an average 1500-1600 visitors visit the temple every day.
The historic Thousand Pillar temple Located in the Hanamkonda part of the Warangal City, the great legacy of Kakatiya kings,
The temple was Constructed in the 1163 AD by Kakatiya king Rudradeva. The temple deity is Rudreshwara Swamy, a personification of Lord Shiva since the Kakatiya kings had a special devotion for Shiva.
About Us: Thousand Pillar Temple
The Thousand Pillar Temple is one of the very old temples of South India that was built by the kakatiyas. It stands out to be a masterpiece and achieved major heights in terms of architectural skills by the ancient kakathiya vishwakarma sthapathis. It is believed that the Thousand Pillar Temple was built by King Rudra Deva in 1163 AD. The Thousand Pillar Temple is a specimen of the Kakatiyan style of architecture of the 12th century. It was destroyed by the Tughlaq dynasty during their invasion of South India. It consists one temple and other building. There are one thousand pillars in the building and the temple, but no pillar obstructs a person in any point of the temple to see the god in the other temple.
The present day engineers have taken out all the pillars from the building. After they lifted all the pillars they encountered a huge mass of sand. It took nearly two weeks for them to take away all the sand. It was wet sand, because of a pipe connection from the nearby water body named Bhadrakali Cheruvu.
నగరం నడిబోడ్డులో ఉన్న వేయిస్తమబాల దేవాలయం కాకతీయుల కళాత్మక కట్టడాలకి మరో నిదర్శనం . ఇక్కడ రుద్రేశ్వర స్వామి కొలువు తీరి ఉన్నాడు . సుమారు 12వ శతాబ్దం లో నిర్మించిన ఈ దేవాలయం కాకతీయ వంశానికి చెందినా రుద్రదేవుడు నిర్మించాడు .
చుట్టూ లెక్కకు మించి చెక్కిన శిల్పాన్ని తిలిఅకించెన్దుకు వరుసగా సుమారు 10 అడుగుల ప్రదిక్షణ పథం ,తొమ్మిది అడుగుల ఎత్తైన ద్వారం ఉంది . దీనికి ఎదురుగా సురయలయం ,దక్ష్నబిముకంగా వాసుదేవలయం ఉండటం వాళ్ళ దిన్ని త్త్రికుటలయంగా ప్రసిద్ది చెందింది . ఆలయ ప్రాంగణం లో నల్ల రాతి తో చెక్కిన్ నంది విగ్రహం నిజమైన వ్రుశాబరాజం ల అ జీవ కళా ఉట్టిపడుతుంది . ఆలయానికి ముందు బాగంలో నంది విగ్రహం మనికీరితంగా చెప్పవొచ్చు. ఆలయ పీటం కూడా నక్షత్రక్రుతి త్రికుటఆలయాల మద్య సన్నని నల్ల రాతి చెక్కడాలు,వలయాకార దర్పణం ల కనబడుతుంది ..వాటి పైన పడిన సూర్య కాంతి గర్భ గుడికి వేలుగునివ్వడం ఇక్కడి ప్రత్యేకత . మహాశివరాత్రి పర్వదినా మహోత్సవాలు ఇక్కడ వైభవంగా జరుగుతాయి .
Location :
Country: India
State: Telangana
City: Warangal Town,Telangana.
Temple Timings : 6 am – 12: 00 pm and 5 pm – 8: 00 pm
How to Reach : Number of Busses from Hyderabad.
