Architectural excellence of 1000 pillar temple at Hanamkonda in Warangal

As mentioned in my previous post, we had been to Hanamkonda on a recent official trip. On Srirama Navami day, we had the darshan of Goddess Bhadrakali in the ancient Bhadrakali temple. From here we made our way to the famous World Heritage Site i.e the thousand pillar temple which is not far off from Bhadrakali temple.

1000 pillar temple is known as 'Veyyistambhala Gudi' in Telugu language. This is an ancient temple with historical importance that dates back to the Chalukya period. 1000 pillar temple is one of the topmost tourist attractions of Telangana. The temple is in the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites along with other two sites of the place i.e Warangal Fort and Ramappa Temple, which are of historical importance.

Let's have a peep into the history of the famous ancient temple. The temple stands as an architectural excellence of the Kakatiya rule. It is the masterpiece of architectural skills of the Kakatiya period and depicts the Chalukyan style of architecture. The temple was constructed in the 12th century C.E (Current Era) by King Rudra Deva.

There are three shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Surya Deva, inside the temple. However, the main deity of the temple is Sri Rudreswara Swamy which is one of the names of Lord Shiva. There is a huge monolithic statue of Nandi - the Divine Bull which is made of black basalt rock. This is the 'vahanam' i.e the divine vehicle of Lord Shiva. This is one of the main attractions of the temple where tourists take clicks.

The temple stands on a one metre high platform and is built in a star shape. The temple is supported by finely carved stone pillars. Hence the name 1000 pillar temple. You will awed to see the architectural expertise of the period. There are even finely carved sculptures on the temple walls.

We were astonished at the architectural wonder as inspite of the scorching heat outside, it's literally too cool inside the temple. You don't need ACs or air coolers inside to keep you cool. Hats off to the engineering excellence of the craftsmen of the ancient times and the techniques adopted those days to keep you cool with no ACs and air coolers.

This really gave me a thought. How nice it would be, if only those age old engineering techniques could be adopted in the present days construction works, so that there could be much of energy saving and less of environmental pollution.

In addition to the architectural marvel, the ancient star shaped temple stands a testimony of time. The temple is easily reachable as it is located in the heart of the city. It remains open for the tourists from 5 a.m to 9 p.m on all the 7 days of the week. The govt of Telangana along with the Tourism Dept and taking all necessary steps to preserve the ancient architecture excellence of the Kakatiya period.

Of course, there is much of shopping around the temple where you can get antique collections and divine materials. Though a hectic visit, yet it was a great trip as we got an opportunity to peep into the history and our rich cultural heritage. Great experience.

Peep into the tribal life at Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum in Srisailam

Comparatively it's a small museum yet worth a visit, particularly for those who are keen on having a peep into the Indian tribal life / culture. Museum opens at 8.30 a.m and closes at 8 p.m. There are very few visitors at this place, may be many don't know that there is one such museum in Srisailam. The entry ticket is at a very low price i.e Rs.20/- per person and Rs.10/- per child for children in the age group of 5 to 10 years.






On entering inside the gate, you can see properly maintained greenery and some ethnic structures all around.


In the garden, there is life-size statutes of a tribal couple and


the statue of Chenchu Lakshmi.


Let me give you a briefing on 'Chenchu Lakshmi'. According to legends, it is believed that Goddess Lakshmi Devi incarnated as an adivasi (tribal) woman in the Chenchu tribal community. She was a brave woman and skilled archer who married to Lord Narasimha Swamy in His human form.

On entering inside the museum through the arch shaped structure,



you can see the life-size statue of an Adivasi (tribal) snake charmer sitting on stones in front of the ant hill in a typical posture and playing music with the traditional piper.



After clicking this wonderful tribal statue, I was told that taking photos inside the museum is strictly prohibited. So, I kept my cam inside the bag, went round the museum to have a glimpse of the Indian tribes and their lifestyle.



As you go up the stairs, you can see a tribal couple sitting inside a thatched hut and extracting honey from the comb while a man repairs his bow standing out the hut. You can see the typical ethnic house hold stuff like earthen pot, bamboo containers and a dappu (local traditional drum).



On going further up the stairs, there is the statue of a man repairing his dappu inside the hut. Few local stuff like the two-piece grinding stone (known as 'tiragali' in Telugu language), a bamboo basket and few iron things scattered inside the hut.



Likewise, you get to see the tribal life / culture of following Indian tribal communities:



Khond - Khonds live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar. They are also called Khands.



Yerukala - 'Yerukala' community lives in Andhra Pradesh and they call themselves 'kurru'. The women of this community are basically fortune-tellers. However, their population is gradually diminishing. They speak Yerukala language.



Savara -  Savaras live in the Eastern Ghats of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. They make their settlements on the hill slopes. They speak Savara language.



Yanadi - Yanadi tribal community live in the districts of Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh. They mingle with the non-tribal community and speak Telugu language.



Gond - Gonds live in Central India and are concentrated in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. They are spread in Madhya Pradesh, parts of Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Gonds speak the local language of the state in which they live.



Kolam - This tribal community are inhabitants of Adilabad district of Telangana. They speak Kolami language



Deva Chenchu - Chenchus are spread across the districts of Mahboobnagar (Telangana), Kurnool district (Andhra Pradesh), Prakasam (Andhra Pradesh) and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh). They speak chenchu language. The tribes of this community strongly believe that they are the descendants of Chenchu Lakshmi and Lord Mallikarjuna.



After getting around the small dome shaped tribal museum, you get to know much about the tribal life and their culture as you read the detailed information written about these tribal communities, on the walls.



The tribal museum in Srisailam is one of the best places for a family visit. From this place we continued our return journey and spent few enjoyable moments at Phaladhara Panchadhara.

Close to Nature at Phaladhara and Panchadhara near Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh

On the first day in the auspicious Hindu month of Karthik, we had an unplanned road trip to Srisailam. After the divine darshan of Lord Mallikarjuna and Goddess Brahmarambica, we returned to Hyderabad the next day.
On our return trip, we peeped into the tribal life at Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum and spent some time amidst nature at Phaladhara and Panchadhara.



According to historical records, Adi Shankaracharya meditated at this serene valley when the divine compositions of Sivanandalahari and Soundaryalahari overflowed from his the thoughts.



To reach Phaladhara - Panchadhara you have to go down the steep steps made of stones. While going down the steps you can see our forefathers (I mean, monkeys) on the valley side. Be careful!


On the other side, there are few tribal people who sit with parrots in cages and tarot cards. They earn their livelihood through parrot astrology (known as chilaka jyotsyam in Telugu). They charge Rs.20/- per head. Just for fun, you can get your tarot card picked by the parrot but don't get too much involved in this.

After going down the steps, nearly 200 steps, you reach the spot where you can see Mother Nature at Her best - greenery all around in the valley, steep rocky slopes and streams of water that flow down the rocky slopes. These streams of waterfalls are known as Phaladhara Panchadhara by the local people as they believe that the stream (dhara in Telugu) originated from the 'phala' (i.e forehead) of Lord Mallikarjuna (Shiva). They also believe that the streams signify the pancha bhoota (five elements) lingams of Lord Shiva. Hence they named it Phaladhara Panchadhara.



This is one of the most visited places in Srisailam and you can see many tourists in this place. There is a small Shiva Lingam below the falls which gets continuous 'abhishekam'. The scene reminded me of the famous Bahubali 1 scene when the lead role actor carries the huge Shiva Lingam on his shoulders and places it below the mighty waterfalls.



At this place, the tourists are crowded. They are filling their palms with water and pouring it on Shiva Lingam. And also drinking the crystal clear stream water.



All around there are many medicinal trees some of which are very old with deep rooted aerial roots. After spending some time amidst Mother Nature, we climbed up the stairs, refreshed with a hot cup of tea in the local restaurant on the roadside and continued our return journey.



This is one of the best spots in Srisailam where you can spend some time for mental peace and relaxation.

Hyderabad to Srisailam - Ghat road journey through Nallamala forest

Srisailam is a holy temple town located on the mountains of Nallamala mountain range in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy temple is one of the Dwadasa Jyotirlingas (i.e the 12 illuminated lingas). Goddess Brahmarambica Devi temple located within the same temple premises is one of the 'ashtadasa shaktipeethams' (i.e the 18 power packed temples of Goddess Parvati).

The presence of both 'jyothirlinga' and 'shakti peetham' within the same premises is the uniqueness of the temple which made it one of the most holy pilgrim places. Devotees from across the country visit the temple and it is heavily flooded with devotees on festive days like Maha Shivaratri and during the sacred Hindu month of Kartikam.

Srisailam is located at a distance of around 250 Km from Hyderabad and is well connected with many important places of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. There are frequent Road Transport Corporation (RTC) buses operated by A.P and Telangana. However, a car drive through the ghat roads of Nallamala Forest more enjoyable and equally thrilling.

On the first day of Kartika Masam i.e the next day after Deepavali, we went on a road trip to Srisailam from Hyderabad in our own car. It was a pleasant sunny day and we left at around 11.30 a.m. On the way, you come across Dindi Reservoir. We could see some travelers halted at this place, so we too stopped for a while to have the look at the reservoir. But I think, it's just time waste and there is nothing much to enjoy at this place.

We continued our ride after having garam chai (hot tea) at a local road side dhaba. It was afternoon when we entered the ghat road of Nallamala forest. There was no much traffic. My 8 year old daughter got thrilled when our car journeyed through the ghat roads. She was more thrilled on seeing our forefathers, hehe, I mean troops of monkeys through out the journey. We almost reached a height and the view below was awesome. The road through the journey is smooth and even, of course with speed breakers, so we had a smooth drive. There are no dhabas or road side vendors all along the ghat road. We could see some travelers taking a break for refreshment amidst nature in the forest. Travelers need to be careful during heavy rainfalls as the boulders many fall down on the ghat road. After a long long ride through the dense forests on either side of the ghat road, there we could see the Srisailam Dam. It was awesome.



Many travelers halted at this view point. We too stopped here for a while, had tea, took few shots of the scenic beauty and continued our drive through winding roads and then across the road bridge.Before entering into Srisailam, we had the darshan of Sakshi Ganapati. We continued our drive. On entering into Srisailam, you can see the huge seating statue of Lord Dakshinamurty.
It was evening, by the time we reached SriVidya Sivananda Trust where we had reasonably good accommodation and pure vegetarian food. (This is one of the best accommodations for Brahmins, particularly Telugu Brahmins where you get home-made food and homely stay).
After refreshing ourselves we visited the temple at around 6.30 p.m. As it was the first day of Kartika Masam, the line was too long for free darshan. We took tickets for Seeghra Darshan @ Rs.150/- per person at the counter and were seated in one of the compartments. It took nearly two hours for us to have the darshan of Lord Mallikarjuna.

It is customary to stay overnight in Srisailam. The next day, we started our return journey at around 1 p.m and on the way we visited few places like Mallamma temple, Go Garbham cave, Bheemuni padalu, Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum and Paladhara Panchadhara.
On our return journey through Nallamala forest, the sky turned reddish orange as the sun set.
That was indeed an exciting and enjoyable road trip to Srisailam from Hyderabad.
Coming up with my next posts exclusively on Mallikarjuna Swamy temple.