The Thousand Pillar Temple or Rudreswara Swamy Temple వేయి స్తంభాల గుడి''is a historic

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

located in the town of Hanamakonda,

Telangana State Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is dedicated to Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

and

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...

. Thousand Pillar Temple, along with

Warangal Fort Warangal Fort is located in Warangal District, Telangana, India. It was the capital city of Kakatiya dynasty and Musunuri Nayakas. It appears to have existed since at least the 12th century when it was the capital of the Kakatiyas. The fort has ...

, Kakatiya Kala Thoranam and

Ramappa Temple Ramappa Temple, also known as the Rudreshwara temple, is a Kakatiya style Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva, located in Telangana, India. It is from Mulugu, from Warangal, from Hyderabad. An inscription in the temple says it was cons ...

are added to the tentative list of

World Heritage sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

recognised by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

History

Many Hindu temples were developed under the patronage of Ganapati Deva,

Rudrama Devi Rudrama Devi, also Maharani Rudramma Devi, was a queen of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263 to 1289 (or 1295) until her death. She was among the women to rule as monarchs in India and promoted a male image in order to do so ...

and

Prataparudra Pratāparudra (r. c. 1289–1323), also known as Rudradeva II, was the last ruler of the Kakatiya dynasty of India. He ruled the eastern part of Deccan, with his capital at Warangal. Prataparudra succeeded his grandmother Rudramadevi as the Kak ...

who were of

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

. The Thousand Pillar Temple was believed to be constructed during the period between 1175–1324 CE by order of the king, Rudra Deva. It stands out to be a masterpiece and achieved major heights in terms of architectural skills by the ancient Kakatiya Vishwakarma Sthapathis (Architect). The Executive officer of the subject temple is P.Venugopal. It was desecrated by the

Tughlaq dynasty The Tughlaq dynasty ( fa, ), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Indo- Turkic origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the ...

during their invasion of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

. However, the 7th

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age of ...

) donated a grant of 1

Lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

INR towards the reconstruction of this temple. Nandi Thousand Pillar Temple

Architecture

The Thousand Pillar Temple with its ruins lies near the Hanamkonda-Warangal Highway in Telangana State, about from the city of

. Rudreswara Temple locally known as Veyisthambala Gudi (Thousand pillars temple) is one of the fine and earliest available examples of Kakatiya art, architecture and sculpture. It was built by Rudra Deva and named after him as ‘Sri Rudreswara Swamy temple with the presiding deity as Rudreswara, in 1163 AD in the style of later Chalukyan and early Kakatiyan Architecture, star-shaped and triple shrined (Trikutalaya). The temple is a fine specimen of architecture and sculpture with One thousand pillars. There are richly carved pillars, perforated screens, exquisite icons, rock cut elephants and the monolithic dolerite Nandi as components of the temple. Strengthening of foundations like sandbox technique, the skill of Kakatiya sculptors is manifest in adroit craftsmanship and flawless ivory carving technique in their art. The ingenuity of Kakatiya sculptors is visible in likes of lathe turned, and shiny polish in dolerite and granite stone sculpture and craftwork of Nava Rangamandapa. The temple was renovated in 2004 by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

and modern engineers have been working for the temple's further renovation.

Transport

The nearest railway station is

Warangal railway station Warangal Railway station (station code: WL) is located in Warangal city, Telangana state in southern India. The station and all trains are operated by Indian Railways' Secunderabad railway division, which is part of the South Central Railway Z ...

, which is away from the temple.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) is an international airport that serves Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Shamshabad, about south of Hyderabad and it was opened on 23 March 2008 to replace ...

is the nearest airport to this temple.

References

External links

{{commons category, Thousand Pillar Temple
Picture of 1000 Pillar Temple
Shiva temples in India Archaeological sites in Telangana Tourist attractions in Warangal