Erakeswara Temple is a

Saivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

Hindu temple located in the western side of Pillalamarri village,

Suryapet district Suryapet district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Suryapet is the district headquarters. The district has three revenue divisions Suryapet, Kodad and Huzurnagar. It is sub-divided into 23 mandals. The district shares b ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The temple was built on the banks of the Musi river in by Erakasani, the wife of Bēti Reddi of the Recherla family who were the feudatories of

Kakatiyas The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their territory comprised much of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and p ...

. Erakeswara Temple is one among the four prominent and intricately carved stone and granite temples located in Pillalamarri village—the other three are about 250 metres east of the Erakeswara temple. These include the double temples next to each other: Nameswara Temple and Trikuteswara Temple (both

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

); and the third being the Chennakesava Temple (

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

) in ruins that is a few hundred feet southwest of the double temples. They are all from 12th to early 13th century period.

Location

Pillalamarri is located at a distance of 8 km northwest of

Suryapet Suryapet, also natively spelt as Suryapeta, is a city in the Indian state of Telangana. It is a municipality and the headquarters of its Suryapet district, eponymous district. The Government of India announced Suryapet to be developed under the ...

town, off highway 65. Suryapet is located at a distance of 153 km from Hyderabad on the

National Highway 65 The following highways are numbered 65: International * AH65, Asian Highway 65 * European route E65 Canada * Highway 65 (Ontario) China * G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway, G65 Expressway France * Autoroute A65 (France), Autoroute A65 Germ ...

History

The temple was built in the early 13th century (c. 12031208 CE) by the Recherla chiefs who served as the feudatories of

. One inscription notes that Erakasani, the wife of Bēti Reddi of the Recherla family built the temple in 1208 CE in Pillalamarri. The deity Erakeswara is named after her, meaning "lord of Eraka". The temple was vandalised during the raids of

Alauddin Khilji Alauddin Khalji (; ), born Ali Gurshasp, was a ruler from the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes in the Delhi Sultanate, related to revenue ...

into the Deccan region in the early 14th century. An inscription dated to 1357 CE records the re-establishment of Lord Erakeswara by a local feudatory chief serving Kapaya Nayaka of Musunuri Nayaka dynasty. Prominent stone inscriptions in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

about the history of the temple and of Pillalamarri are displayed in the temple premises. One of the stone inscriptions is dated to 1195 CE (Saka. 1117) and mentions the rule of Pratapa Rudra I. Another stone inscription dates to 1208 CE (

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

. 1130) and makes a reference to the reign of Ganapati Deva. One of the earliest archaeological surveys and documentation of this temple was completed over 1926 and 1927 by

Ghulam Yazdani Ghulam Yazdani, OBE (22 March 1885 – 13 November 1962) was an Indian archaeologist who was one of the founders of the Archaeological Department during the colonial era reign of Nizam of Hyderabad. He also edited the Arabic and Persian Supple ...

– an archaeologist and epigraphist, and published in 1929. In this study, the four temples at Pillalamarri were in ruined state and incorrectly named as: *Someswara Gudi (now identified as Erakeswara Temple or Yerakeswara) *Narasimhadeva temple (now Nameswara temple) *Mukandesvara temple (now Trikuteswara temple) *Rameswara temple (now Chennakesava temple) According to Yazdani, the temple in the northwest part of the village (Someswara, now Erakeswara) has several inscriptions, but some were modern. The Hindu masons of the medieval period had miscalculated the weights and this, he proposed, was the cause of the ruins and sunken floors he witnessed. The local ruler, patron and the builder of this and two other temples in the village was the Namireddi family, a

Shudra Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu class and social system in ancient India. Some sources translate it into English as a caste, or as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like work ...

by caste according to the genealogy inscribed on the stone in one of the temples, states Yazdani.Ghulam Yazdani (1929), ''Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness the Nizam's Dominions for 1336 F (1926-1927 AD)'', Archaeological Department of Hyderabad, Baptist Mission Press, pp. 1–3, Quote (p. 3): "The genealogy of Namireddi, who was a Sudra by caste, is given in the inscription on the pillar."

Architecture

The architectural style of the temple is close to Ramappa temple and

Kota Gullu Ghanpur temples, popularly known as Kota Gullu, are a group of 12th century stone temples that are located in Ghanpur near Warangal in Telangana, India. They are located 9 km northwest of the more famous Ramappa Temple in Palampet. Hist ...

, other Kakatiya era temples. The temple is placed on an ''upapitha'' and is

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

in shape. It has three

porticos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

in the east, north and south and a garbhalaya in the west. The

sikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

on the inner sanctum ( garbhagudi) is made of brick and lime and is decorated all over by miniature turrets. It is said that the stone used in temple construction has interesting acoustic properties. When the temple stone is tapped with a coin, it sounds like metal. The temple has intricately carved pillars and walls. The temple walls are painted with

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Gallery

File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 03.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 15.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 20.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 30.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 26.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 29.jpg File:Sri Erakeswara temple in Pillalamari.jpg File:Sculpture inside Pillalamari Temple - 2aef.jpg File:Sculpture inside Pillalamari Temple.jpg File:Erakesvara temple, Pillalamarri, Suryapet district, Telangana 16.jpg, Inscription pillar

References

External links

* * * {{Hindu Temples in Telangana Shiva temples in Telangana Hindu temples in Telangana Suryapet district Hindu temples in Suryapet district Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent Monuments of National Importance in Telangana