INSIDE STORY
Treasure trove of history
LAKSHMI SHARATH
| Heritage A trip to the cradle of the Kakatiya dynasty |
Rich architecture The 1,000-pillar temple
It is like Hyderabad and Secunderabad,” says my driver, Salim interrupting my reverie as we enter Hanumakonda. Warangal, the town’s twin, is less than 10 km away. My guide book says that Hanumakonda was the capital of the Kakatiyas before Warangal. The towns, however, merge with each other as you drive past the busy market road with retail brands jostling for space.
Hoardings scream for attention, but I hardly see any heritage relevance. Huge sacks of onions and potatoes are being piled up in the local grocery shops. It is nowhere close to the idyllic historic town that I had painted in my mind.
The Kakatiyas were ancient rulers of today’s Andhra Pradesh and some historians refer to the period somewhere in the middle of the 7th Century where Hieun Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim has referred to the kingdom of Danakaktiya.
However, early records show them as feudal lords of the Western Chalukyas around the 10th Century.
The beginning
The reign probably starts with Betaraja 1, followed by his descendants, Prola Raja1 and Thirubhuvanamalla Beta 11. Hanumakonda, which was secured as a grant by Prola Raja 1 from the Western Chalukyas, was the capital of the dynasty which had just started establishing itself.
There is history at the end of every street. Salim stops in front of a lane that and we follow him. The narrow congested lane leads to the Veyyi Stambhala Gudi, better known as the 1,000-pillar temple, built in the 12th Century. The temple is now under renovation.
A local said the temple has been under renovation for a while now and that a mandapam with over 400 pillars has been dismantled. Many wells were discovered here and it is believed that the temple may have been built on water, and taken more than 70 years to build.
The ASI board gave us more information. The temple built by Rudra Deva 1 or Prataparudra in 12th Century was dedicated to the deities, Shiva,Vishnu and Surya.
The pillars graced the mantapa and the area between the main shrine and the mantapa was a pavilion for a massive nandi.
The priest explains: “The Kakatiyas wanted the first rays of the sun to fall on the Linga. So, while his shrine faces east, the others face South and West. The Nandi looks Eastward.”
We move on towards Warangal and arrive at the Bhadrakali temple in Hanumakonda en route to old Warangal.
The priest tells us that the patron deity of the Kakatiyas is goddess Kakati. A town called Kakatipura was the earliest fiefdom, even before Hanumakonda. It is assumed that Kakatipura is present-day Warangal.
We proceed to the old town that even Marco Polo has written about in his travels.
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