Ghanpur temples, popularly known as Kota Gullu, are a group of 12th century stone temples that are located in Ghanpur near

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

Telangana 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 List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. They are located 9 km northwest of the more famous

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 ...

in Palampet.

History

Kota Gullu were constructed by King Ganapatideva, the king 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. T ...

who ruled during the period of 1199–1260 AD. It suffered major damage either through the attacks from the Muslim armies between 14th and 16th centuries CE, or through a major earthquake in the region in 17th century CE.

Architecture

Kota Gullu comprises about 22 temples, all varying in size and design that exhibits the marvelous architectural work by Kakatiyas. Temples are constructed within a double-walled stone enclosure. Of all these temples, the main temple, dedicated to Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

, is the most admirable. There is yet another temple that is dedicated to Shiva, to the north of the main temple, that has the same appearance. The other shrine of the temple consists of ''

Garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the '' murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ' ...

'' and ''

Antarala Antarala (Sanskrit: अन्तराल, lit. ''intermediate space'') is a small antechamber or foyer between the garbhagriha (shrine) and the mandapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian arc ...

''. The most striking feature of the temples is the ''Sabha mandapa'' porches. Two '' madanikas'' are seen on the northern side of the portico. The eastern and southern porticos are embellished with several mythical figures of Gaja Kesari, half-human-half-lion form riding on elephant, and horse-head lion back on elephant. There are nearby remnants of sculptures depicting Nandi, dancers, musicians and others like temple roof, decorative ceiling, sculpted walls, bas reliefs, etc. Many statues were also discovered in the vivinty of the temple grounds and have been put on display for visitors and tourists coming to view the temple. The inscription slab refers to Ganapathi Reddy, the son of Kakatiya general Recherla Rudra, who installed Lord Ganapateshwara and donated land during the reign of Ganapathi Deva (1199-1262 CE) in the cyclic year of “Jaya Nama Samvatsara, Vaisakha Sudha Trayodasi, Bruhaspati Vasaram” (corresponding to 1234-35 CE).

History

Architecture

Gallery

References

Further reading