Padmakshi Temple is one of the oldest temples in the Hanamakonda area of

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. It is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Padmakshi (Lakshmi), and also features Jain imagery. The site originally had a

Shaivite 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 ...

cave temple, and a Jain shrine was established in 1117 CE, during the rule of the

Kakatiya 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 ...

chief

Prola II Prola II (r. c. 1116-1157 CE) was a Kakatiya chief who ruled the area around Anumakomda (modern Hanamkonda) as a vassal of the Chalukyas of Kalyani, Kalyani Chalukyas. He was the father of Rudradeva, Rudra-deva, the first sovereign ruler of the Kak ...

, who was himself a Shaivite. Some time later, the Jain shrine was replaced by a Hindu temple. The Jains attempted to regain control of the site in the 19th century, but a commission set up the

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

concluded that the site originally hosted a Hindu shrine.

History

The site originally had a

cave temple. The artificial caves, located to the west of the present-day temple, were probably carved before the 5th century CE, as they are almost identical to the early

Brahmanical The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedism or Brahmanism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontin ...

caves. A Jain shrine was probably added during the rule of the

Chalukyas of Vatapi The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of south India, southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The ear ...

or the

Rashtrakutas The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta Indian inscriptions, inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing th ...

. A 1117 CE inscription found at the temple records the construction of a Jain shrine named ''Kadalalaya-

basadi A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings ge ...

'', and a gift of land to this shrine. The site probably already had Jain presence by this time. Mailama, the wife of the

minister Betana-pergada, commissioned the shrine. Medarasa of Ugravadi (Meda II), who held the office of ''Maha-mandaleshvara'', donated the land. Betana was a minister of the Kakatiya chief

, who was a

and a vassal of the

Chalukyas of Kalyani The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...

. Ugravadi appears to be the name of a historical region comprising the present-day Mulugu and Narasampet

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

s. Probably sometime after the 1156 CE, the Brahmanical shrine replaced the Jain shrine, possibly due to the influence of the

Veerashaiva The Lingayats are a monotheistic religious denomination of Hinduism. Lingayats are also known as , , , . Lingayats are known for their unique practice of Ishtalinga worship, where adherents carry a personal linga symbolizing a constant, intim ...

s. In the 19th century, the Jains appealed to the

to grant them the control of the site, arguing that it was originally a Jain shrine. The Nizam instituted a commission to investigate the Jain claim, and concluded that the earliest shrine at the site belonged to the Hindus. In 1869 CE, the Nizam granted land for the maintenance of the temple.

Architecture

An impressive feature of the temple is the four faces of the Annakonda pillar, which is a quadrangular column made of black granite stone at the temple's entrance. The temple has rich sculpture of the Jain

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

s and other Jain gods and goddesses. The present Padmakshi herself is a Jain yakshini of Parshwanatha called Amrakushmandini along with yaksha Dharnendra and with a huge naked image of Parahwanatha in the middle of both. Once a year, Lakhs of women arrive to celebrate the famous

Bathukamma Bathukamma is a hindu flower-festival celebrated by the women of Telangana and some parts of Andhra Pradesh. Every year this festival is celebrated as per the Sathavahana calendar for nine days starting on Pitru Amavasya, which usually coincid ...

festival and immerse flowers in the pond at the foot of the Padmakshi hillock. Painting of Godess Padmakshi.jpg, Painting of Goddess Padmakshi at Padmakshi Gutta Jain Tirthankara Relief at Padmakshi Gutta 02.jpg, Statue of Parshvantha File:Jain Tirthankara Reliefs at Padmakshi Gutta 04.jpg, Jain Tirthankara reliefs at Padmakshi Gutta Jain Tirthankara Reliefs at Padmakshi Gutta 05.jpg, Jain Tirthankara reliefs at Padmakshi Gutta File:Jaina Inscriptions at Padmakshi Temple 01.jpg, Jain Tirthankara reliefs at Padmakshi Gutta File:Location map of Historical Temples in Warangal.png, Location map of Historical Temples in Warangal

References

{{Warangal topics Hanamkonda district Tourist attractions in Warangal Hindu temples in Telangana Jain temples in Telangana 12th-century Jain temples Lakshmi temples