The Thousand Pillar Temple or Rudreswara Swamy Temple is a historical

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple located in the town of Hanamakonda, Telangana State, India. It is dedicated to Lord

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 ...

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 ( ...

and Surya. Thousand Pillar Temple, along with Warangal Fort and Kakatiya Kala Thoranam are added to the tentative list of

World Heritage sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

recognised by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

History

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

Prataparudra Pratāparudra (r. c. 1289–1323) was the last monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty of India. He ruled the eastern part of Deccan Plateau, Deccan, with his capital at Warangal. Prataparudra succeeded his grandmother Rudramadevi, Rudrama as the Kakat ...

who were of

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kākatīya) was a Andhras, Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan Plateau, Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their ter ...

. The Thousand Pillar Temple was believed to be constructed during the period between 1175–1324 CE by order of the king,The most popular place to visit in Warangal is the Thousand Pillars Temple, located at the base of Hanamkonda hill. It was built in 12th century by the Kakatiya King Rudra Deva. Dedicated primarily to Lord Shiva, this temple is also known by the name of Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple. 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 Gr-II he has brought lot of changes in administration and development of temple It was desecrated by the Tughlaq dynasty during their invasion of the Deccan. However, the 7th Nizam of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

,( Mir Osman Ali Khan) 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. F ...

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

At this temple, three deities- Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Surya are worshipped. They are known as Trikutalayam.

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 CE 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 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Archaeological Survey of India and modern engineers have been working for the temple's further renovation.

Transport

The nearest railway station is Warangal railway station, which is away from the temple. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport 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 Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent Monuments of National Importance in Telangana