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| 1000 pillar temple. Hanamkonda, Andhra Pradesh /commons.wikimedia.org |
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| 1000 pillar temple. Hanamkonda, t, Telangana hehansindia.com |
Located in the town of Hanamkonda, Telangana State, India is the Thousand Pillar Temple or Rudreshwara Swamy Temple also dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. Often called the epitome of engineering marvel of the Kakatiya era. This amazing temple along with Warangal Fort, Kakatiya Kala Thoranam and Ramappa Temple are included to the tentative list of World Heritage sites recognised by UNESCO, It shows the artistic excellence, imagination and workmanship of artisans of past era, besides their proper planning.
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| Hanamkonda, Telangana tourism.webindia123.com |
Thanks to the Kakatiya rulers Ganapati Deva, Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra who were great builders of Hindu temples and they never failed to leave their mark in them. It is because of Rudra Deva, his vision and commitment, the 1000 Pillar Temple was said to have been built between 1175–1324 CE. It was during this time the temple architecture achieved a new height and it was because of amazing talents and unique styles Kakatiya Vishwakarma Sthapathis (Architect) possessed through hard work.
Unfortunately, these monumental sites were desecrated by the army of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi and in 1323-24 Ulugh Khan laid a siege on Warangal and then desecrated the temple and defaced the sculptures. The temple destruction happened during their invasion and war campaign in the Deccan region. The garbhagrihas -sanctums of Vasudeva and Surya were very much damaged during the siege by the armies of Ulugh Khan, (later Mohammed bin Tughlaq). The sculptures at the lower level are horribly disfigured.
Quite disturbed by the wholesale destruction the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad,(Mir Osman Ali Khan) donated a grant of 1 Lakh INR towards reconstruction and restoration of the tmpls back to old glory. In 1929 the Archaeology department of Nizam’s Dominion cleaned the pathway around the temple and carried about basic work in stabilising the temple.
An excellent example of Kakatiya art, architecture and sculptural grandeur, Rudreshwara Temple locally known as Veyisthambala Gudi (Thousand pillars temple) had a unique place in the area of temple architecture. The ruins of the Thousand Pillar Temple lie near the Hanamkonda -Warangal Highway in Telangana State, roughly about 150 kilometres Hyderabad city. The presiding deity is Rudreshwara, (built in 1163 AD) and in the temple one can see the influence of later Chalukyan and early Kakatiya style of design - star-shaped and triple shrined (Trikutalaya). The mandapam that stands at a height of 9.5 meters has 2,560 sculptures of exceptional beauty and the ornate pillars enhance the architectural splendor. The foundation of the temple was based on sandbox technology. Kakatiya architecture widely used this unique technique which involves filling the pit — dug up for laying the foundation — with a mixture of sand-lime, jaggery (for binding) and karakkaya (black myrobalan fruit) before the buildings were constructed on these 'sandboxes'. The sandbox in the foundation acts as a cushion in case of earthquakes
The striking architectural features are richly ornate pillars, perforated screens, exquisite icons, rock cut elephants and the monolithic dolerite Nandi as components of the temple. The latter one is a unique one as most of the Nandis are made of basaltic or granite rock. The beautiful lath turned well polished pillars, granite and dolerite sculptures of divine images, flawless ivory carving work, use of sandbox technique in strengthening of foundations, etc bear testimony to the ingenuity and the highest level of skills possessed by stone sculptors.
Nava Ranga mandapa (located in the center of three shrines) is a standing example. Normally Medieval temples were not only places of worship but also the hub of social and community activities. Ranga Mandapa was used to stage dramas, Hari-katha discouses , etc. As for festive occasions, weddings of village personages, etc the vast Kalyana Mandapam was widely used and and is connected by a separate platform to access it. The temple has an excellent stepwell and is a venue for Bathukamma - flower festival that comes during the Navaratri festival - for 9 days.
The granite pillars are massive and machined into the smoothness of soap similar to pieces of jewellery smoothened to shine. Some visitors try to string thread through blocks of sculpture to show the intricacy of the craftsmanship. Some of the stone blocks are put together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle without any bonding material and are held together just by gravity. It is a modular architecture before its time. The highlight of the architecture can be seen even today — ''the first rays of the sun fall on the Nandi throughout the year,”
From the the inscription on the site, we understand that the temple was built in 1163 by Kakatiya Rudradeva as a thanksgiving to Rudra, Vasudeva and Surya. The three temples (trikuta aalyam) are on east, west and northern side, while a massive Nandi and Kalyana Mandapa are on the southern side. Now, regular puja and abhishekam take place only at the temple dedicated to Rudra or Shiva.
In 2004 the temple was renovated by the Government of India. Archaeological Survey of India ASI) applied latest technique to renovate it. The Kakatiya-era temple is on the base of the hill which lends the name to the town: Anumukonda. The renovation work on the Kalyana Mandapa of the 1000-pillar temple had been going on for the last 17 years. As part of restoration of the 1000-pillar temple by reinstalling the lost idols of Surya and Vishnu in the main sanctum sanctorum, providing pathway with stone flooring, signages in granite, drinking water and washing area the government gave grants at different periods. Th restoration work, it is hoped will be over by 2023 because some beams and pillars are cracked and one of the reasons was heavy downpour. However for more than a decade and half the Kalyana Mandapam in the Thousand Pillars Temple had not been open to public primarily because of restoration work launched by the ASI in July 2005.
A reputed Sculptor Sthapati from Tamil Nadu one Shiva Kumar of was entrusted in charge of renovating the temple. The target was to reconstruct the 1000-pillared mandapam. It was beset with all kinds of problems, the agency ran out of funds so the sthapati and his team had to leave the job in the middle. It may be mentioned here that main sanctum sanctorum was relatively in good shape. It is said that 1,000 Pillars in the mandir cannot be counted individually. The Mandapam has 132 main pillars, made of multiple blocks of stones and the other pillars that vary in size make it 1000 pillars.
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