Overwhelming Orugallu and the Ramappa temple at Warangal

It almost been more than a year I have been to Warangal (around 145 kms from Hyderabad) and I always wanted to put it on the blog but somehow could not. It has been a long long time I have written something on Travel and I think my last article was the awesome Himalayan Trek last summer and I am happy as always to write something on travel.

Since childhood , traditionally we have one very big outing with friends and family in the month of Nov/Dec and the picnic includes a visit to a Shiva Temple as that happens to be what is known as a karthika Masam in South Indian Tradition. So we were about 150 people friends, family and other like minded people. We hired a bus and started our journey to Orugallu (Presently called Warangal), erstwhile capital city of the Kakatiya Dynasty.

The Ramappa Temple

Historically a very significant place in terms of architecture and temples, but one place which caught my eye was the ramappa temple and lake where we spent most of our time. This temple is basically a shiva temple  built by a very famous architect called Ramappa who was exclusively invited from Karnataka to build this temple that is why the name ramappa temple. The temple has amazing architecture and one important thing I observed was there was a method and structure in which the stones in the temple were carved  which itseems is supposed to be the unique thing about architecture in the kakatiya dynasty.It is considered to be a very powerful shiva temple.

After finishing our lunch at the Ramappa temple we headed towards one more significant place called the Thousand pillared temple. By the time we reached the Thousand pillared temple it was almost dusk and the temple was about to close. We rushed in to have a glimpse of the thousand pillared temple.Actually the thousand pillared temple was considered to be more famous place than the Ramappa temple but ironically this temple is not so well maintained especially when it comes to the architecture which is slowly fading off due to poor maintenance.

But one interesting thing I have observed is architecturally I have seen a lot of similarities between both of these temples especially the pillars there is a certain style to it and a certain uniqueness about it. May be as a dynasty they distinctively etched out this similar pattern among temples and structures to identify themselves as the kakatiyas. 

If you are around Hyderabad, it would be a perfect place for a weekend trip. The best season to go to Warangal is obviously not summer. The summers are too hot.

So have you been to warangal ? whats do you think is the best place to visit in warangal?