Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana

Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana, popularly known as Ramappa Temple, is located in the village of Palampet approximately 200km north-east of Hyderabad, in the State of Telangana. It is the main Shiva temple in a walled complex built during the Kakatiyan period (1123–1323 CE) under rulers Rudradeva and Recharla Rudra. Construction of the sandstone temple began in 1213 CE and is believed to have continued over some 40 years.

The building features decorated beams and pillars of carved granite and dolerite with a distinctive and pyramidal Vimana (horizontally stepped tower) made of lightweight porous bricks, so-called ‘floating bricks’, which reduced the weight of the roof structures. The temple’s sculptures of high artistic quality illustrate regional dance customs and Kakatiyan culture. Located at the foothills of a forested area and amidst agricultural fields, close to the shores of the Ramappa Cheruvu, a Kakatiya-built water reservoir, the choice of setting for the edifice followed the ideology and practice sanctioned in dharmic texts that temples are to be constructed to form an integral part of a natural setting, including hills, forests, springs, streams, lakes, catchment areas, and agricultural lands.Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana

Rudreshwara, popularly known as Ramappa Temple, is located in the village of Palampet approximately 200km north-east of Hyderabad, in the State of Telangana. It is the main Shiva temple in a walled complex built during the Kakatiyan period (1123–1323 CE) under rulers Rudradeva and Recharla Rudra. Construction of the sandstone temple began in 1213 CE and is believed to have continued over some 40 years. The building features decorated beams and pillars of carved granite and dolerite with a distinctive and pyramidal Vimana (horizontally stepped tower) made of lightweight porous bricks, so-called ‘floating bricks’, which reduced the weight of the roof structures. The temple’s sculptures of high artistic quality illustrate regional dance customs and Kakatiyan culture.

Located at the foothills of a forested area and amidst agricultural fields, close to the shores of the Ramappa Cheruvu, a Kakatiya-built water reservoir, the choice of setting for the edifice followed the ideology and practice sanctioned in dharmic texts that temples are to be constructed to form an integral part of a natural setting, including hills, forests, springs, streams, lakes, catchment areas, and agricultural lands.

Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, popularly known as Ramappa Temple, is located in the village of Palampet, approximately 200km north-east of Hyderabad, in the State of Telangana. Rudreshwara is the main Shiva temple in a larger walled temple complex, which includes smaller temples and Mandapa structures constructed under the chieftains Rudradeva and Recharla Rudra. The Rudreshwara (Ramappa) temple stands out as a unique testimony to the highest level of creative, artistic and engineering achievements involving various experimentations in expressive art forms of the Kakatiya period (1123-1323 CE).

The temple is built of sandstone with decorated beams and pillars of carved granite and dolerite with a distinctive and pyramidal Vimana made of lightweight porous bricks, also known as “floating bricks”. The sculptures of the Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, especially its bracket figures, are unique artistic works carved out of the hard dolerite stone giving it a metal like finish with intact lustre. These sculptures express movement and dynamism with every sculpture conveying active movement and many figures illustrating regional dance customs of Kakatiyan culture.

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple was created in an harmonious relationship with its natural environment and the surrounding pristine landscape with its Kakatiyan cultural and engineering features. The natural environment, architecture, sculpture, ritual and dance together form five elements, which complement each other in defining the temple’s ritual space. Their mutual interrelations embody the outstanding evidence of Kakatiyan cultural, architectural and artistic creations. The temple is a living memory of the Kakatiyan Culture which brought a golden era to the Telugu speaking region of South India.

Criterion (i): The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple is a masterpiece of the Kakatiyan style of temple architecture, representing the unique combination of ingenuity in stone sculpting and engineering experimentations by way of use of sandbox foundation and floating bricks to make earthquake resistant structures. The sculptures of the Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple manifest Kakatiyans’ indigenous geotechnical knowledge in stone chiselling illustrating exceptional artistic skills as well as deep understanding of construction technologies. The Kakatiyans used one of the hardest rocks, from which they sculpted very delicate human and animal representations and gave these a fine lustre finish. The sculptural decor of outstanding beauty and creativity represents the Kakatiyan dance customs, interprets the regional lifestyle and is based on the Puranic texts.

Criterion (iii): The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple is an exceptional testimony of the Kakatiyan Dynasty and illustrates its artistic, architectural and engineering achievements within the wall temple compound and its wider setting. The efforts of Kakatiyan craftsmen to interpret and integrate motifs of regional dance customs and Kakatiyan cultural traditions into sculptural and textual representations in the form of Madanikas, Gaja-Vyalas, motifs on Kakshasana and other carvings stand out as an exceptional evidence of popular cultural forms.

Integrity

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple lies at the centre of a walled temple complex which together with its wider setting retains high visual and functional integrity and demonstrates a significant relationship with both purpose-built and natural elements, which enhance and maintain the atmosphere of the temple ceremonies that continue to be performed in the temple complex to the present day.

Significant architectural and artistic achievements of the temple complex are supported by the natural features, the artificial Kakatiya-built reservoir and irrigation systems, cultivated land, smaller temples within the immediate surrounding landscape, thus communicating Kakatiyan cultural traditions for over 800 years.

The indigenous value held by the innovative construction techniques of building structures using sand-box technology, light weight porous floating bricks and other traditional methods, and the commendable sculptural efforts in chiselling the very hard dolerite rocks to get the everlasting metallic polishes are very well displayed and are intact at Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Palampet.

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple is well protected from natural disasters due to its construction techniques. Emphasis has been given to the thorough protection of the wider visual setting around the temple compound. The Kameshewara temple within the temple complex will be reassembled following anastylosis, to be carried out based on detailed scientific research and programmed conservation approach.

Authenticity

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple maintains authenticity in material, form, design, craftsmanship, setting, function and use, traditional management system and associated intangible cultural heritage in relation to traditional dance, and integration in its wider natural and architectural context. Its material remains continue to represent the testimony of Kakatiyan knowledge in identifying building materials, their strength, and their expected life span. The temple was erected using five types of local material, like sand for foundation, clay for bricks, dolerite and sandstone for sculptures, granite for columns and beams, which are all retained in their original composition. Some missing floating bricks were remanufactured after conducting an extensive study, following the same techniques used by the Kakatiyans in the 13th century.

The temple plan and its spatial organization are intact and untouched, with exception of the Kameshwara Temple which is to be reassembled by anastylosis. The compound’s function and traditional management system remain unchanged: the Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple is a living Brahminical Shiva Temple, following all the authentic Shaiva-Agama rituals and drawing the attention of a large number of people. The surviving rural surrounding illustrates the conscious integration of the Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple in its wider natural context and is of remarkable authenticity in setting, traditional management mechanisms as well as interdependencies of use and function with the wider landscape, for example through irrigation channels and cultivated lands.

Protection and management requirements

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple was identified as a protected monument in 1914 and since then it is maintained and conserved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The property is protected at the national level, by the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (AMASR), amended and validated in 2010; the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1959; Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules of 2011 and The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 and Rules, 1973. Decisions pertaining to its conservation, maintenance and management are governed by the National Conservation Policy for Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Remains, 2014. Being designated as an “Ancient Monument” of National Importance, the ancient site is protected by a well-defined buffer of 300 meters comprising Prohibited Area measuring 100 meters in all directions from the limits of the protected monument, and further beyond it, a Regulated Area of 200 meters in all directions, from the limits of the Prohibited Area as well as beyond, as required for the conservation of the authentic landscape setting. All activities in the areas adjacent to the ancient site remain subject to prohibition and regulation in the respect prohibited and regulated areas as per provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 2011.

Under an already existing committee, the State Government of Telangana establishes the “Palampet Special Area Development Authority” to manage this extended buffer zone and to ensure the protection of all supporting Kakatiya period attributes.

The Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), namely its Hyderabad Circle and under its Warangal sub-Circle, which is responsible for its protection, conservation and management in conjunction and consultation with the local religious and communal authorities. Day-to-day management activities are supported by guides who are permanently posted at the site as staff of the Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation, as well as the local communities living around the temple complex and the priests performing the ceremonies at the temple. An integrated site management plan is in the process of being finalized. Heritage Impact Assessment needs to be ensured for any projects located near the property, especially regarding development projects near the Ramappa Lake. Capacity building for local communities and the temple priest must be undertaken to provide them with the necessary skills to contribute to the management of the property.