Ramappa Temple Becomes UNESCO’s First Heritage Site in Telengana

New Delhi: The Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, part of the Glorious Kakatiya Temples and Gateways in Palampet, Jayashankar Bhupalpally District, Telangana, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on Sunday.

The decision was taken at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting of UNESCO on Sunday. This is the first site in Telangana to be given the recognition by UNESCO.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed happiness on UNESCO declaring KakatiyaRamappa Temple a World Heritage site.
Reacting to a tweet by UNESCO, the Prime Minister said;”Excellent! Congratulations to everyone, specially the people of Telangana.The iconic Ramappa Temple showcases the outstanding craftsmanship of great Kakatiya dynasty. I would urge you all to visit this majestic Temple complex and get a first-hand experience of it’s grandness.”

Hailing the decision by UNESCO , Chief Minister Telangana K. Chandrashekhar Rao said under self governance the state government is making all efforts to revive and restore the historical,spiritual and proud cultural heritage of Telangana.”
Even though dedicated to Lord Shiva the temple is perhaps the only temple in India named after the sculptor Ramappa, who built it in a span of 40 years.. A rare tribute given to the sculptor and does go to show the enlightened rulers of those days.
Rudreswara (Ramappa) Temple,was built during 1213 AD by General Recherla Rudra, when Maharaja Ganapati Deva was the Kakatiya ruler (1199-1261).

The temple stands on a 6 feet high star-shaped platform with walls, pillars and ceilings adorned with intricate carvings showcasing the unique skill of the Kakatiyan sculptors.

The group of temples and temple complex related to Kakatiyan empire, signify a distinct architectural pattern, style and technology of the period and is representative of the distinct regional style.
It exhibited local innovation in temple building tradition developed by Kakatiyan sculptors.

The temple also known as the Ramalingeswara temple located 209 km from Hyderabad is a Sivalayam, where Lord Ramalingeswara is worshipped.
Marco Polo, during his visit to the Kakatiya Empire, allegedly called the temple “the brightest star in the galaxy of temples”
Ramappa temple, a 13th century engineering marvel named after its architect, Ramappa, was proposed by the government as its only nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage site tag for the year 2019.

The innovative and creative skill over the material dolerite demonstrated by the Kakatiya sculptors continued to be followed by subsequent Vijayanagara artists.
The cultural and administrative distinction of the Kakatiyas was greatly referred in contemporary literature like Kridabhiramamu and also later by the famous traveller Marco Polo.

The skill of Kakatiya sculptors can be seen in the exquisite craftsmanship and flawless ivory carving technique in their art.
The hall in front of the sanctum has numerous carved pillars which gives rise to beautiful interplay of light and space.
The sculptural work of dance postures in the temple appears like frozen record of dances of the region in stone and was of great inspiration for the famous work ‘Nritya Ratnavali’, by Jayapa Senani. The postures pertaining to Bharata Natya, Shrunga, Bharunga, Rathi, Perini Nritya etc., are engraved on the pillars and top-beams of ‘Mukha Mandapam’, The mythological episodes such as ‘Gopika Vastrapaharanam, Tripura samharm, Daksha Samharam, Ksheera Sagara Madhanam, Girija Kalyanam etc., stand for the highest standards of Kakatiya Sculpture. The ‘Nagini’ and other eleven devanarthakis are arranged as supporting beams on both sides of each entrance. The aesthetic sense which scaled innumerable heights in Kakatiya sculpture is clearly evident in these twelve postures of devanarthakis.

The desi (local) varieties of dances such as Perini, Prenkana, Sudda Nartana, Dandarasak, Sivapriya, Chindu and Kolata are some dance forms in the sculptural art of the temple.

The famous treatise of dance ‘Nritya Ratnavali’ of Kakatiya period is said to have been inspired by the construction and art work on Ramappa temple.

The Ramappa temple is a best example of the love for art, music and dance as patronized by Kakatiyas.
This stands as a remarkable example of the link to establish textual renderings of Dance traditions and sculptural renderings in India.

The skilled sculptors used sandbox technology for geo structural strength and variety of other methods to treat designs whether divine, human,animal,floral or geometric. The three dimensional figures were fashioned by using tiny tools and implements displaying their unique style of sculpting. IANS