Thousand Pillar Temple in Andhra Pradesh

Thousand Pillar Temple, as the name suggests, has no less than thousand pillars. To be found near the Warangal-Hanumakonda Highway, this temple was built by the Kakatiya ruler, Rudradeva, in 1163 AD. Raised on a platform, this temple is about 10 km from the Warangal city of Andhra Pradesh. Thousand Pillar Temple presents a picturesque sight to behold and admire. An interesting fact about this temple is that it is designed in the shape of a star.

It is a brilliant example of Kakatiya style of architecture. Its thousand intricately carved pillars, perforated screens, wonderful icons and rock-cut elephants are worth-seeing. Not to be missed is the monolithic statue of Nandi that certainly reminds the rich taste of the rulers. The colossal structure of Nandi is carved out of a single piece of black basalt. Inside the majestic temple, there are three shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Surya respectively.

Thousand Pillar Temple, with its own unique architectural style, is indeed the pride of India. The temple complex has lush green gardens, which attract everyone with their serenity. The ambiance is full of quietude and tranquility, tempting one to sit and experience the divine. The reverberation of bells, chirping of birds and gentle breeze further add to the celestial atmosphere. In short, this temple of thousand pillars is worth-visiting at least once.

The present day engineers have taken out all the pillars from the building to make it in to a perfect shape. After they lifted all the pillars they encountered a huge mass of sand. It took nearly two weeks for them to take away all the sand. It was wet sand, it is always wet because there is pipe connection directly from the nearby water body named Bhadrakali Cheruvu. It was one of the master piece in Civil Engineering. The Kakatiyans have used the well foundations 900 years ago.

The Thousand Pillar Temple with its ruins lies in the near the Hanamkonda-Warangal highway, about 150 kilometers from Hyderabad city. This temple is a beautiful star shaped with several shrines and lingams. There are three shrines inside the temple called the Trikutalayam. The three shrines of the Thousand Pillar Temple are dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Surya. The Thousand Pillar Temple is surrounded by a big garden in which many small lingam shrines can be seen. Further there are 1000 richly carved pillars with an impressive Nandi bull in the temple. Nandi bull was carved out of a black basalt monolith polished carefully to give it a brilliant look. The Thousand Pillar Temple is constructed on a platform that is raised to 1 meter height from the ground level. The temple is provided with a number of pillars which are beautifully carved and adorned. Delicate stone work which definitely adds charm and beauty to this Thousand Pillar Temple. Rock cut elephants and perforated screens in the temple which are the characteristic of the then prevailing dynasty. The Thousand Pillar Temple is famous for its beautifully carved pillars, screens and detailed sculpture.