Trails in Andhra Pradesh

Lepakshi

We visited several temples in 2008 and I have posted most of them. Some like Shibi, Madurai Meenakshi temple are yet to be posted. However coming back to the trails - the last legs of my 2008 heritage trails were in Andhra Pradesh..Two different dynasties this time and neither of them complete though - the Vijaynagar in Lepakshi and Kakatiya in Warangal and around.Im leaving you with two collages, one of Lepakshi and the other of the old Warangal Fort..Lepakshi was a day trip from Bangalore while Warangal was an overnight trip from Hyderabad. We covered a lot of places enroute to Warangal and then travelled onwards to Palampet. I missed Bhongir as it had become dark, but I hope to get there again sometime..Some of my stories on these destinations have been published recently.

Warangal Fort

I hope you liked the collages from all three posts from all three states - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Let me know which one you liked the best ( you could even choose any one collage ) and I would be glad to help if you plan to follow any of these trails in 2009.

India through my eyes - The Ramappa temple

The ASI board says that it was built in the 13th century (1243 AD) by a General, Recherla Rudra serving in the army of the Kakatiya king, Ganapatideva. Located in Palampet, a small village , this is the famous Ramappa temple .We travelled around 70 kms from Warangal and we did not even find a single signboard.Even though it seems out of bound to most tourists, its quite a favourite among locals. The picture however is taken against the background of one of the smaller shrines in the temple complex. More on Ramappa Lake here.

Some weekend reading if you have the time. Medhini's beautiful story on Sanchi Stupa in CLAY,Jungle Lodges's blog has some great wild life stories in Tales of the Wild and my story on the journey of a coffee bean in Bangalore Mirror today. The last one especially is not your regular travel story, so let me know what you think.I have a lot of writing to do this week and I go to Chennai after that.Have a good week

Sunset on Ramappa lake

About 70 kms from the twin towns of Warangal and Hanamkonda is a village called Palampet which is completely lost in the middle of civilisation. The journey is one of the best I have ever travelled and what is interesting is that there was not a single milestone that will tell me that I am on the right route. The reason I say this is that the 13th century Ramappa Temple in Palampet built by the Kakatiyas is claimed to be a tourist site and there is nothing remotely touristy about it. The lake which is just half a km from the temple is said to as ancient as the temple, created by the Kakatiyas as well. It is like an earthen dam which is about 2000 feet long and it forms a lake around the hills . And there is a lake shore temple there as well.

Warangal - a sneak preview

A sneak preview into the historic past of the old city , Warangal. The fort built by the Kakatiya rulers in the 12 century. The four Keerti Toranas (gateways of glory )which symbolise Kakatiyas architecture still stand today in the four directions...More than 30 feet high, these stone gateways enclose many sculptures and pillars ..more on this in a few days


Pls do click on the snaps to see them in their original size