Sammakka Saralamma Jathara, also known as Medaram Sammakka Sarakka Jatara, is the largest tribal fair in the world. It is held once in two years with lot of gusto for 4 days during Magha Purnima. In 2012, Medaram Sammakka Sarakka Jathara dates are – Jatara starts on February 8 and ends on February 11. It is celebrated at Medaram village near Yeturu Nagaram of Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh.

Here are the full details of dates and schedule of Medaram Sammakka Saralamma Jatara 2012:

February 8, 2012 – Goddess Saralamma will arrive to Platform (Gadde).
February 9, 2012 – Goddess Sammakka will arrive to Platform (Gadde).
February 10, 2012 – Devotees offer naivedyam or other offerings like ‘Bangaram (bellam – jaggery).
February 11, 2012 – Last day of Sammkka Sarakka Jathara. Goddess Sammakkar and Saralamma will return back in to forest.

The city was once the heartland of Telugu culture. The capital of the Kakatiya rulers, Warangal today contains some of the best forms of architecture, especially temples.

The 1000-pillar temple and the Ramappa temple in the district are glowing examples of the exquisite architecture patronized by the Kakatiyas.

Warangal city today is part of a cluster of three towns: Warangal, Kazipet and Hanamkonda, the district headquarters’. Bound on the Northern part by the mighty Godavari River, the district has large tracts of forest and an array of flora and fauna

The district is also known for its picturesque lakes, hand-woven thick cotton fibre carpets, scroll painting done on cloth in earth colours mainly at Cheriyal nearby, and sheet-metal artistry at Pembarti.

Prime Attractions

• Thousand Pillar Temple
  This temple is a fine specimen of Kakatiya architecture and sculpture. It was built by Rudra Deva in 1163 AD in the style of Chalukyan temples, star shaped and triple shrined. The 3 shrines are dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. The temple is famous for its richly carved pillars, screens and detailed sculpture. The black basalt Nandi, a monolith, has a lovely polished finish.

• Bhadra Kali Temple
  Situated on a hilltop between Hanamkonda and Warangal, it is noted for its stone image of the Goddess Kali. She is depicted with eight arms and carries a weapon in each hand.

• Warangal Fort
  Warangal fort is 12-km from Hanamakonda, which dates back to the 13th century. The Kakatiya king, Ganapati Deva and his daughter Rudramma built the fort. Though the main fort has been ravaged over time, the remains of the four huge stone gateways, similar to those of Sanchi, along with several exquisite pieces of sculpture can still be seen in and around the fort.

Excursions

• Ramappa Temple
  Also know as Ramalingeswara temple, this is situated in Palampet village, which is 70-km form Warangal This is a magnificent monument dating back to 1213 AD depicts the glory and richness of the Kakatiya kingdom.

• Kolanupaka
  Kolanupaka, 80-km from Hyderabad , is situated between Hyderabad and Warangal. This was the second capital town of Kalyani Chalukyas during the 11th century AD. During this period the village was a religious centre of Jains, and ranks among other great Jain centres in the south. It was also a great centre of Shaivism. Literary evidences reveal ‘Kolanupaka’ as the birthplace of ‘Renukacharya’ the great ‘Vira Saiva’ saint, believed to be born from the ‘Svayambaghu Linga’ at this village and absorbed into it after preaching Vira Saivism.

• Jain Mandir
  The 2,000-year-old Jain temple of Mahaveer is a famous place of worship for Jains in the country. The temple is embellished with beautiful images of Thirthankaras. The 5ft high image of Mahavira is entirely carved of Jade.

• Sri Veeranarayana Temple
  The temple is constructed in the Chalukyan style around 1104 AD. The appearance of the temple indicates that it was originally a Jain temple converted into a Vaishnava shrine.

• Someshwara Temple
  Someswara III the Kalyani Chalukya emperor constructed the temple of Someswara. Rare specimens of architecture and sculpture of the western Chalukyan period can be found in this temple.

• Kolanupaka Site Museum
  Kolanupaka came into prominence when it was made the alternate capital of the Kalyani Chalukyas in the 11th century AD. The State Department of Archaeology and Museums established a sculptural gallery, which exhibits artifacts from the various historical monuments in Kolanupaka.

• Pakhal Lake
  A manmade lake completed in 1213 AD by the Kakatiya king, Ganapathidev, by harnessing a small tributary of the Krishna River. It is located 50-km from Warangal and spreads over an area of 30-sq-km.

How To Reach Warangal

By Air

The nearest airport to Warangal is at Hyderabad which is at a distance of around 130 Km from here. It is best to hire a taxi from the airport to Warangal as it takes the least time and is quite comfortable. It will take around 3 hrs to cover the distance.

By Rail

Warangal has its own railway stations that connects it to almost all parts of India. The station lies on Delhi-Chennai main line which has many important trains running on it and all have a halt at Warangal.

By Road

Warangal has good network of roads that connect it to all the important cities of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is the closest major city to Warangal. There are regular APSRTC buses plying between the two cities. There are private buses as well.

Local Transportation

Auto rickshaws are the most common mode of transportation inside the city and the cheapest as well. You can hire a taxi which is the most comfortable way of getting around in the city. You will also find good number of buses connecting distant parts of the city.

Bhongir fort ——-80 KMS (all distances from hyderabad) ·

Yadagirigutta temple——-90 KMS · Pembarti——100KMS ·

Kolanupaka a jain temple

Jangaon. “Ram” from Ramayana once visited this place!!!!!!!!!

Warangal 150 KMS

Ramappa lake and ramappa temple 220 KMS After covering a stretch of about 80 kms from our residence we reached the 12th century made Bhongir Fort. The fort is built on an isolated gigantic rock. The fort was earlier known as Bhuvanagiri. We did not climb the fort; instead we decided to have scrumptious breakfast. I guess its good to reach this place early morning or late evening, as there is no shelter from the sweltering heat up there.

Also (I think) its better to come in groups as the place looked isolated from below!!!!!!!!

The small fort has nothing much to show except the panoramic view of the neighboring places which it offered at 500 feet above the ground. Yadagirigutta, home to a hill temple. After Bhongir watch out for the left turn you need to make under a huge sculpted archway where the road leaves the main highway to proceed to the temple. About 3 kms before the foot of the cave temple is a shrine to Shiva, which has an enormous, and hugely kitschy, Hanuman-Shiva concrete statue straddling the courtyard. You can actually see the top of Yadagirigutta from there. Keep going. The drive is uphill and because it was a Saturday the place was crowded and we had difficulty in parking our vehicle The temple: The sanctum of this hill temple is a natural cavern on the hill. Jwala Narasimha, Ghandabheranda Narasimha, and Yoga Narasimha are held in worship here, in addition to a silver image of Lakshmi Narasimha and a shrine to Aandaalamma. There was a huge crowd and so we took the special darshan ticket, we could speed up the process other wise we would have to wait in the queue for another 3 hours. This is one of the very famous temples of Andhra Pradesh .Wow!!!! what a sacred start to our weekend!!!!!!!!

The next stop was Pembarti, which is about100 km from Hyderabad and about 60 kms from Warangal. It is famous for statues, carvings and castings made of attractive copper alloys like bronze and brass, which are famous all over the world. So the statues in the Manhattan hotel or Tokyo corporate office may be from Pembarti. U can buy beautiful pandaans (betel nut carrying boxes), ittar daans (scent containers) but what I liked the most was the brass lamp.

You have to take a detour of about 8 km to reach Kolanupaka. This was the second capital town of Kalyani Chalukyas during the 11th century AD .The 2,000-year-old Jain temple of Mahaveer is a famous place of worship for Jains in the country. The temple is embellished with beautiful images of Thirthankaras. The 5ft high image of Mahavira is entirely carved of Jade. It was a nice quiet place but by the time we reached this place, it was hot and we were tired. The road to this temple is full of potholes, a stretch of shops on either side, a railway crossing and no traffic control.

We landed in a Catch 22 situation and had to move towards the temple, as there was no way we could turn back. With no offence to the Jain community, I thought we could have skipped this detour. We must be one of the few Non-jains to have visited so many Jain temples in India!!!!!!!! Next stop was located at a distance of 10 kms from Jangoan. It was the Sri Ramchandra temple Jeedichal The temple is an ancient one and legends goes that, Lord Sri Rama visited this temple on his way to ‘Lanka’ (Sri Lanka) after separation from his wife Sita. People also believe that, Rama has killed the ‘Maricha’ who was in the guise of the Magis deer. A boulder namely ‘Ledi Banda’,'Jeedigundam’ and ‘Palagundam’ the two pushkarinis for the holy dip of the pilgrims are seen here.

We had seen so many temples that we were having a feeling that we were on a pilgrimage…but this temples that we saw had familiar names from the Ramayana which we just read in books…so the thrill of seeing the places live took us to this temple!!!!!!! Anyway we soon reached Warangal ……

According to legend, Warangal and Hanamkonda were linked with the dynasties of the Great Vishnukundins. Warangal, known as Orukal during the 18th century AD, was a capital city of the Yadava King of Tuluva. This city was also ruled by the Kakatiyas or Ganapathis, from the middle of the 12th century AD up to two hundred years.

Few kings like Polaraja Rudra Deva-I, Rani Rudrama Devi, Ganapathi Deva and Prathaparudra were able to occupy great positions in Warangal History. Though the city has seen phases of success under the rule of several kings, historians have divided the development of the city into four stages on the basis of important historical events and growth of the city.

Warangal is situated 148 kilometres north-east of Hyderabad. The place is 870 ft above mid sea level and is bound on the west by the Medak district, on the east by Khammam district and on the south by Nalgonda district. Spread over12846 sq km, the district has a tropical climate and is very hot in summer and moderately cold in winter. It generally tends to be dry and warm during the summer season and remains like this till August and September.

The culture of Warangal is mainly recognised for fine arts and literature. Various art forms like modern songs, poetry, dance, painting and films has emerged and flourished in this city. Every two years, the district hosts a Samakka-Sarakka Jatara (congregation), commemorating the fight of a mother-daughter duo with the reigning ruler over injustice. Besides this, the Batkamma festival is an important festival of this place.

Warangal has several ancient temples including Thousand Pillars Temple, Swayambhu Temple, Rayaparthy Shiva Temple, Siddeshwara Temple, Inavolu Temple, Veeranarayana Temple, which are popular tourist attractions. The place is also known for its lakes, parks and wildlife. Other tourist attractions of Warangal include Padmakshi Gutta, Musical Garden, Laknavaram Lake, Pandavula Guttalu, Champak Hills Sri, Khush Mahal, etc.

The nearest airport to reach Warangal is in Hyderabad, which is 160 km away. Warangal has its own railway station and is linked to major cities in India by rail as well as road. The best time to visit Warangal is the months of November to March, when the temperature lowers down slightly.

The green hills of Govindaraopet agency mandal lie side by side to form a massive bowl like structure which holds the spacious, beautiful and pristine lake popular known as ‘Laknavaram Cheruvu’.

The lake was the discovery of ancient Kakatiya rulers. They spotted this excellent place amidst trees and green hills lined up around to hold the rainwater. The Kakatiya rulers only built a small sluice gate turning the place into a spacious lake which now feeds thousands of acres of agricultural land every year.

By Road

Laknavaram Lake is around 78Km from Warangal. Tourists coming from Warangal direction has to take the NH 202 road towards Mulugu. After crossing mulugu, drive 8Km to the right direction into the thick forest to reach this place.

Laknavaram Lake is around 120Km from Karimnagar. It can be reached via Huzurabad/Parkal bypassing Warangal. Tourists have to take the Karimnagar-Warangal state Highway till Huzurabad(40Km from Karimnagar) and take left towards Parkal(30Km from Huzurabad). Follow the Bhoopalapally-Parkal road till Gandhinagar village(20Km from Parkal) and take a right. Join the NH202 near Mulugu(20Km). Laknavaram is another 8Km from there. The famous Ghanpur/Ramappa temples are on the way in this route.

By Rail

Nearest railway station is Kazipet/Warangal. This is a major railway junction. All important trains have a stop here.

As one drives to the right after crossing Mulug, eight km into the thick forest, there lies this marvellous lake and picturesque hills around it with thick carpet like green cover.

Suspension bridge
Recently, the Department of Tourism constructed a suspension bridge across the lake joining the island which is an added attraction for tourists visiting this beautiful lake. The district administration had embarked on massive plans to convert it into a tourism spot and one could see personnel busy trimming the hills to lay roads around the lake. “This suspension bridge is first of its kind in State. In the next phase, it will be extended to join other islands in the lake. This is good spot which should be popularised,” Joint Collector K. Srinivasa Raju said.

The lake was the discovery of ancient Kakatiya rulers. They spotted this excellent place amidst trees and green hills lined up around to hold the rainwater. The Kakatiya rulers only built a small sluice gate turning the place into a spacious lake which now feeds thousands of acres of agricultural land every year.

Of late, the district administration decided to convert it into a tourist spot but lack of coordination between the agencies hindered the progress of work. There is no approach road once after taking a turn from Mulugu and Govindaraopet road.

Donthu Ramesh, a visitor said he was enthralled by the serene atmosphere the Laknavaram lake offered. “I did not know that such a beautiful place existed in our district,” he said.

G. Vijaya Kumar, who came from the district headquarters, said he was amazed at the natural environs of the lake.

“There is boat which is seen in Kerala and Kashmir. We friends enjoyed very much here. We will make another trip soon after the ongoing works are complete,” he said.

This is the biggest lake in the warangal dist Andhra pradesh India. constructed by kakatiyas. It gives the water about 50,000 acers of paddy crop.

I have recently visited this place with my family and friends and we all were amazed to see such beautiful and natural sceneries which is just in 2 hours drive from Warangal city. We have been to many beach resorts in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia but this beautiful lake is fantastic with its own green colored water and beautiful hill tops gave us entirely different excitement. State tourism board has to still develop a lot to make it as one of the favorite picnic spots in AP.

People who are planning to go to Ramappa can also plan to visit this place as it is very nearby. From Warangal city, it is good plan to visit Laknavaram lake first and then visit Ramappa in your return journey.

A mandapam with the structure of an amazing 6 foot Nandi is placed at the entrance of the temple. The temple has impressively carved doorways, ceilings with rich inscriptions and pillars. Many small lingams are placed in the premises of the temple. The background of the Hanumakonda hills is eye catching. This is a worth place to visit.

Thousand Pillar TempleIf you want to know more about the richness of the heritage of India, make sure to visit the famous Thousand Pillar Temple – Hanamkonda. Located in Hanamkonda part of the Warangal City, Thousand Pillar Temple is a popular pilgrimage center, where thousands of devotees of all faith come here to pay their homage. The temple has an old and long history and dates back to the Chalukyan era.

Constructed in the 1163 AD by Rudra Deva, Thousand Pillar Temple in Hanamkonda is one of the finest specimens of Kakatiya architecture and sculpture. The temple depicts the typical Chalukyan style of architecture. The temple has three shrines, which are dedicated to three deities. The three presiding deities are Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. Thousand Pillar Temple – Hanamkonda is really a true architectural splendor.

The temple is a star shaped architecture, which is an example of the expertise of the craftsmen of the period. The temple is supported by the richly carved out pillars. The screens and the beautiful sculptures which adorn the walls of the temple add to the magnificence of the structure. You can also find a huge monolith Nandi, which is made up of black basalt. It has a wonderful polished finish, which adds to its grandeur.

The temple stands on a platform of 1 meter, which slopes towards the Hanumakonda hill. The garden surrounding the temple is simply beautiful. Small lingam shrines adorn the garden. The garden is well maintained and has serenity around it. The chirping of the birds mingled with the ringing of the temple bells creates an aura around the Thousand Pillar Temple – Hanamkonda. Counted as one of the principal monuments in India, this temple is the biggest draw at Hanamkonda.

You can reach Thousand Pillar Temple – Warangal very easily. It is connected by almost all modes of transport. The airport at Hyderabad is the nearest airport to this temple. You can access the Warangal railway station to reach to this city from other parts of the country. Regular buses ply on the roads from Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Karimnagar, Khammam and other districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Palampet is located at a distance of 77 km from Warangal, the ancient capital of the Kakatiyas. It is home to brilliant Kakatiya art as seen in the Ramappa temple. The Ramappa temple is near the ancient engineering marvel of the 13th century AD Ramappa tank. The ancient Ramappa tank can be dated back to the period of Kakatiyas. It is a well-conceived tank where a 2000 ft long earthen dam connects a semi circular chain of hills to form a lake.

The Ramalingeswara Temple is popularly known as the Ramappa temple because the chief sculptor was Ramappa. It is probably the only temple in India to be known by the name of the sculptor who builds it. It was built under the patronage of the King Kakati Ganapathi Deva by his Chief Commander Rudra Samani at Ranakude in the province of Atukuru. The temple has been described as the “brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples in the Deccan”. The temple is approached thorough a royal garden, now just a lawn with tree lined path. The temple is situated in a valley and is built with bricks so light that they can float on water. Yet the temple is so strong that it is still intact after numerous wars, invasions and natural calamities.

The Ramappa temple stands on a 6 ft high platform on a cruciform plan. The sanctum is crowned with a shikhara and is surrounded by a pradakshinapatha. Rich and intricate carvings adorn the walls, pillars and ceilings of this wonderful building. The hall in front of the sanctum has numerous beautifully carved pillars that have been placed to create an effect that combines light and space wonderfully. There are many votive shrines within the temple. There are two subsidiary shrines on either side of the main temple, which are in a good condition.

The entire temple complex is enclosed with a compound wall. At the entrance to the temple is a ruined Nandi mandapam, with an imposing 9 ft high Nandi, which is still intact. The Shivalingam in the sanctum also rises to a height of 9 ft. The east-facing sanctum is surrounded with pilasters crowned with Dravidian and Nagara shikharas in an alternating fashion. There is an additional entrance from the north also leading to the Navaranga mandapam in front of the sanctum. The ceiling is divided into compartments by columns from the bottom and is carved with intricate patterns. There is a richness of carvings in this temple on dark rock with a smooth finish, portraying an amazing range of themes from the Puranas and various Indian mythological stories.Ramappa Temple

The temple signifies many facets of Shiva, his royal residence, the Himalaya Mountains and his inhabiting a sacred space beyond the mortal realm. The temple is built upon the classical pattern of being first raised upon a platform that separates its sacred functions from the taint of the everyday. This ‘sacred mountain’ mindset was characteristic of the temple builders in all the cultures. It represented a powerful symbolic representation of a perfect building, an intersection in midair of the spheres of heaven and earth. The platform lifts it above the normal, transcends the profane, declaring with uncompromising firmness that it is a place for un-common activities dedicated to a god.

Maha Shiva Ratri is celebrated for a period of three days in this temple Many of the smaller structures are neglected and are in ruins in the Ramappa temple. There were even instances of people carrying away the bricks, to be proudly exhibited that they can float on water, before the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) took charge of it. The main entrance gate in the outer wall of the temple is ruined, so one can enter only through a small west gate.