Telangana360

Gandhari Khilla or Fort is located in Gandhari khilla is a hill fort located near Bokkalagutta, in Mandamarri Mandal in Mancherial district, Telangana State, India is a geological wonder to see: its sky-looking rock formations, deep gorges and narrow valleys inside the hillocks make the visitor filled with the thrilling feeling of deep sigh. The visitor will be greeted by a small stream of water running through the hills and hill-bounded Medi Cheruvu (tank). There are three main entrances to the fort, which are carved out of stone. The fort contains idols of Kala Bhairava Swamy, Lord Siva, Lord Ganesh and Hanuman. The way to the fort atop the hill was built in such a way that horses and elephants can trek the hill. There’s an eight-foot tall Naga Seshu idol carved out of a single rock. The fort’s magnificent architecture, defensive constructions, bathing tanks and sculpture leaves visitors spellbound There are three wells, which never dries up even during severe summer. There is al...

Chennur Shivalyam or Agastheswara Alayam is located in chennur village, Mancherial district, Telangana State, India on the banks of Godavari river around 30 kms from Mancherial town. This temple is dedicated to lord Shiva. Chennur Sri Agastheeswara Swamy Temple is the ancient shivalayam in this area with very old inscriptions in Dravida language. it is said that Agasthya Mahamuni himself performed puja in this temple, was visited by Srikrishna Devaraya. Maha Shivaratri is the major annual festival, celebrated with religious gaiety and pomp in Agastheeswara Swamy Temple. Sage Agasthya Maharshi installed this lingam and did poojas to the Shivalinga’s on his journey from Kasi to Dakshina yatra and named it Agasteshwaram. Hence it was named as Agastheeswara Temple. Public from different communities come from far places to immerse the remnant of the dead bodies in the form of ashes, in holy river Godavari which is called Ash Visarjan and have darshan of lord shiva. Akhanda Jyothi is continu...

The Dandari-Ghusadi or Gussadi festival of Telangana is celebrated by the tribal communities of the Raj Gond and Kolam tribes. The Dandari-Ghusadi season is all about a robust dance festival that is celebrated for about 10 days during Deepavli.  The festival ends on Diwali day with the Ghusadi tado taking off their attire ritualistically. The celebrations usually begin with the tribals visiting the Padmalpuri Khako shrine at Gudirevu village of Dandepalli mandal in Mancherial district, on the banks of the Godavari river. On the occasion, the Adivasis present offerings to the river. They also end the festival at the Padmalpuri Khako as the shrine is of great importance for the people belonging to ethnic groups It starts on the day we see a crescent moon and end on the dark moon day. We start the festival by performing the Sakshe Akadi and end it on the Devadi day. Once the Sakshe Akadi is performed, the tribals would attain the festive spirits and the entire week would witness the f...

Bonalu is a folk festival for Mother Goddess , which is very famous and people love to celebrate this festival during rainy season month of Ashada around July/August and goes on usually for twenty-two days. A minimum of twenty days is conceptually required to fulfil the promises given to mother goddess by carrying out pooja on the very first day and last day. Bonalu derived from Bhojanalu meaning food , which is offered to mother goddess. Bonalu involves the worship of Mother Goddess in regional forms like Gangalamma, Ellamma/Yellamma, Mutyalamma, Mallanna, Maisamma, Peddhamma, Dokkalamma, Ankalamma, Poleramma, Maremma, Nookalamma and Samakka and Pochamma. Women carrying Bonalu are believed to possess the spirit of Mother Goddess, and when they go towards the temple, people pour water on their feet to pacify the spirit, who is believed to be aggressive. Every group of devotees offer a Thottelu (a small colorful, paper structure supported by sticks), as a mark of respect to the god...

Sri Neelakanteshwara Temple is located on a beautiful Highway to Nagpur in the centre of Nizamabad Town is famous for its architecture. Apart from architecture, there is another unique factor to this temple. It is the presence of the Big Three here: Lord Shiva in Linga form, who is Swayambhu; Lord Vishnu lying supine like Lord Padmanabhaswamy and Lord Brahma sitting on his lotus. Devotees throng this temple because of the presence of the Holy Triumvirate . Kanteshwar is popular for an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is said to be about 500 years old and stands as an example of the architecture of the time during which it was built. This ancient temple was built by Satakarni II for Jains, who was a popular Satavahana King. During Kakatiya period, the Jain mandiram was converted to a Shiva temple when many Jains also converted to Hinduism. The structure resembles the Nagara style or Hindu architecture with influences from north. While some legends say that th...

Saleshwaram is located  25 km away from Farahabad gate  in Amarabad Tiger Reserve in Nallamala Forest, Amarabad Mandal, Nagarkurnool district, Telangana State, India. The annual Saleshwaram Jatara in the Nallamala forest area which comes under Amrabad Tiger Reserve  is celebrated every year on Chiatra Pournami or the Full Moon Day in April and is open to visitors for only 5 days.  On every Chaitra pouranmi i.e. the full moon day of March/April believed to attain the super natural powers and the wills of the devotees are fullfiled message spread throughout the State hence devotees come in large numbers chanting “Vastunna Lingamayya” . “Saleshwaram Jathara” also known popularly as “Dakshina (Telangana) Amarnath Yathra”is being conducted every year for three days in the month of April, for the past 30 years. Nearly 5 lakh people from all over the country visit Saleshwaram during the Jathara every year.  Saleshwaram waterfalls runs throughout the year from a h...

Gandhari Fort / Gandhari Khilla (Gandhari Kota) is a hill fort located near Bokkalagutta, in Mandamarri Mandal in Mancherial district, Telangana, India. The Gandhari Fort is believed to have been built by tribal kings who ruled over this region, by taking assistance from Kakatiya rulers, some 1,000 years ago. It houses the ancient temple of Maisamma. Similarly, it contains idols of Kala Bhairava Swamy, Lord Siva, Lord Ganesh and Hanuman, idols carved out of rocks. Archaeological work suggests that construction of the fort was begun early as the Rastrakuta era (prior to 1200 A.D.) and continued until 16th century.

Peddagattu Jatara also called as Gollagattu Jatara iis a is the festival done in the name of Lord Lingamanthulu Swamy and Goddess Choudamma every 2 years n Durajpalli, Chivemla Mandal, Suryapet District, Telangana, India. It is celebrated prior to Maha Shivaratri in Magma masam the second biggest congregation of people after Medaram jatara in Jayashankar Bhupalpally. Atleast 25 lakh people are expected to take part in this event. The presiding deities, Sri Lingamanthula Swamy, believed an in carnation of Lord Shiva, and his sister – Choudamma, are offered various pujas during the five-day fete. Though primarily the Yadava community takes part in huge numbers, people from all castes and religions from across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu come to the place located just 5-km. from Suryapet. According to history, this religious congregation has been celebrated since 16th century. Even it is still been celeb...

Sankranti means transmigration of the Sun from one Rashi (constellation of the zodiac in Indian astronomy) to the next. Hence, there are 12 Sankrantis in a year. Why is it called Makar Sankranti? On Makar Sankranti, the sun enters the sun-sign of Capricorn or Makara (the Indian rashi). Therefore the 'Makar' in the name. Thus, the name of the festival literally means the movement of the sun into Capricorn. Though extremely popular as Makar Sankranti, the festival is predominantly a harvest festival and is celebrated throughout India, from north to south and east to west. While Makar Sankranti is most popular in West India, down south, the festival is known as Pongal and in the north, it is celebrated as Lohri. Uttarayan, Maghi, Khichdi are some other names of the same festival. Makar Sankranti Festival is observed every year in the month of January falls on 14th or 15th . Most Hindu festivals follow the position of the moon and are based on the lunar calendar. T...

Festival season for Adivasis has begun with ‘Bheemalpen’ festival which is popular as Bheemanna pujalu and they take ‘Devul’ (wooden deities) for bathing at sacred place ‘Demmala rajul’ near Dhammannapet in Utnoor mandal. Adivasis celebrate Bheemalpen festival in the month of ‘Margashira’ every year. Adivasis are busy in celebrating their traditional festivals these days in the district. Adivasis of Asifabad take their Devul to ‘Khariyar’ and Kerameri to ‘Patteda’, Tiryani to Danthanpalli ganga, Narnoor to Gundala ganga, Indravelli to ‘Pulikakchar’ and Adivasis of Neredigonda bathe their wooden deities in the Kuntala waterfalls. Most of the Adivasi jataras will follow their festivals in the Adilabad district. Adivasis do their cooking with the new crops or beans like ‘chikkudu’, ‘Anapa’, pulses like redgram, rice only after performing special puja called Satti to the Bheemalpen. Adivasis festivals continue with Jangubai to be held from January 11- February8 in the dense f...

Kamdev or Khamdev temple is located in Narnoor village and mandal, Adilabad District, Telangana State, India. This temple is dedicated to Khamdev and the tribal Jathara which starts in January every year attracts the Thodasam tribe from all villages across the district. The Thodasam clan honours Lord Khamdev as their personal God. The clan has a custom where one of the paternal sisters must consume a lot of handmade sesame oil over the course of three years at the yearly festival. Adivasis believe that this ritual helps fulfil their dreams and brings about positive changes in their lives, which is why it is performed once every three years. They believe that carrying forward the tradition will provide good produce to farmers and will bring happiness and harmony to the community. According to them, the tradition began way back in 1961. Since then, as many as 20 paternal sisters of the clan have fulfilled the tradition successfully. The five-day-long annual festival is held on the day...

The sparsely populated hilly confines of Kota-Parandoli gram panchayat on the Telangana-Maharashtra border in Kerameri mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district will come alive on December 31 when the sacred month-long Jangubai pilgrimage of Adivasis gets underway. Thousands of aboriginal Gonds, Kolams and Pardhans of Adilabad and neighbouring districts will visit the ancient cave temple of the most revered Goddess Jangubai situated in picturesque locale of a hillock by the side of a hill stream. Despite the onslaught of modern times, nothing much has changed in these parts and one gets a feeling of being transported back in time when approaching the sacred cave.

Keslapur Nagoba Jatara  is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Inderavelly Mandal Adilabad district, Telangana, India. It is the second biggest tribal carnival and celebrated by Mesaram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days. Tribal people from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesram clan offer prayers at the festival. The Nagoba Jatara starts in pushya masam in every year according to English to the English months December to January. Every year, in the winter months of December/January, the Mesram clan of Raj Gonds and Pardhan Adivasis in the North of Telangana State make preparations for their most important religious and cultural festival, the Keslapur-Nagoba Jatara. The event is unique as it serves as a link between the present and the past, where customs and traditions that centuries old survive even today, underscoring the importance of solidarity within their community. 15 days before gond people bring Godavari river wate...

Samakka Sarakka Jathara or Medaram Jathara, a little festival of tribal origin in Telangana has become a major pilgrimage. The Samakka festival is held every two years at in Medaram Village of Tadvai Mandal deep in the heart of the thick forests of Mulugu district. The population of the little forest village at Medaram in normal times never exceeds 300. Suddenly, during the month of February it rises to over 3500000! Millions of devotees come from all over Telangana and neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. This festival is held in memory of a Koya tribal queen called Samakka who fought against the medieval dynasty of the Kakatiyas who ruled from Warangal between 1000 A.D.-1380 A.D. approximately. The Telangana region over the centuries has come to be identified as a symbol of defiance and dissent, thanks to the legacy of Sammakka and Sarakka who defied the mighty Kakatiya rulers. It served as a source of inspiration for many people's mov...