Telangana 360

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

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.   Breath-taking views of the layered rock formations, deep valleys with spectacular views only found in the most exotic locations of the world. Saleshwaram is located 16 km away from  Farhabad forest checkpost  and t he temple comes under Appapur Gram Panchayat in Lingal mandal in Nagarkurnool district, Telangana, India. The ancient Sri Ramalingeshwara Swamy temple of 6th century AD, located deep inside Nallamala forest, is about 1,000 feet deep inside a valley. The scene of the temple in moonlight is a treat to the eyes and a blessing to the soul. The temple lies next to a beautiful waterfall, coming down from a height of over 200 metres. The water flows through the temple and the devotees take a holy dip in it before taking a climb into the Garbhagudi. The linga i

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 temple is located in Narnoor village and mandal, Adilabad District, Telangana State, India. This temple is dedicated to Kamdev and the tribal Jathara which starts in January every year attracts the Thodasam tribe from all villages across the district. Lord Kamadev is the God of Love and is the husband of Rati, the Goddess of Love. Kamadev is known as the Indian Cupid. He is the Hindu God of love and sexuality. Kama means sensuous love, wish, desire, longing or sexuality and Deva means heavenly or divine. In the Atharva-Veda, Kama is described as desire and not sexual enjoyment.

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.

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