Skip to main content

Posts

Kingri

The Kingri, also known as Khikri, is a unique string instrument as its three strings and the bowstring are made of horse hair.  The Kingri is mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, in many Ancient Indian Brahmin's tales. and in Punjab's folk music. The kingri is also used in traditional death ceremonies, marriages and religious festivals in Telangana and Maharashtra. The most important possession of a Pardhan is his kingri, and a square wooden sound box covered by a skin membrane. On this fiddle Pardhans play during the Persa Pen rites and accompany themselves while singing hymns or reciting epics. The two instruments they play are the kingri, a three stringed violin and a small harp called a bana. Like Raj gonds, Pardhans principle deity is also Persapen. They worship the same gods as the Gonds and attend most of their religious ceremonies. At Festivals it is usually the most prominent Prardhan who plays the Kingri (a musical instrument like crude for...

Nirmal District History

The Nirmal district is etched out of erstwhile Adilabad District. The district is located in northern Telangana and borders Maharashtra and the Telangana districts of Asifabad (Komuram Bheem) Adilabad Mancherial Jagtial and Nizamabad. The district has two revenue divisions Nirmal and Bhainsa and 19 mandals while the district headquarters is located at Nirmal town. Nirmal District derives its name from the king Nimma Rayudu, who played a pivotal role in the development of the region. 700 BC - 300 BC : Asmaka (One of the 16 Mahajanapadas) Founder : Unknown (Believed to be Asmaka) Capitals : Potana or Potali or Paudanya of Mahabharata or today's Bodhan. Languages : Prakrit Religion : Budhism, Jainism, Hinduism c.300 BC - 232 BC : Mauryan Empire (322 BC –185 BC) Founder : Chandragupta Maurya (320 BC - 298 BC) Capital : Pataliputra Languages : Prakrit Religion : Budhism, Jainism, Brahmanism c. 232 BC - c. 208 AD : Pre-Satavahana and Satavahana Dynasty Excavations in kotilingala found ...

Siege of Golconda 1656 AD and 1687 AD

The siege of Golconda in 1656 AD and again in 1687 AD between the Qutb Shahi dynasty and the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, occurring in January 1687 and ended on September 22, 1687. 1652 AD - 1655 AD : Mir Jumla Governor of Golconda and  Aurangzeb Viceroy of Deccan 1636 AD : In 1636 AD Shah Jahan appointed Aurangzeb as the Viceroy of the Deccan and forced the Qutb Shahis to recognize Mughal suzerainty, which lasted until 1687 when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the Golcondan sultanate. Mir Jumla was actually a Persin, the son of an Ispahan oil merchant, 1638 AD : In 1638 rose Mir Jumla to the chief minister of the Golconda Kingdom and received the title of Mir Jumla.  In his handling of the Karnataka invasioin the early 1640s Mir Jumla proved to be talented military strategist and diplomat.  For ten years from 1642 - 1652 his armies were engaged against Nayaks.  1655 AD :  Golconda’s ruler began to worry that Mir Jumla was coming more of a dangerous riv...

Tummalagudem Inscription

566 AD : Tummalagudem Inscription of Vikramendra Varman II (555 AD - 569 AD) in Nalgonda Sanskrit and Southern Characters. These records are present in Navodaya Samiti, Hyderabad. Both the Tumulaguda sets, written in Sanskrit language and Southern characters belong to the Vishnu Kundin dynasty. One of them, in characters of about the fourth-fifth centuries A.D., was issued in the thirty- seventh year of the reign of Maharaja Govindavarman, son of Maharaja Madhavavarman, and grandson of Maharaja Indra-varman. It records that the king granted two villages called Embudala and Penkapara to the vihara of the senior-queen (agra-mahishi) Parama-mahadevi. The other set refers itself to the reign of Vikramendra-bhattaraka Varman alias Uttamasraya and is dated in his  eleventh regnal year  and in Saka 488 (A.D. 566-67). It records the grant of the village Irundoro, by the king, to the same vihara built at Indrapura. It also refers to the defeat of the Pallava ruler Simha by Uttamasraya....

Penjerla Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple

Penjerla Swayambhu Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy is a Hindu Temple is located in Penjerla village, Kothur Mandal, Ranaga Reddy district, Telangana State, India. Svayambhu or Swayambhu is a Sanskrit word that means "self-born", "self-manifested", "self-existing", or "that that is created by its own accord".  Timings : 7 AM to 1 PM and 4 PM to 7 P Address 4836+VJG, Penjerla, Shamshabad, Hyderabad Contact +91 90106 14354 penjerlasriananthapadmanabha@gmail.com

Kinnera

Kinnera is a two-stringed instrument made using indigenous materials like bamboo, dried outer shell of round bottle gourd, honeycomb, bull horn, beads, mirrors and peacock feathers. Scholar and poet Jayadhir Thirumala Rao says that the origins of the kinnera can be traced back to “around the 4th century AD, in and around the Deccan plateau”. “The Chenchu tribe [also known as Chenchus or Chenchulu], who were part of the Nallamalla forest, used to play the instrument while singing and narrating ballads or stories of heroes,” said Rao. “The Dakkali tribe of Mahbubnagar district in Telangana [in the area near the Nallamalla forest] was performing it at least from the 12th century. The Dakkalis are a sub-caste of the Madiga caste, once considered outcastes.” The kinnera has several variations – it comes with seven, nine, 12 or 13 frets. The larger-sized ones have three resonators, while the smaller ones have only two. Much like the Saraswati veena, the instrument is made with organic mater...

Runza or Runjha or Raunza or Runja

Runza  or Runjha or Raunza or Runja is a percussion musical instrument and a rare folk art from Telangana and it belongs to the Vishwakarma community, who take it as a sacred commitment.  Avajamu, Dangaramu, Veeranamu are different synonyms for Ruza. A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Runja is a two-faced drum of the medieval times. It had a uniformly cylindrical body, 13½ inches long. Each face had a diameter of 8 inches, fitted with rings over the edge. Brass ia also used in the making of Runza. Its height is about 3 or 3 1/2 feet. The upper part is covered with goats skin, eleven holes are made above and below and eleven chord are tightly tied all over so as to make a sling (utter in Telugu). The Runzas bend the instrument slantwise, press it firmly with knee and by pulling ...

Jangaon District History

973 AD - 1163 AD : Western Chalukyas of Kalyani 973 AD - 997 AD : Tailapa II 997 - 1008 AD : Satyasraya 1008 - 1015 AD : Vikramaditya V 1010 AD : Bhimarasa 1010 AD : Pallagutta This inscription is on the pillar in the Museum and dated as S, 933 Sadharana falls in S. 932 and not in 933, A.D. 1010. Mentions certain Maha Samantadhipati who bore epithets Sahaja Turaga Vidyadhara and Ranamukha Bhairava. It registers the gift of flower garden and dwelling site, towards the perpetual lamp and daily offerings to the God (name lost). Bhimarasa mentioned in this record seems to be identical with samanta Kesari Bhimarasa. a feudatory of Satyasraya who held Banawasi from 1002 to 1006. 1058 AD - 1079 AD : Sankaraganda of Kandura Tummalagudem, Ramannapet Taluk.  11th century. Telugu and Kannada. This inscription is on four sides of a stone pillar of the ruined temple near Indrapalagutta. Third side is not copied, it is touching the wall. It is registered as a gift of some wetland by a ...

Nagavarma I

Name : Nagavarma I Died : 21st February, 993 AD Occupation : Poet, writer, and grammarian  Notable Work : Karnataka Kadambari and Chandombhudhi Nagavarma I was a noted Jain writer and poet in the Kannada language. His two important works, both of which are extant, are Karnātaka Kādambari, a champu (mixed prose-verse metre) based romance novel and an adaptation of Bana's Sanskrit Kādambari, and Chandōmbudhi (also spelt Chhandombudhi, lit, "Ocean of prosody" or "Ocean of metres"), the earliest available work on Kannada prosody which Nāgavarma I claims would command the respect even of poet Kalidasa Jain Brāhmans are the Brahmins or Brāhmans who follow Jainism. Nagavarma I was patronised by King Rakkasa Ganga (also called Rachamalla V, 986–999 CE) of the Western Ganga Dynasty. Nagavarma - l in his Kādambari states that he received horses from Bhoja which were imported from Kalinga, Kāmbhōja and Bahlika countries. Aśvasāhaṇi was the officer who looked after the hor...

Mahabubabad District History

Mahabubabad district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district was carved out from the erstwhile Warangal district following the re-organisation of districts in the state in October 2016. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Khammam, Bhadradri, Warangal, Mulugu and Jangaon districts. Koravi Seema  must have consisted of the regions around the modern Mahbubabad and Dornakal Junction . To the west of " Koravi Seema " lay " Anumakonda Seema ". Madhira area of current Khammam district and Kuravi, Manukota area of current Mahaboobabad Kakatiya Dynasty 895 A.D - 940 A.D : Erra / Erriya Son. Rashtrakuta vassal  Ruled from Kakatipura. According to the Bayyaram inscription, Erra ruled Kurravadi and surrounding region. 936 AD : Kusumayudha II son of Vijayaditya Gonaga Ruled Koravi region Arikesari II (930 - 955 AD) of Vemulavada Chalukya defeated Govinda IV (930 - 936) dethroned him and transferred the Rashtrakuta empire to Amogavarsha III (936 - 9...

Hanumakonda District History

Hanumakonda or Hanamkonda district, (formerly Warangal Urban district) is a district located in the northern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters are located at Hanumakonda. The district borders the districts of Jangaon, Karimnagar, Warangal, Bhupalpally and Siddipet. The district was formed in 2016 by carving out Warangal Urban district from the erstwhile Warangal district. In August 2021, the Warangal Urban district was renamed as Hanumakonda district.  753 AD - 973 AD : Rashtrakuta defeated Badami Chalukyas in 753 AD. Founder : Dantidurga Bhimarasa 872 AD : Khajipet, Hanumakonda District. Framentary. The inscription introduces Satyasraya Bhimarasa who obtained the privilege of using the pancha-maha sabdas (five musical instruments) and the status of mahasamantadhipati by serving (his overlord Amoghavarsha Sri Prithvi Vallabha Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara Bhattara) and records the grant of money to certain local officials and lays down fine...

Jagitial District History

Jagtial district is a district located in the northern region of the Indian state of Telangana. Its headquarters is Jagtial. The district shares boundaries with Nirmal, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Sircilla and Nizamabad districts. 753 AD - 973 AD : Rashtrakuta defeated Badami Chalukyas in 753 AD. Founder : Dantidurga Dharmapuri : This undated inscription was issued by Aitavarmarasa, of the Haihaya family, whose overlord was the Rashtrakuta king Krishna. It refers to the gift of hundred mattars of land situated in the village Tumbula of Veligonda-12, as siddhaya yielding the revenue of drammas by Ayyana on the day of asterism Uttarashadha to one of the mahajanas named Revana. It also mentions the names of Dharmyara along with Mallapura, probably the capital of the Haihaya subordinate. The record may be dated palaeographically to the ninth-tenth century A.D.   Madhavaraya 1613 AD : Dhalapatiraya 15th April A.D. 1613  : Vellulla, Metpalli, Jagitial This inscription is on...

Jayashankar Bhupalpally District History

1128 CE : Muchchanayaka   Pratapagiri, Karimnagar. Engraved on a stone built into the wall of the main entrance of the front in the village, the record states that Muchchanayaka, who bore epithets like Gandagopala, Kanchiraksha-palaka, Chola-rajyasthapanacharya, Pandya-mano-vibhala, Chera-mano-bhayankara, etc.,caused the front to be built in the year Kilaka which, on palaeographical grounds, may be supposed to correspond to A.D. 1128. The inscription explicitly records that Muchchanayaka caused the fort to be built (or specifically the "front" or main entrance) at Pratapagiri Vijayanagara Empire 1377 AD - 1404 AD : Harihara Raya II  1397 AD : Prince Devaraya (1406 AD - 1422 AD)   son of Harihara Raya II 28th February, A.D. 1397 : Kaleshwaram. This inscription is on one pillar of 16-Pillared mandapa of Muktesvara temple from Kaleshwaram, dated Saka 1319, Isvara, 1st day of the year, Wednesday, corresponding to the 28th February 1397 A.D., states in a...