Musafir

As i enter inside the temple, all i see is a dark room with rows of pillars. These pillars are extraordinarily carved with miniature designs. There are 48 pillars inside the temple and each is unique it its design, each of the intricately carved. The four central pillars are a marvel. These four pillars bear madanikas(Celestial damsels) and there are 42 of them, 4 inside the hall and the rest outside all round the main shrine. They are depicted in various forms, such as, dancers, musicians and drummers and are rarely erotic in nature.

The temple is divided into three, a garbhagriha (sanctum), the vestibule and the rangamantapa. The sanctum is guarded by the dwarapalakas of Lord Vishnu, Jaya and Vijaya and they are heavily decorated with ornaments. Above the entrance to the sanctum, is the makaratorana. Makara, as we know is a mythical creature having legs of a Lion, body like a boar, ears of a cow, eyes of a monkey, mouth of a crocodile,  elephant’s trunk and with feathers like a peacock. This animal is the vehicle of the rain god Varuna.

We talked about the madanika forms on the pillars in here. They are so intricately carved that a stone pendant which on one figure can be moved even though its made up of a single stone. Also there is a one figure which wear bangles that can be moved. Even here the entire structure is a monolith. Such was the mastery of the sculptors of that time. The name of the architects is found on pillars and pedestals of these madanika figures.

There is one unique pillar on the ceiling here and the entire thing is carved like an interlocking system. There is a 3 feet protrusion from the ceiling and the bottom of it is carved in the form of Narasimha, the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Also there is a lotus petal which symbolizes Brahma. This protrusion is in the form of an inverted Siva Linga and this ceiling marks the culmination of the three supreme powers in the form of Bhuvaneshwari. This form of a ceiling is found only in three places in India, the other two being the temple in Somnathpur and the Dilwara Temple in Mount Abu Rajasthan.

I was talking about the pillars inside. Each pillar is entirely unique in its design and is made of five sections an weighs around 4000 - 5000 kilograms. The designs on these pillars inspire the bangle designs as well as sarees. There are two important pillars. Lets talk about the Mohini first. Mohini is the female form of Lord Vishnu. The hands of the sculpture was broken during the siege in the 14th century. The pillar and the the sculpture are together monolith and its amazing to see that a small twig passes through the carved crown. This sculpture also talks about the perfect proportion of the human body and the the legend that a women whose second finger of the toe is bigger is more dominating.

The second pillar is the Narasimha which was carved in such a way that it rotates on its base. It uses the stone ball bearing system. The extraordinary feature of this pillar is that whatever carvings that we find inside and outside of the temple can be found on this pillar. So this is like a miniature of art. There is the artists signature on this pillar too. What i have observed in other temples in parts of India reflects here. A little part of the pillar is left untouched. This is a typical artist signature which challenges others to carve something like him in the same small place. This pillar not only has length and breadth but also depth. That is the best thing about this. Smallest designs are shown here like a betel nut sized elephant, bull and a small idol of Lord Ganesha.

I spent around 15 minutes inside the temple exploring everything and then move out to cover the outer structures.

In India, generally temples are named after the deity that is worshipped in the temple. Such a exceptional example of a temple this is, it is named after the master sculptor who carved the extraordinarily beautiful pieces of art.

Ramappa temple is simply a delight at any angle. Even the smallest of the designs is carved very beautifully. Some of the sculptures are so carefully carved, its still showers the same glow as it was 800 years ago.

This temple was built by Racherla Rudra, a general of Ganapati Deva. According to a contemporary record, this temple was built in 1213 A.D. The path to approach the temple is itself is extremely pleasant with tall trees on either side of the road which gives the much needed shade during the afternoons. There is a think sheet of grass on the open land on the other side of the tress on either side.

The path that the tourists take now, clearly is not the original entrance of the temple complex as it leads to the side of the temple and the front of the temple is filled with think thorny bushes and is not approachable. One need to bend a little  and pass under a stone boulder to enter the temple complex. On the first glimpse, we see that the wear and tear of 800 years have shown its marks on it. The top of the temple is worn out.

The temple stands on a raised platform with the Garbhagriha, Antarala and the Mahamantapa with lateral porched entrances on three sides. The main entrance faces east. On one side of the temple, we see an inscription in Kannada language which talks about the sculptor Ramappa and the time when this temple was commissioned. Once we see the outer portion of the temple closely, we will realise that this is no ordinary one. On the beam, are idols in black stone of horses and lions. The idols clearly are attached to the main temple, but the expression on the animals is also seen clearly.

The floor of the temple is not plain. It has moved up and down due to earthquakes in the past centuries and the result is clearly visible. The walls lean over to one side. The inside of the temple is wonderful with several one of their kind pieces. There is one pillar where the stone is bent as if a metal is bent after being hit by a heavy object and it has deformed.  There are other sculptures of three dancers  whose bodies are connected and have just four legs. Whichever dancer you see, will appear normal with that legs. There are carvings on stone so intricate, that a thin piece of straw passes through them.

The Garbhagriha contains a black basalt Linga installed on a high pedestal. Inside over the central ankana, one finds a magnificent display of sculptures depicting scenes from Ramayana, Siva Purana and other mythological narratives. On the  walls at the entrance of the Garbhagriha are sculptures of various dance forms. Some of the sculptures are broken over the years. Once unique piece of art is the round series of sculptures in the long wall panels. It depicts various musical instruments being played.

The striking peculiarity of the construction lies in the arrangement of bracket figures. Above the Kakshasana level, decorated are slender graceful Madanikas, Naginis etc. in different poses. They are carved on black stone with very minute  carvings and intricate designs. The entire thing will have been sculpted out of a single stone and it would have been extremely difficult making that very thin as this.

Also carved, are numerous elephants and designs all round the temple outer wall. There are also some sections where Jain sculptures are carved on the temple which is a proof that Jainism is prevalent during that age. Once simple example is the Jain temple in Kolanupaka (40 kms from Ramappa Temple) constructed during the same time.

The other units within the prakara are an imposing Nandi Mandapa, Kameswara and Kateswara shrines. The Kameswara Temple is in total ruins and there is no guarantee how long will the structure be intact. The outer part of the temple is of brick colour which shines in the evening sun. The area which encloses the inner sanctum is carved with extremely beautiful carvings from the outside. The Nandi in this temple is fairly big with extremely beautiful design carved on it.

We spent around 2 hours covering every corner of the temple and by the time we completed it, it was almost sunset. We still had time for our return train to Hyderabad. We went back to Warangal, had a nice dinner. We came back to Hyderabad with nice memories of the very beautiful Warangal  - A Glorious Kingdom that was…