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Erakeswara Temple, Pillalamarri

This article is about Siva temple in Pillalamarri village near Suryapet. For other uses, see Pillalamarri (disambiguation).

Erakeswara Temple is a Saivite Hindu temple located in the western side of Pillalamarri village, Suryapet district of Telangana, India. The temple was built on the banks of the Musi river in c. 1208 CE by Erakasani, the wife of Bēti Reddi of the Recherla family who were the feudatories of Kakatiyas.[1][2][3][4][5] Erakeswara Temple is one among the four prominent and intricately carved stone and granite temples located in Pillalamarri village—the other three are about 250 metres east of the Erakeswara temple. These include the double temples next to each other: Nameswara Temple and Trikuteswara Temple (both Shiva); and the third being the Chennakesava Temple (Vishnu) in ruins that is a few hundred feet southwest of the double temples. They are all from 12th to early 13th century period.

Erakeswara Temple
Pillalamarri Erakeswara Temple
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictSuryapet
Location
LocationPillalamarri, Suryapet
StateTelangana
CountryIndia
Erakeswara Temple, Pillalamarri is located in Telangana
Erakeswara Temple, Pillalamarri
Location in Telangana
Geographic coordinates17°10′11″N 79°34′56″E / 17.169683°N 79.582198°E / 17.169683; 79.582198
Architecture
TypeKakatiya architecture
Completedc. 1208 CE

Location

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Pillalamarri is located at a distance of 8 km northwest of Suryapet town, off highway 65. Suryapet is located at a distance of 153 km from Hyderabad on the National Highway 65.

History

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The temple was built in the early 13th century (c. 1203–1208 CE)[2][6] by the Recherla chiefs who served as the feudatories of Kakatiyas. One inscription notes that Erakasani, the wife of Bēti Reddi of the Recherla family built the temple in 1208 CE in Pillalamarri.[1][3][4] The deity Erakeswara is named after her, meaning "lord of Eraka".[5][7][8] The temple was vandalised during the raids of Alauddin Khilji into the Deccan region in the early 14th century. An inscription dated to 1357 CE records the re-establishment of Lord Erakeswara by a local feudatory chief serving Kapaya Nayaka of Musunuri Nayaka dynasty.[9]

Prominent stone inscriptions in Telugu about the history of the temple and of Pillalamarri are displayed in the temple premises. One of the stone inscriptions is dated to 1195 CE (Saka. 1117) and mentions the rule of Pratapa Rudra I. Another stone inscription dates to 1208 CE (Saka. 1130) and makes a reference to the reign of Ganapati Deva.[10][11]

One of the earliest archaeological surveys and documentation of this temple was completed over 1926 and 1927 by Ghulam Yazdani – an archaeologist and epigraphist, and published in 1929. In this study, the four temples at Pillalamarri were in ruined state and incorrectly named as:[12]

  • Someswara Gudi (now identified as Erakeswara Temple or Yerakeswara)
  • Narasimhadeva temple (now Nameswara temple)
  • Mukandesvara temple (now Trikuteswara temple)
  • Rameswara temple (now Chennakesava temple)

According to Yazdani, the temple in the northwest part of the village (Someswara, now Erakeswara) has several inscriptions, but some were modern. The Hindu masons of the medieval period had miscalculated the weights and this, he proposed, was the cause of the ruins and sunken floors he witnessed. The local ruler, patron and the builder of this and two other temples in the village was the Namireddi family, a Shudra by caste according to the genealogy inscribed on the stone in one of the temples, states Yazdani.[13]

Architecture

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Floor plan of the Erakeswara temple, Pillalamarri

The architectural style of the temple is close to Ramappa temple and Kota Gullu, other Kakatiya era temples. The temple is placed on an upapitha and is cruciform in shape.[14][15] It has three porticos in the east, north and south and a garbhalaya in the west. The sikhara on the inner sanctum (garbhagudi) is made of brick and lime and is decorated all over by miniature turrets. It is said that the stone used in temple construction has interesting acoustic properties. When the temple stone is tapped with a coin, it sounds like metal.[15] The temple has intricately carved pillars and walls. The temple walls are painted with frescoes.

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References

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  1. ^ a b Rao, P. R. Ramachandra (2005). The Splendour of Andhra Art. Akshara. p. 86.
  2. ^ a b "Monuments of Nalgonda". Telangana State Department of Archaeology and Museums (TSDAM). Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b Rao, M. Rama (1966). Select Kākatīya Temples. Sri Venkatesvara University. p. 91.
  4. ^ a b Ganapathi, Racharla (2000). Subordinate Rulers in Medieval Deccan. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. p. 155. ISBN 978-81-86050-53-8.
  5. ^ a b Kumari, V. Anila (1997). The Andhra Culture During the Kakatiyan Times. Eastern Book Linkers. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-86339-15-2.
  6. ^ "Telangana Protected Monuments List - Heritage Act 2017" (PDF). p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2020.
  7. ^ Mukherjee, Amitabha (1996). Women in Indian Life and Society. Punthi Pustak and Institute of Historical Studies. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-85094-97-7.
  8. ^ Suryakumari, A. (1982). The Temple in Andhradesa. Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai. p. 35.
  9. ^ Sarma, Mukkamala Radhakrishna (1972). Temples of Telingāṇa: The Architecture, Iconography, and Sculpture of the Cāḷukya and Kākatīya Temples. Booklinks Corporation. p. 100.
  10. ^ "PillalaMarri Temple, Telangana Tourism, TS". tstourism.co.in. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  11. ^ Singh, B. Satyanarayana (1999). The Art and Architecture of the Kākatīyas. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. p. 84. ISBN 978-81-86050-34-7.
  12. ^ Ghulam Yazdani (1929), Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness the Nizam's Dominions for 1336 F (1926-1927 AD), Archaeological Department of Hyderabad, Baptist Mission Press, pp. vi, Plates I, II, V, VI
  13. ^ Ghulam Yazdani (1929), Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness the Nizam's Dominions for 1336 F (1926-1927 AD), Archaeological Department of Hyderabad, Baptist Mission Press, pp. 1–3, Quote (p. 3): "The genealogy of Namireddi, who was a Sudra by caste, is given in the inscription on the pillar."
  14. ^ Arch. Series. Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Archaeology. 1960. p. 27.
  15. ^ a b Chatterjee, Saurabh. "A jewel in a nondescript town". Telangana Today. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
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