Ramappa temple in Telangana gets UNESCO heritage tag
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, July 25
Telangana has another feather in its cap. The World Heritage Committee has announced the inclusion of the 13th century Ramappa Temple at Palampet to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the people of Telangana for this great honour, which has been backed by 17 countries supporting the claim to ensure the Ramappa Temple get a distinctive spot in world heritage.
Excellent! Congratulations to everyone, specially the people of Telangana.
The iconic Ramappa Temple showcases the outstanding craftsmanship of great Kakatiya dynasty. I would urge you all to visit this majestic Temple complex and get a first-hand experience of it’s grandness. https://t.co/muNhX49l9J pic.twitter.com/XMrAWJJao2
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 25, 2021
Norway is believed to have opposed the inscription, while Russia led an effort to get the issue through, and it succeeded. India sought the support of 24 countries whose representatives were to vote on the proposal to inscribe Ramappa Temple on the World Heritage Committee. The countries that backed India’s claim included Ethiopia, Oman, Brazil, Egypt, Spain, Thailand, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Earlier, the ‘Glorious Kakatiya Temples and Gateways – Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Palampet’ examination as a World Heritage Site nomination was deferred in the agenda papers.
According to information available here, The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) cited nine shortcomings at the site after the initial visit in 2019, but on Sunday, a majority veered round to India’s view about the site’s outstanding universal value.
As per the claim staked by India, “The temple is a savvy blend of technological know-how and materials. The foundation is built on sandbox technology; the flooring is granite, the pillars basalt, the lower part of the temple red sandstone, and the white gopuram is built with light bricks that reportedly float in water. An inscription dates the temple to 1135 Samvat-Saka on the eighth day of Magha (January 12, 1214).”
The priests serving at the temple say, “Some of the iconographies on the temple were damaged during the invasion of Malik Kafur in 1310. Treasure hunters vandalised the rest. But the biggest test for the temple was an earthquake in the 17th century (one of the biggest quakes was the 7.7-8.2-magnitude on June 16, 1819). The flooring was rocked by the waves, while the pillars and the vertical structure stayed intact due to sandbox technology.”
The Archaeological Survey of India team that visited the site a few years ago had reported that the pillars had sunk between 1 ft and 1.5 feet over the years.
Built by Racherla Senapati Rudrayya, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapatideva, in the 13th century, the main temple is flanked by the collapsed structures of Kateshwarayya and Kameshwarayya temples in Palampet, 220 km from Hyderabad.
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) tweeted to say, “Happy to share the good news that the 800-year-old Kakatiya Rudreshwara #RamappaTemple in #Telangana has been inscribed as a UNESCO #WorldHeritage Site My compliments to everyone who was involved in the effort.”
Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has hailed the decision of UNESCO to recognise the historical Ramappa Temple of Palampeta in Mulugu District as the World Heritage Site.
The spiritual and cultural property developed by the Kakatiya Kings with a tremendous creativity, sculptural value has a very special place in the country’s cultural heritage.
He said under self-governance the state government is making all efforts to revive and restore the historical, spiritual and proud cultural heritage of Telangana.
The CM thanked UNESCO member nations, Central Government for its support. He congratulated Telangana public representatives and officials for working to get world Heritage status to the Ramappa Temple built by Kakatiya Recherla Rudrudu.
