Warangal is situated 145 kilometers from the Andhra Pradesh state capital, Hyderabad. Warangal city is the headquarters of Warangal district. Warangal was the ancient capital of the Kakatiyas. The city stands out for its ancient architectural monuments, beautiful lakes, temples, and wildlife.
HISTORY
Warangal was the capital of a Hindu Shaivaite kingdom ruled by the Kakatiya dynasty from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The old name of this newly formed city is Orugallu. Oru means one and Kallu means stone. The Ancient name was Andhra Nagaram, please refer Andhra Maha Vishnu temple. Literary evidence shows that long before Satavahanas, a legendary king named Āndhra Viṣhṇu ruled in and around the Diviseema region of Andhra state. After his reign, people came to believe that he had an amsa of the divine savior Lord Maha Vishnu himself. Perhaps in his honor, people dedicated a new temple now located at Srikākuḷam, Krishna District. The lord of the temple is known as Āndhra Viṣhṇu or Srikākuḷāndhra Viṣhṇu. The Kakatiyas left many monuments, including an impressive fortress, four massive stone gateways, the Swayambhu temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Ramappa temple situated near Ramappa Lake. The cultural and administrative distinction of the Kakatiyas was mentioned by the famous traveller Marco Polo. Famous or well-known rulers included Ganapathi Deva, Prathapa Rudra, and Rani (queen) Rudrama Devi. After the defeat of PratapaRudra, the Musunuri Nayaks united seventy two Nayak chieftains and captured Warangal from Delhi sultanate and ruled for fifty years. Jealousy and mutual rivalry between Nayaks ultimately led to the downfall of Hindus in 1370 A.D. and success of Bahmanis. Bahmani Sultanate later broke up into several smaller sultanates, of which the Golconda sultanate ruled Warangal. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687, and it remained part of the Mughal empire until the southern provinces of the empire split away to become the state of Hyderabad in 1724 which included the Telangana region and some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Hyderabad was annexed to India in 1948, and became an Indian state. In 1956 Hyderabad was partitioned as part of the States Reorganization Act, and Telangana, the Telugu-speaking region of Hyderabad state which includes Warangal, became part of Telangana state.
GEOGRAPHY
Warangal is located at 18.0°N 79.58°E. It has an average elevation of 302 metres (990 feet).
CLIMATE
Located in the semi-arid Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, Warangal has a predominantly hot and dry climate. Summers start in March, and peak in May with average high temperatures in the 42 °C (108 °F) range. The monsoon arrives in June and lasts until September with about 550 mm (22 in) of precipitation. A dry, mild winter starts in late November and lasts until early February. With little humidity and average temperatures in the 22–23 °C (72–73 °F) range, this is the best time to visit Warangal.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As of 2001 India Census, Warangal had a population of 12,28,570 citizens. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Warangal has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 64%. In Warangal, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
TRANSPORT
Air: There is an airstrip at Mamnoor on the south-eastern outskirts of Warangal. It was earlier used as a make shift air force base. The nearest international airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad located 160 km away from Warangal.
Rail: Warangal is well connected to many of the major cities of India by rail. It falls under the South Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Kazipet Junction Railway Station in Kazipet, about 13 km from Warangal, is a major railway junction on the Hyderabad-New Delhi-Chennai-Kolkata route. Warangal Railway Station in Warangal is a station located on the Hyderabad-New Delhi-Chennai-Kolkata route. Every day nearly 132 trains pass through this section apart from goods trains.
Road: National Highway 202 passes through Warangal and connects it with Hyderabad and Bhopalapatnam in Chhattisgarh.
There are two major bus stations in Warangal and Hanamakonda. Long-distance deluxe buses ply from Warangal to Bangalore, Madras, Hyderabad, Tirupathi, Anantapur, and Hubli, Belgaum; and standard express buses to Guntur via Vijaywada, Cherial, Jangaon, Kodad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Suryapet, Palampet, Jagtial, Mahabubabad, Narsampet, Parkal, Khammam, Bhadrachalam and Basar. From Hyderabad there are direct buses available at regular intervals to Warangal.
CULTURE
Telugu is the language spoken by the majority in Warangal. Both traditional attire like Saree and Dhoti and modern dress styles are worn. The poets of this place include the ancient poets Potana and Palkuriki Somanna to present day poets/writers like Kaloji Narayana Rao.
FESTIVALS
Major Hindu festivals such as Bathukamma festival, Dasara, Deepavali, Sankranti are celebrated here. Bathukamma festival is very famous here and celebrated by the women worshipping the goddess for nine days with various flowers. In addition, the district hosts the Sammakka Saralamma Jatara or congregation. Every two years (bi-annually), approximately 6 million people converge for over three days around the small village of Medaram and its adjacent stream/rivulet, Jampanna Vagu, 90 km from Warangal city. This fair is said to be the largest repeating aggregation of tribal communities in the whole world and commemorates the valiant fight put up by a mother-daughter combination (Samakka and Sarakka) with the reigning Kakatiya king over an unjust law. Also, this is second biggest congregation in Asian continent after Kumbha Mela in India.[5] Bonalu and Bathukamma festivals, symbolic of the Telangana region are also celebrated here (Bathukamma is celebrated particularly by women) with gusto.
Every year during the month of Ramzan, there is a festival atmosphere in Muslim areas, especially in Mandi Bazaar where the main road remains closed in the evening and is only accessed by foot. Many make shift shops and food eateries crop up serving the famous haleem dish and lots of other foods, sweets and seviyan. Night shopping is very famous here when people fast the whole day and come for shopping, casual walk in the evening and shops are open almost till 1am in the night.
Fatima Feast is celebrated every year on February 12 and 13 by Catholic Christians at their Warangal Diocesian Headquarters of Cathedral Church in Fatima Nagar, Kazipet.
Image Credits: Shashi Bellamkonda | Saurabh | Mohita Joshi | Vamsee Koneru | Rajeev Gupta