Warangal is a city in the South Indian state of Telengana. It can be easily accessed by road from Hyderabad and while it makes for a long day, like me you can do it as a day trip. We started about 7am and returned home about 10pm. It is about 150 kilometres but can take three hours to get there because of traffic congestion within Hyderabad. It is settled in the Eastern part of the Deccan Plateau made up of granite rocks and hill formations. Summer is very hot and temperature can go as high as 42o Celsius and so my recommendation is to go in winter where the day is pleasant at 22 to 24o.
Visiting Warangal is a lesson in history. Warangal which is a version of Orugallu or Ekshila Nagaram means a “single stone” referring to a huge granite boulder in the Warangal Fort. The city itself was the capital for the Kakatiya rulers who ruled between 12th to 14th century AD. When I visited the temples, I was in awe and wondered how it was humanly possible to have the vision to carve, chisel and create exquisite temples with one of the hardest and heaviest materials on earth. Remember there was no automation and nothing to assist the artisan – if the king commissioned you got the inspiration and just did it. They are very inspiring and you are left wonder struck not only at the enormity of the edifices but the detail as well. There are several legends being told about the benevolent rulers. Our guide demonstrated the space between petals by passing a thin coconut fibre through the gap!
Did you know that the Kakatiya’s were the original owners of the Kohinoor diamond? The city of Warangal was captured and looted by the Delhi Sultanate. They destroyed some of the art work within the temples and the broken or defaced elephants are a reminder of this.
Warangal is a city of more than million people but it appears most of the business seems to happen in Hyderabad. There are a few decent places to have lunch and we paid about $4 per person including tip for a vegetarian meal.