Telangana's 13th century Ramappa temple gets UNESCO heritage tag

Hyderabad: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Sunday inscribed the 13th-century Ramappa in Palampet, Telangana a 'World Heritage Site'.

Also known as Rudreswara temple, this Kakatiyan architectural marvel is located at Palampet in Mulugu district near Warangal, about 200 km from Hyderabad.

The UNESCO statement says that the sculptural art and decoration specific to the time and Kakatiya Empire have an outstanding universal value.

"Today, because of a historic decision taken at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, Ramappa temple now belongs to the whole world, to the entire humanity. I congratulate the people of Palampet," India's representative at the online session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) said, expressing excitement over the inclusion of the temple among the list of World Heritage sites.

Ramappa temple is the 39th site in India and the first in Telangana to get the coveted tag. This comes as the first major success of Telangana to get global recognition for its cultural heritage after attaining statehood seven years ago.

It was in 2014 that Ramappa temple was nominated for the inscription. A team of UNESCO officials had inspected the temple in 2019.

Ramappa Temple emple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya Empire by Recharla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva. The presiding deity here is Ramalingeswara Swamy. The temple became famous with the name sculptor Ramappa who executed the work for 40 years.

The temple stands on a 6 feet high star-shaped platform with walls, pillars and ceilings adorned with intricate carvings that attest to the unique skill of the Kakatiyan sculptors.

The Telangana government had also taken steps to conform to the demands made by the WHC in their agenda papers.

Two days ago, the state government announced that it is initiating formation of a management committee at the state level and Palampet Special Development Authority at the local level for adequate legal protection to the temple and to ensure regulated development by appropriately zoning areas near the temple.

Minister for tourism and culture V. Srinivas Goud stated that these steps will ensure that serenity and natural beauty of the surroundings of the temple are maintained. He announced that two temples near Ramappa will also be brought under the jurisdiction of Ramappa temple property as recommended by the International Council on Monuments and Sites.