Thousand Pillars Temple: A timeless treasure languishes in neglect

Warangal: It has been a decade-and-a-half since the authorities barred the entry into Kalyana Mandapam in the Thousand Pillars Temple, the epitome of engineering marvel of the Kakatiya era.

Forget about the tourists, even the millennial of the region were also not fortunate enough to have the full glimpse of the Thousand Pillars Temple, the abode of Rudreshwara Swamy, along with Kalyana Mandapam.

In a bid to refurbish the crumbling mandapam and to restore its past glory, the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI) launched renovation works on July 13, 2005 with an outlay of Rs 7 crore and a timeframe of completing it in two years.

Sculptor Sthapati Shiva Kumar of Tamil Nadu was entrusted with the responsibility of renovating the temple. The target was to reconstruct the 1000-pillared mandapam. It may be mentioned here that main sanctum sanctorum was relatively in good shape.

The first break came after dismantling the pillars. After a two-year break the works resumed again in 2010. With authorities running out of funds, the sculptors left abandoning the remaining 20 per cent work in 2015.

On the other hand, the delay in the progress of work has also led to the escalation of costs.

Speaking to The Hans India, Kakatiya Heritage Trust founder Prof M Panduranga Rao said: "Efforts are on to resume the renovation work which came to a grinding halt due to paucity of funds. With the government failing to release nearly Rs 1 crore pending dues towards wages, Sthapati and his team abandoned the work."

Against this backdrop, Rajya Sabha member Banda Prakash had recently met the Director General of Archaeology in Delhi and submitted a representation to release the funds required for the resumption of works.

However, the ASI Committee needs to sit and review the status of the work before it recommends release of funds, Rao said, expressing hope that works would resume in the very near future.

It's learnt that so far the government has spent Rs 7.5 crore for the renovation. It requires about Rs 4 crore including Rs 1 crore pending payment to Sthapati to bring back the Mandapam into its shape.

Although it's known as 1,000 Pillars Temple, they cannot be counted individually. The Mandapam has 132 main pillars, made of multiple blocks of stones. The other pillars that vary in size make it 1000 pillars.

The roof of the Mandapam is an absolute gem as it boasts carvings of Gayatri, the goddess of learning, and Chaturmukham (four faces) that guards against all ills.

The renovation work was stopped after the whole structure was installed on a raised platform. The work on the roof of the Mandapam is yet to be taken up.

With the reconstruction of the mandapam is yet to be completed, the authorities barred the entry into it. The tourists who turn to 1000 Pillars Temple are a disappointed lot as they have to leave the place after visiting presiding deity Rudreshwara Swamy.

A peep into the history reveals that the temple which believed to have constructed in 1163 by Kakatiya King Rudra Deva took nearly 72 years for the Kakatiya kings to complete the construction.

The mandapam that stands at a height of 9.5 meters has 2,560 sculptures. The foundation of the temple was based on sandbox technology.