UNESCO tag for Ramappa to boost tourism prospects

Title will be a dream come true moment for people of Telangana

The historic Ramappa temple located just 65 km away from Warangal was built in dedication to Lord Shiva. It was built during the period of Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva by General Recherla Rudra. It is said that it took nearly 40 years to build this beautiful temple. Another interesting aspect is that the temple is named after its sculptor Ramappa, who actually chiselled the Shiva statue and began worshipping the deity here. Perhaps this is the only temple which became famous in the name of its sculptor.

Ramappa temple is known for its sculptures and elaborate carvings. Right from the flute at the entrance, which resonates with the rhythmic Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma when touched, to the fine carvings on pillars through which one can actually pass a strand of hair. Single red sand stone was used to build the temple and the black granite was used for carving out magnificent statues which adorn the temple exterior connecting roof and walls.

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Despite its importance, successive rulers of the combined Andhra Pradesh neglected this historic temple, and as a result the main entrance and east side wall was collapsed in 2012 and later again the compound wall was collapsed. Despite several requests to protect and preserve the temple, none in the united Andhra Pradesh government took interest in the temple.

But the formation of Telangana State and the untiring efforts of MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy who left no stone unturned to restore the glory of the temple have borne fruit to some extent. He provided infrastructural facilities which began attracting local and global tourists. He thoroughly studied the temple status and gave multiple representations to governments for all the needed developments. He had made a special appeal to the Union Minister Prahlad Patel for the restoration of 1000 pillar temple in Hanamkonda and for comprehensive development of Ramappa temple.

As a result, the UNESCO officials inspected the historic Ramappa Temple to study the feasibility of according the status of a World Heritage Site (WHS). All the shortfalls and a few concerns are now being addressed the historic ‘Ramappa’ temple is all set to get the World Heritage Site status very soon. This will be a dream fulfilling moment to people of Telangana. Ramappa temple will be the first site to get World Heritage site status from two Telugu States.

If World Heritage Site (WHS) status is accorded, the State will have many advantages. The status would significantly boost tourism in Telangana leading to a sustained development in livelihood of locals, and importantly attract investments. A few of the non-economic benefits would be in the interest of preservation of history and culture and nurturing of creativity.

In short, this will definitely boost the local economy and provide a fillip to local and global tourism which in turn will lead to generation of employment and revenue. As a Mulugu resident, this is a dream come true moment for all of us here. I would wholeheartedly thank Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy and the officials of Telangana government who stood by Ramappa temple, and for saving the history glory which was ignored for decades by leaders of united Andhra Pradesh.

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