Hyderabad:The Gollalagudi temple at Palampet in Mulugu district has been accorded national monument status with the Union culture and tourism ministry issuing a gazette notification on Tuesday. With this, the number of ASI-protected monuments in the state has risen to 10.



 Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, ASI Hyderabad circle superintending archaeologist Nihil Das said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) would take up conservation work and minor repairs at the monument. “There is also a waterlogging issue that needs to be addressed. We will ensure that the temple gets a proper pathway for access,” he said.

The temple is located on the southwest of the Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, a Unesco World Heritage Site, in Palampet, Mulugu district. It is a Trikutalaya consisting of a mandapa facing the east and surrounded by three garbhagrihas.



The parapet is adorned with sculptures, entablature and doorways have rows of carved hamsas with jali work, which are the special features of the temple. The Gollalagudi has two detached shrines in front of it that are beautifully carved and adorned with figures of dvarapalas. The walls have various niches in which are images of Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha and Mahishasurmardini.

The Ramappa complex was not an isolated monument, but it formed part of a larger cultural landscape containing subsidiary temples, water systems, agricultural fields and other architectural remains.

Historian Aravind Arya said the temple is generally attributed to the Kakatiya period, broadly around the 12th–13th centuries CE, although its precise date and original dedication require archaeological and epigraphic study.

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