Karimnagar History
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In early records of arts in Karimnagar district, we find prehistoric paintings at Regonda. We come to know that this area was ruled by Nandas (Mouryas) . But we dont have any architectural evidences. Karimnagar District has four phases of Architecture based on dynastic rule. Architecture seems to have four phases of evolution in Karimnagar district. They are Satavahana, Rashtrakuta, Chalukya and Kakatiya. The earliest of them is Satavahana which is represented by the unique Stupa at Dhulikatta which is a structural architecture constructed with bricks and the 6 casing slabs with architectural designs of pilasters, on the hill at Pashigaom1, five hooded Naga Muchulinda, the Buddhapadas, the Pipal tree and Mahabhinishkramana. There are also bas reliefs of Yakshis holding floral objects recalling those at Sanchi.
An interesting aspect of Hindu religious architecture in Karimnagar district is the existence of rockcut cave temples of Adivi Somananapalle in Manthani Mandal belonging to 7th or 8th century A.D. A row of 4 caves is scooped out of the sand stone rock on the right bank of river Maneru. These caves consist of open pillared mantapas with shrine chambers in the interior. After this, there is a gap in the architectural history of Karimnagar district till the middle of 8th century A.D (Rastrakuta period). The Badami Chalukya architecture is represented by the temple of Bhimeswara at Vemulawada, one of the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas. The Chalukyas of Vemulawada seem to have imbibed some of their architectural traditions as can be seen in the temple of Bhimeswara. |
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| Once there was a growing period of flourishing Jain temple Architecture in Karimnagar. With the passage of time the scope of their constructions and sculptures became less. The temples of Jains and their architectural debris can be found in Vemulawada (Shubadhami Jinayam), Nagunur, Kapparaopet, Shinigaram and Kurikyala. The architecture of Muslim kings next to them is not seen, but some Hindu temples are replaced by masques, which are mainly found in Dharmapuri. Although many dhargas are found in Karimnagar district, the Darga in Bhijigiri Sharif is an impartant one and Gumbadh in Darga is aesthetic in nature. There are mosques and Idghas in many places that are found to be constructed in the recent past. Inspite of the impact of Christian religion through so many years, we do not find old churches. Most of them are constructed in recent past. So they would not have architectural importance. The CSI Church is the oldest among the churches. |
TEMPLES IN KARIMNAGAR DISTRICT:
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Vemulawada :
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| Vemulawada is a Mandal head quarters on the western part in Karimnagar district. It is located on the banks of Mulavagu Rivulet. The distance between Karimnagar town and Vemulawada is 35 Kilometers. Vemulawada was a capital city of Vemulawada Chalukyas dynasty between A.D 750-973. The remnants of the temples and statues show that Chalukyas were great architects. The greatness of Vemulawada can be inferred from ten inscriptions from the various temples . In those inscriptions it is named as Lemulavatika, Lembulavade, Lembulavada. After the changes it is transformed into Lemulavada, Yemulada, Vemulavada. The oldest temples are located in Vemulawada in Karimnagar district. |
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Bheemeswara Temple:
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| In southern India under the influence of Shaiva religion, stone temples had been the oldest and built from seventh century A.D onwards. The beautiful Bheemeshwara temple in Vemulawada belongs to 9th century A.D. This temple was known as Badhegeswara temple42, because it was built by Chalukya king Bhaddega (A.D 850-895). The parapet wall of the temple built with stone this temple shows of the greatness the sculpture of those times in Vemulawada. |
Rajarajeswara temple:
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| The most popular of all temples in Vemulawada is Sri Raja Rajeswara temple. The sthala purana reveals the importance of this temple. It was built by one of the governors of western Kalyani Chalukyas by name Rajadithya. An inscription dated 1083 A.D46. reveals the above information. On the left side of Sri Rajarajeswara temple is Kasi Vishveshwara temple. The color of the lingam in this temple is tender pink. This lingam is the also called Kasi Vishveshwara Lingam. This is the reason why Vemulawada is called as Dakshina Kashi. The Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple is located on the back side of the Sri Rajarajeswara temple. As Shivakeshava Utsavas are conducted in Vemulawada for this reason this place came to be known as Harihara Kshethram. |
 | This temple of Kondagattu Anjaneya is famous in Malyala mandal. A story in this region is as follows, 300 years back a shepherd named Singala Swamy ji had found the statue of Lord Sri Anjaneya and he built a temple for the Lord with the help of other shepherds. 165 years back it was owned by Krishnarao Deshmukh of Kodimyala and renovated in its present form. Three Sanctorums on the back side of the 16 pillared porches have statues of Lord Sri Venkateshwara, Lord Sri Anjaneya, Goddess Lakshmidevi. Signs of hill valley fort, caves and horse skeletons are seen near the temple. The newly built parapet wall around the Sri Anjaneya temple has porch constructions inside it. |
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Sri Laxmi Narsimha Swamy Temple at Dharmapuri:
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| Dharmapuri, historically a pilgrim center once adorned with great poets, philosophers, Music, Art and Dance. |
It is one of the nine Narsimha Kshetras of the Telangana region of A.P.Dharmapuri was called so after King Dharamavarma, (Who was a staunch devotee of Lord Narasimha), it was known earlier as Dhamaraya, Dharmapuram, Dharmmanpuram, Dhammanvuru, Dharmavura and Dharmapuram. It is famous for temples and artists, located on the banks of holy river Godavari. It is called Dhakshin Kashi. It is nearly 80 km from the district headquarters.
There are two temples (Pata and Kotta) of Lord Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy. In the 14th and 15th centuries after the fall of Bahamanis and Qutb Shahis, the next phase of anti-Hinduism started under Aurangazeb. His subordinates also followed in his footsteps. Rustumdilkhan, the Subedar of Hyderabad, converted the temple of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy into a mosque96. In 1448 AD, near to the mosque a new temple was erected with sixty pillars and this temple came to be called as old Narasimha Swamy temple97. In 1725 A.D., an icon of lord Narasimha was found in the vicinity of Dharmapuri village. |  |
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Jagityala fort:
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 | Jagityala is 50 kms away from Karimnagar. The town is a revenue division and Mandal. It is the biggest of all the towns which are governed by Municipal councils. It was the biggest Taluk among the Talukas of Telangana. Polasa village which is very near to Jagityala has thousand years of history. There are no historical evidences in Jagityala except a Fort. Elgandal Sarkar was very vast and includ Chennuru, Lakshetpeta, Nirmal in its Sarkar. Mubarijul Mulk Japhruddaula Mirja Ibrahim Khan Dhamsa who was the ruler of Elgandula, built a strong fortress with the help of the technology of French Engineers in A.D 1747208. |
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| The frosts which are Nirmal hills were also built by Thamsa Farqu Mirja Ehetesham Jung, Son of Dhamsa, succeeded his father. He was a wicked ruler. He did not give any respect to the notices of Asafja Nizam Khan II. Then the Nizam sent his army. Ehetsham was defeated in 1791 and fled from Jagityala. He took refuge in Nirmal fortress. At this time, the Nizam army attacked Jagityala fort in A.D 1791. The Khiledar of Jagityala fought against them and was defeated and fined the Jagityala Durgam to the Nizams army after the Nizams army directed their way to attack Nirmal. |
| Jagityala fort was built with stones and lime in an expansive place. It was in star shape. The Agadtha or Kandakam filled with water is still there even now. The entrance gate which has made with wood was disappeared. The Buruzu had many cannons (topus). The name of Mohammed Khasim was on the warheads. There is big Mosque by the fort in Jagityala. It is always crowded with people. The fort was built by the side of Kandlapelli Pond. So there is always water in Kandakam and pond. There are some rooms used as stores for weapons. There is an entrance behind the fort by the side of these rooms. This is not found now. The revenue buildings were in the fort till 1930. We could find the walls of the fort till two decades back. The fort has been damaged due to lack of protection. |
Elagandal fort :
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| The historical construction, built in stone has been damaged. Elagandula Khilla is the pride of Karimnagar district. The Khilla fort is located in Elagandula village which is 18 kms away from Karimnagar. Its height is 200 feet and area two and half miles.The Elagandula was included as the fort of the Karimnagar municipality in 1905. Once it was called as Elagandula Sarkar. It is known through historical evidence that Kakatiya king Rudrama who ruled the Khilla in 1195 A.D was killed by Yadava king Jatangi captured the Fort. Then, it had been ruled by Yadavas. After the end of the Yadavas, the Kakatiya king Prataparudra, ruled from 1295 to 1323. |  |
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| Mohammed Bin Tuglak attacked Kakatiyas in 1323 and captured the Khilla and then Ktub-ul-Mulk attacked and defeated the Bahmani kings and started his. The last king in Kutubsha dynasty was Tanisha. Tanisha was defeated by Moghal emperor Aurangajeb, who built Alamgir Mosque and Bindrakas pond here. The Khilla was under Moghals nearly for 39 years. The Nizam-Ul-Mulk Asifja-I started his after Moghals. The Jagirdars appointedby Nizams who ruled the region of Elagandula, neglected the governance. There is only one entrance to enter the Khilla. There is a hill near Elgandula. The fort on the hill played a key role from Kakatiyas to Asafzahi Nizam Nawabs in the history of Deccan. The East entrance of fort, the Brundavan pond, Mosques in the fort, graves, NeelaKanteswara Narasimha temple etc., are attracting many tourists. |
Molanguru fort:
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| Molanguru is in Kesavapatnam Mandal. The name of the village is mentioned as Molanguru in history books. It is 13 Kms away from Huzurabad and 16 Kms from the Jammikunta railway station. Voragiri Miggaraju, one of the chief officers of Prathaparudra built impenetrable hill fort. The fort is on the way to Elagnadula from Vorugallu. So, there is so much significance to the Molangur fort. The Malangshavali Darga is in the fort. As there was Molangashawali grave, the village was called Mulangur and gradually changed as Molangur. |
The Stupa of Dhulikatta:
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| The village of Dhulikatta is situated on the right bank of Hussainivagu. The name Dhulikatta may be a corrupt form of Dhoulikota which literally means a mud fort. The villagers know very well the existence of a mud fort, which is now popularly called the Kota area. The mud fort is 18 hectares in extent and roughly 6m above the plains and it is enclosed by mud ramparts. Excavations here brought to light several buildings including granaries and punch marked coins, besides some Roman coins etc. About one kilometer exactly to the north of the historical mound, is the stupa. It is situated at the confluence of the Hussainivagu and another Mullah coming down from the north. In the vicinity, a kilometer away, is the modern village of Vadakapura, probably derived from Vatakapura, a much familiar word during the Satavahana period. |
National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) Ramagundam:
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 | Ramagundam is situated at a distance of about 75 Kms. Godavari and is the highly populated village in the madal. The power-house at the place is the biggest thermal power producing station in the state and supplies power to Hyderabad, Karimnagar, and Warangal and also to the Mancherial Cement Factory. A Navaratna Public sector undertaking completed 25 glorious years in service to the Nation. The Corporation during this period has gown to be a front runner in the Indian Power Sector and ranked as the 6th largest Power Generator in the world with an installed capacity of 19,435 MW. |
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| The endeavor of NTPC is to make available reliable and quality power in increasingly large quantities. Thus making India self sufficient in Power Generation and emergence as one of the world leading economies. This Super Thermal Power Station with an installed capacity of 2100 mega watt has earned the distinction of being the beacon light of the Southern States, promoting economic growth and prosperity. NTPC Ramagundam has excelled in all spheres of operations since inception namely, |
 Generation.
Safety.
Environment.
Human resource development etc.
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Godavarikhani(Peddapalli) Singareni Colleries Company Limited (SCCL):
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| Incorporated as a public limited company in 1920, became a Government Company in 1956 when Government of Andhra Pradesh acquired major share holding. The share capital of the company is held by Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India in the ratio of 51 : 49 respectively. The loan capital is provided entirely by the Government of India. The assistance is governed by a Tripartite Agreement between Government of India, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Singareni Collieries Company Limited. |  |
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| The last such agreement for the period 1990 - 1997 was signed in October, 1994 covering the period from 01.04.1990 to 31.03.1997. A tripartite agreement for 9th Five Year Plan period is to be signed. The Company manages the coal mining operations in Andhra Pradesh. The reserves stretch over 350 sq.kms of Pranahita - Godavari Valley of Andhra Pradesh with proven deposits of 7095 million tonnes as on 01 .01 .1999 . The mining activities are concentrated in four districts of Andhra Pradesh viz. Khammam, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. The company also has a Coal Chemical Complex producing smokeless domestic fuel. |
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Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (Ramagundam) :
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 | Ramagundam Fertilizer Unit is located about 240 kms away from Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh State and in the district of Karimnagar. The Unit was established at Ramagundam due to abundance of coal that is used as feedstock this unit was approved by Govt. of India and established with a project cost of Rs.217.00 crores. Industrial license for setting up a coal based Fertilizer factory to manufacture Urea was obtained in November 1971. Planning and Development Division of FCI Ltd. (presently M/s PDIL, Sindri, India) supplied the detailed engineering for the plant. |
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| Commercial Production of Ammonia and Urea commenced on 01-11-1980. The Urea and Ammonia plants have been designed with a capacity to produce 4,95,000 MT and 2,97,000 MT per annum respectively. From the commencement of commercial production on 01.11.1980 till the year 1998-99, 25,15,594 MT of Urea and 15,48,971 MT of Ammonia have been produced.However production of Urea and Ammonia has been suspended from 01.04.1999 due to non-availability of sufficient budgetary support from Govt. of India. |
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