The Ramappa Temple didn’t show up wrongly in the recent Most Remote Cultural WHS inventory. Over 4.5 hours were needed by car from my hotel in Hyderabad. Staying northeast of the city center may shave off half an hour, but will leave you far from the airport for onward connections. 

The drive is not only long, it’s boring as well and the road is only a good 4-lane highway for about half of the 260km distance. Only in the last hour, there are a few roadside ‘attractions’: the large boulders of the Deccan Plateau, some churches (both Catholic and Baptist groups have been successful in converting the local tribal population), cotton and tobacco farms, and finally a forest reserve.

The ASI manages the Temple, which also is again in active religious use by local Shaivas. A priest was present on the morning of my visit to give blessings in the inner sanctum.

I visited with a guide from Hyderabad on a private tour, which was especially worth it to discover the finer details of this temple. Photos don’t really do it justice, as the harsh sunshine obscures the details and many of the sculptures are overhead. The overall architectural plan is common and similar to that used by the Chalukyas who created Pattadakal 1000km away; only this temple stands out for its use of about an equal mix of red sandstone, black dolerite (basaltic) and porous bricks. 

The bricks are in the tower: this is a reconstruction and a bit too ‘clean’. The best parts are underneath: the black basaltic carvings, which are part of the temple’s structural design. Lions holding their paw on elephants is a recurring theme, as are the court dancers showing off their moves and warrior poses. There are bands of sandstone sculptures as well, with dancers but also wrestlers and some erotic art. A few persons depicted have 'foreign' features, maybe Persian, or Egyptian.

A very fine Nandi statue standing in front of the main shrine is also still the original, displaying details such as beads. Its head tilts to the right, a characteristic of the Kakatiya way of representing Shiva's bull.

The temple has been seriously damaged by earthquakes three times in its 800-year history. Even the day before my visit there was one of over 5 magnitude. The foundation of the structure is filled with sand to make it shockproof. In its interior hall, you can see how badly the pillars have shifted.

The Kakatiya empire, which had gained its wealth from diamond mining, was mostly a regional force until they were defeated by invaders from the Delhi Sultanate in 1323. The Kakatiya still fought on elephants, while the invaders used the much more agile horses. The Ramappa Temple originally was part of a nomination of a set of 3 Kakatiyan temples, but I can see why in the end this one was chosen as it represents the zenith of their craftsmanship. A niche in Hindu temple architecture for sure, but still worth visiting. We visited one of the others too, the Thousand Pillar Temple in Hanamakonda. It is much less elaborate, only the interior is similar to Ramappa's except that 3 gods were worshipped here (Shiva, Vishnu and Surya). 

A final bit of trivia I picked up about the site name: we have it as 'named after an individual', which is correct, but it is actually named after its head sculptor (Ramappa) instead of after its patron (Rudreshwar here means 'Lord Shiva').