The temple inaugurated by a Nizam
SERISH NANISETTI
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The temple built in 1802 marking a cultural epoch now lies at the crossroads.
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Photos: Serish Nanisetti
Colourful The temple evokes the glory of an earlier era.
You will almost miss the temple as you zip past it on the Shamshabad-Mehdipatnam Road. Only if you take a detour near Attapur and start asking for Rambagh temple (the area is called Rambagh but very few people know about the existence of the temple).
There, after a 300-metre detour from the main road you reach the temple. At a distance from the entrance is the mandapam, to the left of the entrance is the festive chariot used during Ramanavami. On either side of the entrance are the painted images of Lord Rama.
Unlike the latter day temples, the naqqar khana (place for drum beaters) is incorporated in the temple precinct in the rectangular arch itself. Enter and you have entered a world of serenity, peace and timelessness as the whitewashed rows of pillars lead you to the centrepiece of the temple, the bucolic feel is completed by the few cows tied to the stone carved pillars.
Half way through (between the dhwajasthambam and temple) there are two openings on either side. “There used to be an idol of Garuda here, but after this portion fell, we had to move it inside,” says the watchman.
Diagonally opposite is the arch which leads to the garden but it has been walled in (to understand the real grandness of the temple one has to peel away the lies of encroachers and do a 2-km circumambulation). Further on is the temple that rises in a colourful grand way with a mandapam on 32 square stone pillars painted saffron and yellow. Inside the sanctum sanctorum lit by a metal halide lamp are the idols of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana carved out in blackstone, yonder, facing them is the small temple of Hanuman. Unlike later day temples, even pradikshana is a covered walkway.
Karen Isaksen Leonard in her book on Kayasths calls this the oldest Kayasth temple and pegs it as a mark of integration of the community with the nobility in 1802. “The idol was a gift of Raja of Gadwal, a tributary and military leader. The Nizam attended the installation ceremony and granted a large jagir for the temple’s support,” she says. Historian Narendra Luther refers to two documents about the temple: one giving a daily grant of Rs. 2 for the caretaker of the temple and another giving Rs. 2,093, eight annas and four paisa to Raja Bhavani Prasad for the upkeep of the temple.
Are the temple authorities getting the same amount of money? We don’t know. But the temple land has shrunk, there are tailoring shops, parking bays, workshops and houses around the utsava mandapam.
Lorries carrying sand are parked all around it. At places the temple compound wall has fallen and one can almost see the eyes of encroachers on the temple land. Imagine losing the grandness of a 200-year-old temple of cultural synthesis to a bunch of philistine builders? That would be a pity.
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