Thousand Pillar Temple, Hanamkonda: History, Timings & Visitor Guide

Thousand Pillar Temple is open every day, usually from early morning to late evening with a break in the afternoon. Darshan and aarti timings change with the season and on festival days.

• MorningOpens early morning (around 5 to 6 AM)
• AfternoonShort break around midday at many temples
• EveningEvening aarti around sunset, closes by about 8 to 9 PM

Ask the temple office on arrival for the day's aarti schedule.

Dress Code & Temple Rules

• DressModest, traditional clothes covering shoulders and knees
• FootwearRemove before entering; use the shoe stand
• PhotographyNot allowed inside the sanctum
• Not AllowedLeather items, tobacco, alcohol, non-veg food
• QueueFollow queue lines and staff instructions on festival days

Many Hindu temples were developed under the patronage of Kakatiya rulers Ganapati Deva, Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra. The Thousand Pillar Temple was believed to have been constructed between 1175 and 1324 CE by the order of the Kakatiya king Rudra Deva. Dedicated primarily to Shiva, the temple is also known by the name of Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple.

However, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, donated a grant of 1 Lakh INR towards the reconstruction of this temple.

Panatula Venugopal being an executive officer of the temple, has brought many changes to the administration style and development of the temple.

Architecture of Thousand Pillar Temple

The Thousand Pillar Temple with its ruins lies near the Hanamkonda-Warangal Highway in Telangana, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) from the city of Hyderabad.

Rudreswara Temple locally known in Telugu as the Veyyi Stambhāla Guḍi (Telugu: వెయ్యి స్తంభాల గుడి; lit. "thousand pillar temple"). It is one of the earliest available examples of Kakatiya art, architecture and sculpture. It was built in the style of later Chalukyan and early Kakatiyan Architecture, star-shaped and triple shrined (Trikutalaya). The temple has one thousand pillars. There are richly carved pillars, perforated screens, exquisite icons, rock cut elephants and the monolithic dolerite Nandi as components of the temple.