My Journey In India: Ramappa and Laknavaram

After a long thought to keep my blog alive, I've decided that I'd write about my visits to places in India, mostly south. I've seen enough of them and thought this blog could help people find the way to these places very easily.

Again after a bit of arbitration I've chosen the shortest, simplest yet wonderful places for my first travel blog. The places are Ramappa and Laknavaram which are around 20kms apart.

Located in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh, Ramappa's history dates back to 16th century when Kakatiyas ruled Warangal, then called Ekashilanagaram. Ramappa contains historical Temples, the famous Nandi statue, and then the widely known Ramappa Lake. Ramappa temple has many intriguing things like the stones used make pleasant sounds when hit, the bricks used for construction float in water, and the famous statues of a dancing woman or Goddess which preside on all the entrances of the temple. A big wall surrounds the temple which has a way inside it so that the soldiers can travel through the wall to attack the enemies. This is one such an innovative idea they've had. It's now tough to find those bricks which float in water, but the mere idea of having such bricks says for itself the engineering genius of those days. Also, the temple itself was built with very similarly huge stones which were carried there by elephants. And those monster structures are still in place, the same way. There wasn't any cement used. It's just the wonderful way of organizing stone above another which kept the temple intact even after centuries. Lot more about history, the guides in there would have helluva lot of information about the history and making of the temple. It has been gaining prominence of late thanks to the film shooting which regularly happens there. The Nandi Statue which stands at the eastern entrance is a big attraction. It was carved out of a single stone and the nandi is believed to have been used to store gold and jewels.

At 2kms apart is the Ramappa Lake. Was set up again during Kakatiya rule, serves the purpose of providing water to thousands of hectares of land around that place. Another good thing about the lake is: all the tanks around that place have a means of moving excess waters in to Ramappa lake. There is a lot more to write about these two places and the other temples between these two.

Moving on, there is another wonderful place called Laknavaram, which is a naturally formed lake between the hills. This is almost 8 to 10 times larger than the Ramappa tank itself and is the largest lake in the surrounding areas. One has to travel through the forest, a bit ghat road to reach the other side of one hill to see the lake. It has been gaining tourist acclaim of late, and the government also looks like working towards making the visitor's time more memorable. There are couple of islands in the lake, and a rope bridge was constructed to help people walk unto that island. Other plans like setting up a restaurant have been in vogue.On the whole, this is one must visit place if somebody visits Ramappa. As for me, I visit this every Christmas as this is just a stone throw away(not literally) from my home.

TRAVEL GUIDE:
Ramappa is located near Mulugu, one of the towns in Warangal which existed from ages. Mulugu is 47kms from Warangal, and Ramappa is a further 11kms. Both Ramappa and Laknavaram are on the same side of Mulugu, the road to reach them spilts after 5 kms from Mulugu. So, after traveling 5kms from Mulugu, taking left would take you to Ramappa which is 6kms from there, and going straight will lead to Laknavaram which is 17 kms from that point. You would have to travel 10kms straight, take a right turn and travel 7 kms for Laknavaram. Make sure you ask the passers-by for information. Happy visiting.