CULTURE AND HERITAGE OF TELANGANA

                                             CULTURE OF TELANGANA STATE

            The Culture of Telangana in India has a cultural history of about 5,000 years. The region emerged as the foremost centre of culture in Indian subcontinent during the rule of Kakatiya, the Qutb shahi and Asaf, Jahi dynasties— (also known as the Nizams of hyderabad). The rulers' patronage and interest for arts and culture transformed Telangana into a unique multi-cultural region where two different cultures coexist together, thus making Telangana the representative of the Deccan plateau and its heritage with Warangal and Hyderabad being its epicenter. The regions' major cultural events celebrated are "Kakatiya Festival" and Deccan Festival along with religious festivals Bonalu, Bathukamma, Dasara, Ugadi, Sankranthi, Milad un Nabi and Ramadan.

Telangana state has long been a meeting place for diverse languages and cultures. It is known as "South of North and North of South". It is also known for its Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeeb and the capital Hyderabad is known as a miniature India.

         

     1.RULES OF BEHAVIOUR

        

                 Touching the feet of elders is an age-old Indian tradition that is considered to be a mark of respect. This gesture can be seen in almost all Hindu families. Indians believe that when a person bows down and touches the feet of their elders, their ego gets suppressed as this gesture indicates respecting the age, experience, achievements and wisdom of the person whose feet are being touched. The elder person then, in turn, blesses the person touching their feet.

                              

         “Namaste” is a respectful form of greeting in Hindu culture. This form of greeting is customarily used when one meets a stranger or a guest. “Namaskar” and “namaskaram” are different versions also used for courteous greeting. Persons greeting each other place their palms together, fingers pointing upward, and say namaste with a bow. “Namaste” is a combination of words derived from Sanskrit that mean “I bow to you.” 

                      

                                    

2. LANGUAGE

       

          Telugu one of the classical languages of India is the official language of Telangana and Urdu is the second official language of the state. About 77% of the population of Telangana speak Telugu and 12% speak Urdu.

           

                There are many languages widely spoken in telangana such as Gondi language, Hyderabadi urdu, kannada, lambadi ,telugu, urdu.

3. VISUAL ARTS 

Paintings

Nirmal paintings are a popular form of painting done in Nirmal in Adilabad District. The paintings have golden hues. The region is well known for its Golconda and Hyderabad painting styles which are branches of Deccani painting. Developed during the 16th century, the Golconda style is a native style blending foreign techniques and bears some similarity to the vijayanagara paintings of neighbouring Mysore. A significant use of luminous gold and white colours is generally found in the Golconda style. The Hyderabad style originated in the 17th century under the Nizams. Highly influenced by Mughal painting, this style makes use of bright colours and mostly depicts regional landscape, culture, costumes and jewellery.

                                    

                        

Sculpture

Ramappa temple:It lies in a valley at Palampet village of Venkatapur Mandal, in erstwhile Mulug Taluq of Warangal district, a tiny village long past its days of glory in the 13th-14th centuries. An inscription in the temple dates it to the year 1213 and said to have been built by a General Recherla Rudra, during the period of the Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva.

This medieval temple is a Shivalaya (where Shiva is worshipped) and named after the sculptor Ramappa. It is the only temple in the world named after its sculptor/architect. Its presiding deity, Ramalingeswara, is the form of Shiva and a personal god of the Avatar of Vishnu, Rama. The history says that it took 40 years to build this temple. Planned and sculpted by Ramappa, the temple was built on the classical pattern of being lifted above the world on a high star-shaped platform. Intricate carvings line the walls and cover the pillars and ceilings. Starting at its base to its wall panels, pillars and ceiling are sculpted figures drawn from Hindu mythology. The roof (garbhalayam) of the temple is built with bricks, which are so light that they are able to float on water.

     

                            

4. TRADITIONAL DRESS 

     

         The most famous saris of Telangana culture and tradition include Gadwal Sari, Pochampally Silk Sari, and Ikat Sari. However, many women wear western clothes as well. Traditional dress for men folk in Telangana includes the Dhoti, otherwise known as pancha.

  

                

5.CUISINE

     

       Telangana has two types of cuisines, the Telugu cuisine and Hyderabadi cuisine. Telugu cuisine is the part of South Indian cuisine characterized by their highly spicy food. The Telangana state lies on the Deccan plateau and its topography dictates more millet and roti . Telangana has some unique dishes in its cuisine, such as jonna rotte (sorghum), sajja rotte (penisetum), or Uppudi Pindi (broken rice). In Telangana a gravy or curry is called Koora and Pulusu (Sour) in based on Tamarind. A deep fry reduction of the same is called Vepudu. Kodi pulusu and Mamsam (meat) vepudu are popular dishes in meat. Vankaya brinjal Pulusu or Vepudu, Aritikaya banana pulusu or Vepudu are one of the many varieties of vegetable dishes. Telangana  palakoora is a spinach dish cooked with lentils eaten with steamed rice and rotis. peanuts are added as special attraction and in karimnagar district, cashew nuts are added.ad) based dishes. 

The Hyderabadi cuisine contains city specific specialties like hyderabad(hyderabadi biryani and 

hyderabadi haleem)

HYDERABADI HALEEM

6.RELIGION

         

        The major religions of the people are Hinduism and Islam, though Buddhism was the dominant religion up to the 6th century. It is the home of Mahayana Buddhism as revealed by the monuments of Nagarjunakonda. Acharaya Nagarjuna presided over the World University at Sri Parvata. Hinduism was revived during the time of the Chalukyas and the Kakatiyas in the 12th century. The Vijayanagar rule saw the glorious days of Hinduism when the famed emperors, Krishnadeva Raya in particular, built new temples and beautified the old ones. Siva, Vishnu, Hanuman and Ganapati have been the popular Hindu Gods. The Vugra Narasimha Swami Temple at Yadagirigutta and Thousand Pillar Temple at Warangal are among the oldest shrines in the state attracting people from different parts of the country for hundreds of years.

In terms of influence, Islam occupies the second place. It started spreading from the 14th century onwards. Mosques began to come up in many parts of the region during the Muslim rule. Christianity began to spread from 1701, Especially among the socially disabled people. Educational institutions and churches grew in number in the Circars in the 18th-19th centuries when the East India Company and later the British government encouraged them. Other European countries were also active in building churches and taking care of the weaker sections of the people.

THOUSAND PILLAR TEMPLE

 

7.FESTIVALS

    Festivals are celebrated with much fervor and people used to go to temples on these days to offer special prayers. Some of the Festivals are Dasara, Bonalu, Eid ul fitr, Bakrid, Ugadi, Makara sankranthi, Guru purnima , Sri rama navami, Hanman jayanthi, Raakhi Pournami, Vinayaka chaviti , Nagula Panchami, Krishnashtami, Deepavali, Mukkoti Ekadasi, Karthika Purnima and Ratha Saptami

Telanganites ( Telangana's citizens) not only celebrate the main festivals, but also celebrate certain regional festivals like Bonalu, Batukamma all over Telangana districts, Yedupayala Jatara in Medak, Sammakka Saralamma in Warangal district.

8.DANCE FORMS

      Perini Sivatandavam or Perini Thandavam is an ancient dance from Telangana which has been revived in recent times. It originated and prospered in Telangana during the Kakatiya Dynasty.

The Perini Thandavam is a dance form usually performed by males. It is called 'Dance of Warriors'. Warriors before leaving to the battlefield enact this dance before the idol of Lord Shiva. The dance form, Perini, reached its pinnacle during the rule of the 'Kakatiyas' who established their dynasty at Warangal and ruled for almost two centuries. It is believed that this dance form invokes 'Prerana' (inspiration) and is dedicated to supreme dancer, Lord Shiva.

Bonalu The folk festival of Bonalu in the Telangana region brings with it celebrations which see the colourfully dressed female dancers balancing pots (Bonalu), step to the rhythmic beats and tunes in praise of the village deity Mahankali. Male dancers called Potharajus precede the female dancers to the temple lashing whips and neem leaves adding colour to the festivity.

9. ARCHITECTURE

     Alampur Temples: There are a total of nine temples in Alampur, all dedicated to Shiva. These temples date back to the 7th century A.D, and were built by the Badami Chalukyas rulers, who were great patrons of art and architecture. Even after a time span of several hundred years, these grand temples still stand firm reflecting the rich architectural heritage of the country.

The temples are emblematic of the Northern and Western Indian styles of architecture. They do not reflect the Dravidian style of architecture as is generally common with the temples in this region. The shikharas of all these temples have a curvilinear form and are adorned with the miniature architectural devices. The plans and decoration similar to that of the rock cut temples. The Alampur Navabhrama Temples are historically important and reflect remarkable architectural skills.

Alampur was previously Known as Halampuram, Hamalapuram And Alampuram. Name of this place as Hatampura, mentioned in the inscription dated AD 1101 belongs to Western Chalukya

Kakatiya

The best examples of architecture under the Kakatiya Dynasty(1163–1323) are the ruins of the Warangal Fort.

In The Thousand Pillar Temple is one of the very old temples of South India that was built by the kakatiyas. It stands out to be a masterpiece and achieved major heights in terms of architectural skills by the ancient kakathiya vishwakarma sthapathis. It is believed that the Thousand Pillar Temple was built by King Rudra Deva in 1163 AD. The Thousand Pillar Temple is a specimen of the Kakatiyan style of architecture of the 12th century.

It was destroyed by the invasion of Tuglaq dynasty to South India. However, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of  Hyderabad, contributed immensely towards re-building the temple. The temple consists of one building and temple building. There are one thousand pillars in the building and the temple, but no pillar obstructs a person in any point of the temple to see the god/deity in the other temple.

Apart from Warangal, the Kakatiya dynasty constructed many hill forts including Golkonda, Medak and Elgandal, and subsequent additions to these forts were made by the Bahmani and Qutb Shahi Sultanates.

Indo-Islamic

Early Indo-Islamic style of architecture is reflected in the monuments built by the Golconda Sultanate in Hyderabad. These include the Charminar, Golconda Fort and Qutb Shahi tombs.

During the reign of the Nizams of Hyderabad, European styled palaces and buildings became prevalent in the city of Hyderabad. Among the oldest surviving examples of architecture of this time is the Chowmahalla Palace, which showcases a diverse array of architectural styles, from the Baroque Harem to its Neoclassical royal court. The other palaces include Falaknuma Palace (inspired by the style of Andrea Palladio), Purani Haveli and King Kothi Palace all of which were built during the 19th century.

In the early 20th century, British Architect Vincent Esch was invited to Hyderabad by Asaf Jah VII. He designed the Kachiguda railway station (1914), the High Court (1916), the City College (1920) and Osmania General Hospital (1921) in the Indo-Saracenic Revival style, which combines Indo-Islamic and European architectural styles.