Hanamkonda: The renovation works of ‘Kalyana Mantapam’ of the famed Thousand –Pillar Temple in Hanamkonda are dragging on for years and yet they seem to be nowhere near completion. The Thousand Pillar Temple is the epitome of Kakatiya architectural grandeur.

The Kalyana Mantapam renovating works are half done and are halted midway by the negligence of the Archeological Department. The work on the ceiling of the Mantapam has also been stopped due to lack of funds.

The temple is one of the most famous tourist places in Telangana and was constructed by Rurdramadeva in 1163 CE. It stands out to be a masterpiece and archieved major heights in terms of architectural skills by the ancient Kakatiya vishwakarma sthapathis.

However, over the years, the temple began losing shape and was showing signs of decay. In view of this, the Archeological Department decided to reconstruct the Mandapam. Accordingly Rs.7crore were also released.

The reconstruction works of the mandapam started on July 13, 2005. Old stones were removed one by one and then the work was halted for two years. At last, in February 2010, the work was resumed under the supervision of Tamil Nadu sthapathi Shiva Kumar with a crew of 50 sculptors. They replaced the old pillars with 132 newly carved pillars and 160 beam-pillars and other sculptures using the Kakatiyas ‘sand box’ technology.

They rebuilt the ‘circumambulation path’ and a four-laned ‘Kakshasanam’ was built to withstand any earthquakes or natural calamities.

By the August of 2015, the works have been halted due to scarcity of funds. To bring the former grandeur to the age-old heritage temple everyone is hoping that the remaining repair works would be fininshed by the time of ‘Medaram Jatara.