Vemulawada Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is about 133 km by road from Rajanna Sircilla town, which is 10 km from the temple.

• By train

  The nearest railway stations are at Karimnagar, 41 km from Rajanna Sircilla town, and Kamareddy, 56 km from it.

• By road

  Frequent TSRTC buses run to Rajanna Sircilla town from Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Jagityal and Siddipet. The temple is 38 km from Karimnagar.

Why devotees come here

Vemulawada Temple stands in Vemulawada town, Rajanna Sircilla district, and is one of the most famous Hindu temples in Telangana. Shiva is worshipped here as Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy, locally called Rajanna. The temple is popularly known as Dakshina Kasi, or Southern Banaras.

Vemulawada served as the capital of the Vemulawada Chalukyas. That dynasty ruled from AD 750 to AD 973. Rock cut inscriptions found in and around the temple show how important the place was. The district government describes the temple as one of the ancient and famous Shaivite temples. Rajanna Sircilla district, where the town lies, was carved out of Karimnagar district and formed on 11 Oct 2016.

A massive Shiva lingam stands inside the temple. Within the temple premises, shrines called upalayas are dedicated to other deities. These include Ananta Padmanabha Swamy, Rama with Seetha and Laxmana, and Anjaneya Swamy. A dargah also stands within the temple precincts, and the district government cites it as a sign of religious tolerance. Devotees travel to Vemulawada each year for Maha Shivaratri to pray to Shiva.

Festivals

• At the time of Maha Shivaratri, every yearMaha Shivaratri

  Devotees come to Vemulawada every year to offer prayers to Shiva.

Tips for your visit

• Pilgrims bathe in the Dharma Gundam tank before they go for darshan.
• If you take part in Kode Mokku, you walk the temple's pradakshinam with a kode, a bull that is Shiva's vahanam.

Questions people ask