India
UNESCO/ ©ASIMandapa inside India’s Ramappa Temple.
In the southern Indian state of Telangana, the newly designated Kakatiya Rudreshwara, is popularly known as Ramappa Temple.
It is the main Shiva temple in a walled complex, built under the ruler of Rudradeva and Recharla Rudra between 1123–1323 CE (“Common (or current) Era” – equivalent to the abbreviation, AD).
The sandstone temple features decorated beams and pillars of carved granite and dolerite with a horizontally-stepped tower, called Vimana, made of porous ‘floating bricks’, which reduced the weight of the roof structures.
“The temple’s sculptures of high artistic quality illustrate regional dance customs and Kakatiyan culture”, said UNESCO.
The cite was chosen at the foothills of a forested area and amidst agricultural fields, close to the shores of the Ramappa Cheruvu, following the ideology that temples should be an integral part of nature, including hills and lakes.
