- Considered City of a Single Stone, the Kakatiya Heritage of Warangal
- However, the city was not built from a “single stone” [as was, for example, the monolithic Ellora temple]; rather it was built around a single massive outcrop of rock that rose prominently from the surrounding plains.
- Sanskrit Ekashila Nagara– Telugu name Orugallu
The torana is found not only in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sites in India but variations exist in Southeast Asia and even Japan. Torana is the etymological root for words such as “door” and the German “tor”, but the Warangal torana – which means “bird perch” – takes the word more literally, with two charming birds roosting on either end.
- The admirable state of its preservation is ascribed to the absence of religious imagery, which is probably why some other monuments in this region were also spared by Muslim invaders.
Svayambusiva Temple
- 4 toranas
- Kakatiya’s deity
- Instead of the usual east-facing entrance, it appeared open to all four cardinal points, based on the Sarvatobhadra plan, “auspicious on all sides.”
