My Way On Highway, Day 50: A Thousand Pillar Temple & Serene Paddy Fields

Day 50 was one of a super yummy breakfast and late goodbyes. Maybe we lingered on more because being with family was awesome. Finally, we set out in our car Gulabo from Hyderabad to Warangal, the second largest city in the new state of Telangana.

The Route

The drive at 145 km was a short one. We took the Hyderabad – Edulabad – Bhuvanagiri – Jangaon – Ghanpur – Warangal route and reached our hotel well in time. The path was in favour courtesy the buttery smooth National Highway 202. But the denizens on the road weren’t. We almost had an accident today because a truck driver decided to hand over the steering wheel of the mammoth vehicle to his helper. Thank god for my husband, Tariq’s driving skills and the stability our car showed. Wish there was a highway police check-post we could have reported the defaulters at.

Temple Run

On reaching Warangal by late afternoon, we decided to check out the Thousand Pillar Temple. Not far removed from the many temples of Hampi, this 12^th Century temple was constructed by King Rudra Deva of the Kakatiya Dynasty and is nestled in the Hanamkonda part of the city. The baroque lines of the impressive black basalt construction are reminiscent of the Chaulakyan style of architecture. It is dedicated to three deities - Lords Shiva, Vishnu and Surya and has a stunning Nandi monolith structure. Yes, there are 1000 pillars but we couldn’t count them all to double check. *wink wink*

A word of caution: Under the purview of Architectural Survey of India (ASI), the temple is undergoing renovation and half of it is closed to the public. But that is the least of your worries as the guards there try to scam you by charging a Video Filming Fee even when you only want to do still photography. Stand your ground like we did and they return the money.

Check-in Time

The tiredness had started to show now. Quite naturally so, for Hyderabad had got us plenty of late nights with family! We reached Suprabha Hotel, our bunking ground for the night, to receive a warm welcome. Our stay had been booked in advance by MakeMyTrip and we got a prompt check-in. Having polished generous helpings of flavoursome Hyderabadi biryani, we decided to take a power nap only to wake up 5 hours later. That’s the thing with Road Trips as there is little you can do when fatigue strikes.

Tomorrow morning will see us embarking on our longest drive so far on MyWayOnHighway. Yes, Vishakhapatnam is 545 km away. Come back to hear about it.