Hyderabad: Mantris hail World Heritage tag for Ramappa temple

Hyderabad: Telangana Ministers on Sunday hailed the decision of UNESCO to recognise the historical Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple of Palampeta in Mulugu district as the World Heritage Site.

IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday took to twitter to share the news about UNESCO's decision. Rao said, "Happy to share the good news that the 800 year old Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa Temple) in Telangana has been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. My compliments to everyone who was involved in the effort. This is the first site from Telangana. Next aim is to get world heritage city stats for our capital city Hyderabad," said Rao.

Later, addressing a press conference here, Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud said that the credit of bringing glory to the heritage, history, culture and past traditions goes to the chief minister. He said that the government was officially celebrating birth and death anniversaries of writers, historians, sociologists, poets, arts and artists.

Describing the temple as magnificent sculpture, Srinivas Goud said, "The temple was a testament to the sculptural, artistic and technical prowess of Kakatiyas. Telangana is going to become a wonderful tourist destination soon."

Meanwhile, Telangana State Planning Board Vice Chairman B Vinod Kumar said that it was a happy moment for people of Telangana as the efforts of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to get world heritage tag status had fetched positive efforts.

"Not only writing letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, KCR showcased the historical importance of Ramappa temple, which yielded positive results," said Vinod Kumar. He also praised the efforts of Kakatiya Heritage Trust Papa Rao and Panduranga Rao for getting the Heritage tag. He recalled that during 2013, the Andhra Pradesh government did not heed to the request of celebrating 800 years.

Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy also said that the Ramappa Temple getting World Heritage Status was a proud moment for people of the country but a special one for people of Telangana. He said that the World Heritage Site status was a rare honour for the Kakatiya style of construction.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod said that it was an un-forgetful day in the history of Telangana State.