Padmakshi Temple

Highlights

• Padmakshi Temple is one of the oldest temples in the Hanamakonda area of Telangana, India.
• It is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Padmakshi (Lakshmi), and also features Jain imagery.
• The site originally had a Shaivite cave temple, and a Jain shrine was established in 1117 CE, during the rule of the Kakatiya chief Prola II, who was himself a Shaivite.
• Some time later, the Jain shrine was replaced by a Hindu temple.
• The Jains attempted to regain control of the site in the 19th century, but a commission set up the Nizam of Hyderabad concluded that the site originally hosted a Hindu shrine.

Dress Code

Modest, respectful clothing is expected at this site.

History

• •The site originally had a Shaivite cave temple.
• •The artificial caves, located to the west of the present-day temple, were probably carved before the 5th century CE, as they are almost identical to the early Brahmanical caves.
• •A Jain temple was probably added during the rule of the Chalukyas of Vatapi or the Rashtrakutas.
• •A 1117 CE inscription found at the temple records the construction of a Jain shrine named Kadalalaya-basadi, and a gift of land to this shrine.

Architecture

• •An impressive feature of the temple is the four faces of the Annakonda pillar, which is a quadrangular column made of Black granite stone at the temple's entrance.
• •The temple has rich sculpture of the Jain Tirthankaras and other Jain gods and goddesses.
• •The present Padmakshi herself is a Jain yakshini of Pārśvanātha called Amrakushmandini along with yaksha Dharnendra and with a huge naked image of Parahwanatha in the middle of both.
• •Once a year, Lakhs of women arrive to celebrate the famous Bathukamma festival and immerse flowers in the pond at the foot of the Padmakshi hillock.

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