Warangal and Hanamkonda in Telangana had a circular city plan, with a Shiva temple in the centre, making them crucial archaeological evidence of the architectural expertise of the Kakatiya kings, Dr George Michell, founder member of the Deccan Heritage Foundation said on Monday.
Speaking at a seminar on “Rediscovering Telangana: An International Seminar on Recent Trends in Archaeology, Art History and Conservation”, Michell, an expert in South Asian architecture, pointed out how the Kakatiyas had made their military plan as a symbolic base with swastika and used the city as a cosmogram (a flat geometric figure depicting cosmology , which is the science of the origin and development of the universe).
Michell, who worked on a 20-year project near Hampi, said Warangal is uniquely designed in three concentric circles.”The study of Warangal is important to the study of Indian cities as it belongs to the 13th century and there were hardly any Hindu planned cities before that,” he said. “Details about how they got the ide
a and how they executed it are missing. But laying out a city that is 12.5 km in diameter is no joke. Any information, such as the kind of survey equipment they had, will be immensely valuable,” Michell said.
He called for more research in the area and the need for aerial mapping and architectural documentation of the historic sites in Telangana.
The two-day seminar, organised by the department of archaeology and museums, highlights the need to study the historiography of places in the state and aims to provide a platform for experienced and budding research scholars in the history , architecture, art history and literature to interact with one another.
Courtesy: Times of India
