Best In Warangal
Best In Warangal — your local guide to food, culture and the city we call home.
Ramappa earned its UNESCO badge on merit. A day-trip guide to the floating-brick Kakatiya temple at Palampet, an hour and a half from the city.
Ramappa Temple earned its UNESCO World Heritage badge in 2021 on merit, not sentiment. It is a Kakatiya temple at Palampet, around 70 kilometres from Warangal city, and it is the kind of place that quietly reframes what you thought medieval Indian engineering could do.
The temple is famous for the lightweight bricks in its towering shikhara, bricks so porous they are said to float on water, a technique that still draws engineers and conservation specialists to study it. The whole structure rests on a sandbox foundation, an early shock-absorbing trick that helped it survive centuries of tremors.
The bracket figures on the outer walls, the slender dancing women known as the madanikas, are the artistic heart of the place. The Nandi mandapam faces the main shrine, and the nearby Ramappa Lake, also a Kakatiya build, rounds out the visit. Plan it as a half-day run from the city.
Start early, because the drive is genuinely part of the experience and the light is best before noon. Carry your own food and water, options near the site are limited and basic. If you have the time, combine Ramappa with Laknavaram Lake and its hanging bridge, which is roughly in the same direction, and you have a full, satisfying day out of the city without an overnight stay.
