Sunday, January 17, 2016

Kolanupaka Jain Temple Nalgonda district of Telangana,Andhra Pradesh

Kolanupaka Jain Temple

  • Destination: Nalgonda

Location

Kolanupaka or Kulpak, is a village situated in the Nalgonda district of Telangana, 82 km away from the district headquarters.Kolanu means a pond and Paka means a hut, this place was once full of ponds, hence it was named Kolanupaka.This place is famous for the Kolanupaka Temple, a Jain Shrine. The temple is said to be 2000 years old. It presently houses idols of the three Jain Tirthankaras namely of Lord Rishabha, Lord Neminath and Lord Mahavira. The temple is also known as Kulpakji Jain Temple. The idol of Lord Rishabha carved of a green stone has been historically famous as Manikyaswami. This place also served as substitute capital of Kalyani Chalukyas dynasty during 11th century.

History Of The Temple

This religious place contains much ancient importance. A number of Jain antiquities have been found in Kulpak. It is said that that Kolanupaka flourished as Jain center during the Rashtrakutas period. Near about 20 Jain inscriptions have been also found there. Through these inscriptions, we came to know about that Kulpak was the major center of KranurGana of MulaSangh, an ancient Jain monastic order. A Manastambha was also found with inscriptions of 1125 AD. A 12th century inscription also tells us about Meghachadra Siddhanta deva who entered Sallekhana, a Jain religious ritual of suicide by fasting. However, after 1276 AD, the Jain activities heavily declined. Then, in 1711 AD, the Jain activity was again re-established and with that temple of Manikyaswami was also renovated and a boundary wall was erected. According to a legend, Mandodari, wife of Ravana was the true worshipper of Manikyaswami. The idol is said to be brought here by ruler Sankar of Kalyana.
The main temple is believed to be built by Bharata Chakravarti, son of King Dushyanta and Queen Sakuntala of Hastinapur and the descendant of the Lunar dynasty of Kshatriya Varna. He conquered all of Greater India, united them into a single political entity which was named after him as Bharatvarsa. Jainism was prevalent in Andhra before 4th century and due to its rich history, Kolanupaka remains one of prominent Jainism center from early times.

Construction Of The Temple

The first Tirthankara in the Jain religion was Lord Rishabha, who is popularly known as Lord Adinath also. It is believed that original idol of Lord Adinath, locally known as Manikya Deva, made Kolanupaka its abode by itself. On both sides of the temple, there are eight idols of the other Jain Tirthankaras. The idol of Lord Mahavira is 130 cm tall and is made of single piece of jade. Every Jain Tirthankara has a unique identity like Lord Mahavira is depicted with the lion and Lord Rishabha with the bull on their pedestals and Lord Parshawnath with a multiple headed cobra acting as an umbrella. Idols of Lord Simandar Swami and Goddess Padmavati can be seen on the either sides of the main temple. The temple was recently renovated by calling 150 artisians from Rajasthan and Gujarat. A complete new temple was built around the existing towers and the old garbhagraha was preserved.Kulpakji is the major pilgrimage center for the Svetambara Jains of South India.

Best Time To Visit

October to April

Temple Timings

Temple remains open for public between 6 AM to 7 PM every day.
Fordarshan, one needn’t necessarily take a bath, but if one wants to dopooja, it is mandatory that one should take a bath before going inside the chamber of Tirthankaras and touch the statue of the deity. Also, in order to dopooja, one has to wear the acceptable clothing, dhotis or panchas for men and sarees for women. The clothes need to be clean, washed and unused for any purpose other than performing poojas.

Official Website

There is no official website of this temple.

Transportation

By Air

Nearest Airport is at Hyderabad, 100 km away from the temple and is well connected to major cities of India and abroad.

By Train

Aler is the nearest railway station, which is just 8 km away from Kolanupaka and is well connected to Hyderabad. The major railway junctions near to the temple are Secunderabad (76 km) and Warangal (84 km).

By Road

APSRTC buses are available at regular intervals from Hyderabad and Warangal to Aler. From there, catch a private vehicle to reach Kolanupaka.

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