Warangal, Telangāna, India

🇮🇳 Warangal is a city in the Indian state of Telangana. It serves as the district headquarters of both Warangal Urban District and Warangal Rural District. Warangal served as the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty which was established in 1163. The monuments left by the Kakatiyas include fortresses, lakes, temples and stone gateways which, in the present, helped the city to become a popular tourist attraction. The Kakatiya Kala Thoranam was included in the emblem of Telangana by the state government and Warangal is also touted as the cultural capital of Telangana.

It is one of eleven cities in the country to have been chosen for the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme by the Government of India. It was also selected as a smart city in the "fast-track competition", which makes it eligible for additional investment to improve urban infrastructure and industrial opportunities under the Smart Cities Mission.

The three urban cities Kazipet, Hanamkonda and Warangal are together known as Warangal Tri-City. The three cities are connected by National Highway 163. The major stations are Kazipet Junction railway station and Warangal railway station.

History Warangal was the ancient capital of the Kakatiya dynasty. It was ruled by many kings such as Beta Raja I, Prola Raja I, Beta Raja II, Prola Raja II, Rudradeva, Mahadeva, Ganapathideva, Prataparudra and Rani Rudrama Devi who is the only woman to rule over Telugu region. Beta Raja I is the founder of Kakatiya Dynasty and ruled the kingdom for 30 years and was succeeded by his son Prola Raja I who shifted his capital to Hanamkonda.

During the rule of Ganapathideva, the capital was shifted from Hanamkonda to Warangal. Kakatiya Period Inscriptions praised Warangal as the best city within the Telugu region, up to shores of the Ocean. The Kakatiyas left many monuments, including an impressive fortress, four massive stone gateways, the Swayambhu temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Ramappa temple situated near Ramappa Lake. The cultural and administrative distinction of the Kakatiyas was mentioned by Marco Polo. After the defeat of Prataparudra II, the Musunuri Nayaks united 72 Nayak chieftains and captured Warangal from Delhi Sultanate and ruled for fifty years. After the demise of the Nayaks, Warangal was part of the Bahmani Sultanate and then the Sultanate of Golconda.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687, and it remained part of the Mughal empire until the southern provinces of the empire split away to become the state of Hyderabad in 1724, which included the Telangana region and some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Hyderabad was annexed to India in 1948, and became an Indian state called Hyderabad state. In 1956, Hyderabad state was partitioned as part of the States Reorganisation Act, and Telangana, the Telugu-speaking region of Hyderabad state, which includes Warangal, became part of Andhra Pradesh. After the Telangana movement, Telangana state was formed on 2 June 2014, Warangal became a part of Telangana State.

Economy As of 2011 census of India, Warangal is one of the Indian cities that has seen rapid growth of urbanisation from 19%–28%, alongside cities such as Gandhinagar, Kozhikode.

Agriculture is the main economic activity with irrigation depending mainly on monsoon and seasonal rainfalls. Major crops are paddy, cotton, mango and wheat. Warangal benefits from the Godavari lift irrigation scheme which is designed to lift water from the Godavari river to irrigate drought prone areas in the Telangana region.

The city hosts second-biggest grain market of Asia, located in Enumamula. Information Technology is another sector in which the city is making steady progress with its Incubation centre at Madikonda. Recently Tech Mahindra & Cyient have opened their development centres and many other IT majors like Mindtree, quadrant resource will be opening their offices shortly.

Roadway The city is connected to major cities and towns by means of road and railways. National and state highways that pass through the city are, National Highway 163, connecting Hyderabad and Bhopalpatnam; NH 563 connecting Ramagundam and Khammam; State highway 3. TSRTC operates buses to various destinations from Hanamkonda and Warangal bus stations of the city. Nearly 78 City buses run in various routes across the city and sub urban areas while 45 city buses run from city to nearby villages.

Transport: Rail Warangal has two railway stations namely, Kazipet and Warangal on the important New Delhi-Chennai main line of Indian Railways. They are administered under the jurisdiction of the Secunderabad railway division of South Central Railway zone. Kazipet Junction shelters both Electric and Diesel Loco sheds with a capacity of holding 175 and 142 locomotives. Kazipet town, Vanchanagiri, Pendial, Hasanparthy Road railway station are the other railway stations within the city limits. The construction of third railway line between Balharshah and Kazipet was sanctioned at an estimated cost of ₹24.032 billion (US$300 million).

Airway Warangal has an airport built by the Nizams at Mamnoor in 1930. It was largest airport in undivided India with 1,875 acres of land, a 6.6-km runway, a pilot and staff quarters, a pilot training centre and more than one terminal. Many cargo services and Vayudoot services were served. During the Indo-China war, it served as a hangar for government aircraft due to Delhi airport being a target in combat. It remained in service until 1981.

This airport is currently being used as NCC Training Centre by No. 4(A) air squadron for gliding sorties, skeet shooting and aero-modeling. There is no scheduled commercial air service from this airport at present.

Universities and colleges • Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science • Kakatiya Medical College • Kakatiya University • Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences • National Institute of Technology, Warangal • SR Engineering College • SR University • Vaagdevi College of Engineering • Vaagdevi Engineering College.

Culture The residents of the city are often referred as Warangalites. The Warangal Fort, Thousand Pillar Temple and the Ramappa Temple which was inscribed in the list of World Heritage Sites recognised by UNESCO. Bhadrakali Temple, Padmakshi Temple, Mettu Gutta, Govinda Rajula Gutta, Roman Catholic Diocese of Warangal, Kazipet Dargah, Ursu Gutta, and Erragattu Gutta are the other notable destinations of various religions. Bhadrakali Lake, Waddepally Lake, and Dharmasagar Lake are the water bodies notable for tourism.

Bhadrakali Temple lake is being developed into the largest first Geo-Bio-Diversity cultural park in the country, with promenades, historic caves, suspension bridges, natural trails, nesting ground and ecological reserves.

The Ministry of Tourism has awarded Warangal as the best heritage city, at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014–2015. This is third time in a row for the city to get this award since 2012.

Festivals Festivals in the city include, a floral festival of Bathukamma being celebrated by women of the city, worshiping the goddess with different flowers for nine days. The women carry their Bathukamma to the nearest temple of their locality, then they clap, sing and dance rhythmically around the Bathukamma. Along with Bathukamma, Bonalu is also declared as a state festival on 15 June 2014. Other festivals are, Sammakka Saralamma Jatara (Medaram Jatara), a popular religious congregation in the honour of Goddess at Medaram of Warangal district.

Cuisine The cuisine of the city is mainly of Deccan dishes. The breakfast items include Chapati, and Puri. Rice with variety of curries including curd is taken as main food.