Panagal, Nalgonda district

History

Panagal of Nalgonda was also an important religious place during Kakatiya period. An inscription mentioning the name of Kakatiya's greatest king Pratap Rudra on Pachala Someswara temple supports the claim that these temples were erected for the greater glory of the Kakatiya ruler's favorite god, Shiva.There are two famous Shiva temples, Chaya Someswara Swamy temple and Pachala Someswara temple. The Shiva lingam of Chaya Someswara (chaya means "shadow" in Telugu) is, when daylight is present, straddled by a permanent shadow of a pillar. The pillars of the temple are decorated in great detail with relief sculpture of episodes from the two great Epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Statues and sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses dating back to Ikshvaku dynasty of 1st century AD are preserved and protected at the museum constructed in the compound of Pachala Someswara Swamy temple. Some of the ancient shiv lingas preserved in the museum were collected from a village called Yelleswaram (a shivaite centre), which was submerged during the construction of Nagarjuna Sagar dam.

During late 14th Century and early 15th century, there was an equilibrium of sorts between Recherla Padmanayaks in Central Telangana, Panta Reddis in Coastal Andhra, Bahmani Sultans of Gulbarga in Western Telangana and Eastern Gangas of Kalinga in the North East (modern Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram). In the south were Vijayanagara kings, in Udayagiri fort (operating from Udayagiri, with base in Vijayanagara).

Recherla Padmanayaks, operating from Rachakonda (Samsathan Narayanpur, near Choutuppal) and Devarakonda, were regional adversaries of Panta Reddis.

The Panta Reddis had established their bases in two places - Kondaveedu and Rajahmundry, the ones from the latter being the juniors. A fratricidal war broke out between Kondaveedu Reddis and Reddis of Rajahmundry. The Kondaveedu Reddis who were in allegiance with Vijayanagara Kings for fending off Recherla Padmanayaks, switched their allegiance to Bahmanis as Vijayanagara kings started reaching out to Rajahmundry Reddis. This inturn angered Recherla kings who till then were in allegiance with Bahmanis to fend off Viyanagara push into the Recherla territories, shifted their allegiance to Vijayanagara kingdom out of pure realpolitik.

A major battle was fought in 1419 at Panagal that led to the victory of Vijayanagara-Rajahmundry Reddi-Recherla Padmanayaks. After this battle, the Kondaveedu Reddi dynasty gradually got extinct.