Current Time in Mulugu, India

Mulugu lies in the northeastern part of the Indian state of Telangana, in a landscape quite different from the open Deccan plains that cover most of the region. Here the country rises into low forested hills, part of the Eastern Ghats system, with teak and bamboo woodland stretching toward the Godavari River and the border with Chhattisgarh. The climate is hot and dry through the long summer, with a strong monsoon from June that turns the forests a brilliant green and swells the streams and waterfalls.

Mulugu is a small town by the standards of the subcontinent, but it holds outsized importance as the headquarters of a district created in 2019, and it serves as the market, administrative and transport centre for a large tribal and forest region. Agriculture, forest produce, cotton and rice dominate the local economy, and communities such as the Koya and Gond peoples form a substantial part of the population, maintaining their own languages, dress and customs.

The district's greatest treasure lies at Palampet, a short distance from the town. The Ramappa temple, built in the thirteenth century under the Kakatiya dynasty and dedicated to Shiva, was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2021 and is one of the most remarkable medieval buildings in India. It is the only major temple in the country known by the name of its sculptor rather than its royal patron. Its walls and pillars are covered with dancers, musicians and mythical beasts carved in a hard black basalt polished to a mirror finish, and the ceiling is made from unusually light bricks said to float on water. The foundation was built using a sandbox technique, a bed of compacted sand that has allowed the structure to survive earthquakes for eight centuries.

Nearby lies Laknavaram, an artificial lake created by Kakatiya engineers among wooded hills, with islands linked by a long suspension footbridge and cottages built out over the water. Bogatha waterfall, sometimes called the Niagara of Telangana, tumbles over rock ledges in the forest, and the Eturnagaram wildlife sanctuary protects tigers, leopards, sloth bears and deer along the Godavari.

The district is also home to one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Every two years the village of Medaram hosts the Sammakka Saralamma Jatara, a tribal festival honouring two warrior goddesses who resisted an unjust ruler, and it draws crowds numbering in the millions over four days. Devotees offer jaggery equal to their own weight, and the sheer scale of the assembly in a small forest clearing makes it one of the most extraordinary events in India.

Local culture combines Telugu traditions with tribal music, drumming and dance, and the food is simple and hearty, based on rice, millets, tamarind and chilli. Roads connect Mulugu to Warangal about eighty kilometres away, which provides the nearest railway station, colleges and hospitals.

Mulugu is significant for its Kakatiya heritage, its forests and one of the greatest tribal pilgrimages in the world.