Gadwal | A Town of Grace, Grit, and the Looms of Time

Each town has a vibe that is felt in its air, in its smell, in its people and its culture.
Gadwal is one such town, which in its every aspect, hides many years of degeneration, yet, very stoically keeping its grace intact.

Gadwal developed around a fort built by the Gadwal ruler Somanadri, from Poodoor village, known as Gadwal Samsthanam, which was a vassal of the Nizam of Hyderabad, now, Jogulamba Gadwal district has the mixed culture of Telangana, Rayalseema and Karnataka. The district is under Tungabhadra River basin. The fifth Shaktipeeth Temple of the eighteen Shaktipeethas is located at Alampur in this district and this district is named after this temple.

With this lineage and heritage the town today appears in every way a perfect example of “Haveli buland thi“.
The architecture, whatever is left of the old, dots the city as a reminder of its glory. The royal fort gate in simple red stone and stucco architecture and the humble yet commanding town hall are pleasant interludes. The heart of the town has a temple complex that has peace & tranquility etched into it. In spite of all the bikes blaring and chaos of overflowing people with overwhelming urban like infrastructure and unwanted construction outside of these premises it is a mystery how the temple premises have been able to retain its charm and solitude unabashedly. The strong old trees and the simple grandeur of the architecture just transports you and engulfs you, away from the disorder outside. This place truly defines its spirit. The survival and the resilience of evolution and the essence of continuity. 

The town, as is the case with most of tier 3 / tier 4 in India has the bane of population & popular raw materials entering their vocabulary and disrupting the original ethos of the intrinsic architecture that was weather and pocket friendly but above all aesthetically aligned. Gadwal is going through the same misery. 

The enchanting journey by road from Hyderabad makes you experience cotton growing fields or red chilli expanses, depending on season, ensuring never a dull journey. 

The town has haphazardly grown in all directions and is losing its core but then again I think it resides in the temple and until then I think its heart will rest easy.

Known for its handcrafted handwoven Gadwal sarees , much like the town, the form here too has gone through distortion and almost destruction. The original cotton body with silk border was painstakingly joined by kuttu 3 shuttle technique and palla silk is joined by Neem & ash oil yarn by yarn. It’s a lost skill on the verge of extinction but then again just as synthetic colored houses in pink & lavender and mauve greet you so does the rice kolam on every door. Hope lingers.

Penned by Manish Saksena