Ramalingeswara Temple, Keesaragutta

01Hanuman’s hill

The temple’s katha tells that Shri Rama, after the war in Lanka, wished to worship Shiva here to atone for the slaying of Ravana and sent Hanuman to Kashi for a linga. Hanuman returned with a hundred and one lingas, but the muhurta had passed and Rama had already installed one. In his disappointment Hanuman flung the lingas across the hillside, and many small lingas lie scattered there still. To console him Rama named the hill after Hanuman, son of Kesari: Kesarigiri, now Keesara.

02Excavated past

Excavations on the hill by the state archaeology department uncovered brick structures, coins and pottery of the Vishnukundina dynasty, which ruled the Deccan in the 4th–6th centuries; the site is protected. Mahashivaratri is the great festival, when lakhs climb the hill from Hyderabad and the surrounding villages, and pilgrims stop to pour water on the small lingas that lie along the path.

The life of this place