WARANGAL: The weeklong Kakatiya Vaibhava Saptaham got off to a colourful start on Thursday with the descendent of the Kakatiyas, ‘Maharaja of Bastar’ Kamal Chandra Bhanj Deo kicking off the celebrations by releasing balloons into the sky at Warangal Fort.Ministers V Srinivas Goud and Satyavathi Rathod, Government Chief Whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, and Warangal East MLA Nannapaneni Nare-nder accompanied Bhanj Deo.
As part of the festival, a troupe of 108 artistes will be presenting Perini, a dance form popular to the region, at Fort Warangal and the Ramappa Temple during the evenings. Perini, also called Perini Shivatandavam and Perini Tandavam, is an ancient dance form of Telangana. It originated and flourished during the Kakatiya dynasty.Perini has also been part of the intricate sculptures at the 13th century Ramappa Temple that had last year got the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition.
For the first time, the festival would also be celebrated for two days – on July 11 and 12 – in Chandupatla, Panagal temple of Nakrekal in Nalgonda district. The temple will host historians and intellectuals who would be speaking about the glorious rule of the Kakatiyas in Nalgonda district.Earlier, Bhanj Deo took part in special rituals at the historic Bhadrakali temple and then planted a sapling in the park at the bund near the temple.
On the way to Fort Warangal, he garlanded the statue of Rani Rudrama Devi at Pochamma Maidan.The descendant of the Kakatiyas offered prayers at the historic Shiva temple in Fort Warangal where he was welcomed by a 700-artist troupe. He also visited the historic Thousand Pillar Temple.