Jangaon is a district in Telangana, formed on 11 October 2016 with Jangaon town as its headquarters. Before the reorganisation it was part of Warangal and Nalgonda districts. Most of it came from the old Jangaon revenue division; Ghanpur and Zaffergadh were added from the Warangal division and Gundala from Nalgonda. The official district website gives an area of 2,188 sq km, a 2011 Census population of 5,66,376, and 12 mandals in two revenue divisions. Jangaon borders Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri, Siddipet, Hanumakonda, Warangal and Mahabubabad districts.
The name Jangaon comes from “jain gaon”, meaning “village of Jains”. The district history notes that Jain Tirthankara sculptures found in excavations near the town point to the presence of Jainism here in early times. In the 11th century, Jangaon was the second capital region of the Kalyani Chalukyas. It later came under the Kakatiyas (1195-1323), followed by the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmanis, the Qutb Shahis, the Mughals and the Asaf Jahis. An 1854 map marks the town as “Zungaon”.
Places to visit in Jangaon district
Palakurthy Someshwara Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple
The temple at Palakurthi is dedicated to Lord Shiva (as Someshwara) and Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy. As our temple guide describes, it sits inside a cave on a hill. Local tradition, recorded on the district website, holds that rishis did penance here 1,200 to 1,300 years ago, and that Someshwara appeared at the wish of the Saptarishis. At the foot of the hill is the tomb of the poet Someshwar, who was born here and whose life the district website dates to AD 1160-1240. Our guide adds that Palkuriki Somanatha, known for developing Veera Shaivism and for early Telugu prose writing, was born here.
Bammera, birthplace of Bammera Pothana
Bammera village is the birthplace of the Telugu poet Bammera Pothana (1450-1510), best known for translating the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit into Telugu. That work, the Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu, is popularly called the Pothana Bhagavatam. The district website describes him as a “Sahaja Kavi”, a natural poet who needed no teacher, and notes that he also worked as a farmer. His earlier works include the Bhogini Dandakam, which the district website calls the earliest surviving dandaka (a type of poem) in Telugu, and the Virabhadra Vijayamu. Our Palakurthi guide notes that Bammera is close to Palakurthi, so many people visit both on the same trip.
Sri Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Jeedikal
The Sri Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam at Jeedikal village, near Jangaon, is a Rama temple on a hillock. According to local lore, this is where Lord Rama shot Maricha, who had come in the form of a golden deer. Visitors are shown a spot called “Lady Banda” and Sri Rama’s padukas. The temple has a pond inside a natural rock, and local belief holds that its water level has never risen or fallen.
Other sites featured by the district
The district website’s photo gallery also features the Chilpur temple, Zaffargadh fort and lake, Khilashapur fort and the Mallanna Gandi project. The website does not yet have visitor information for these places. Ask locally about access before you visit.
Getting there
- By train: Jangaon is a major railway junction on the Hyderabad-New Delhi and Chennai-Kolkata routes. Autos and buses are available at the station.
- By road: the district website says direct buses run from Hyderabad to Jangaon about every 15 minutes and take about an hour and a half. Long-distance buses also connect Jangaon with Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati and Anantapur.
- By air: there are no regular flights to Jangaon. The nearest airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, where taxis are available.
- To the temples: the district website names Jangaon as the nearest railway station for Palakurthi, Bammera and Jeedikal, all of which are connected by road to the district headquarters.
Plan your visit
- The district website recommends October to March as the best time to visit, when the weather is pleasant. It notes that some people also visit between March and May. June to September brings heavy monsoon rain.
- Many visitors come for festivals. The district website names Bathukamma, Id-ul-Fitr, the Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara, Dussehra and Deepavali.
- Palakurthi and Bammera are close to each other, so you can visit both on one trip. Jeedikal is near Jangaon town and can be added to the same day.
- Temple timings can change. Check them with the temple office before you travel.
Source: official Jangaon district tourism page (also the district’s history, demography and how-to-reach pages).
