Travel Guide
By Road
Raikal is a big village and mandal headquarters situated about 70Kms north-west of Karimnagar. It is about 20Kms from Jagityal
By Rail
The nearest railway station is 'Mancherial' which is located on the NewDelhi<->Kazipet line. Raikal is 80Km from there.
Profile
Raikal (earlier called RaviKanti) is famous for having an ancient Kesavanatha and Panchamukha Lingeshwara Swamy(Lord Siva with five faces) temple apparently built in 11th Century A.D. by Chalukyas. The interesting aspect about this temple is that the main deity PanchamukhaLingeshwara Swamy (Lord Shiva wit five faces) is believed to be one of the only two existing in India, the other being at Varanasi/Kasi. There is another famous shrine nearby called Bhimanna Temple where annual Bhimanna Jatara (Hindu festival) is held for 3 days during January - March with much fanfare.
Kesavanatha-PanchamukhaLingeshwara temple is a triple-shrine temple with shrines projecting to the north, east and west and a portico projecting to the south. The temple faces south. It stands to the east of the tank at an elevated place inside the fort called Gudikota. The remnants of the fort and the crumbling mud walls can be noticed by the visitor even now. The three shrines are crowned by curvilinear sikharas comparable to those of the temples at Alampur, Satyavolu and Mahanandi. The four central pillars of the Mandapa are carved with various figures in low relief. The incarnations of Vishnu are carved in disorderly manner presenting the Matsya, Kruma, Varaha and Narasimha etc. The ceiling of the Mandapa in all its nine compartments is covered by Kadalikakarana process. The bottom faces of the lintels are carved with multi-petalled lotuses. All the three shrines are alike and consist of an Ardhamandapa and a Garbhagriha. The Ardhamandapa before the Garbagriha is open without and doorway.
1. PanchamukhaLingesvara Shrine
The western shrine dedicated to PanchamukhaLingesvara Swamy appears to be more important than the other two shrines because it contains two miniature shrines on the pial facing the mukhamandapa. These miniature shrines, perhaps intended to house Parivaradevatas, contain Purnakumbhas at their base.
2. Kesavanatha Shrine
The northern shrine is dedicated to Kesavanatha. Beneath the door jambs are carved Vaishnavite Dwarapalas flanked by male and female holding fly-whisks.
3. Suryadeva Shrine
The eastern shrine is dedicated to Suryadeva. Beneath the door jambs are carved dwarapalas each holding a Lotus bud, Gada, Bow and a Naga. The Dwarapalas are flanked by beautiful figures of lady attendants with fly-whisks.
As per the inscriptions found in the courtyard on a broken stone pillar (carved on three sides with a Nandi at its top), Raikal was orginally called RaviKanti. Ravi means Sun and Kanti means Light. The eastern shrine dedicated to Suryadeva is a standing example to say that the worship of Sun was prevalent in this area earlier.
