Rattibha

While reading up and writing on temples in Telugu land, started to classify them into various categories, again this is not taking into account the various Grama Devata temples, and some interesting facts coming out.
Thread.

Trilinga Desa , the land of 3 Lingas, is where it all begins. The three Shiva temples that were believed to form the boundaries of Telugu states.
Draksharama
Srisailam
Kaleswaram

Srisailam is the only Jyotirlinga Kshetram that is also one of the 18 Shaktipeethams.
And Srikalahasti is the only Panchabhuta Kshetram in Andhra Pradesh, the rest are in Tamil Nadu.

4 of the Ashtadasa Maha Shakti Peethams are located in Telugu states.
Draksharama-Manikyamba
Srisailam-Brahmaramba
Pithapuram-Puruhitika Devi
Alampur- Jogulamba
You can read more on them here
sadashree.substack.com

sadashree.substack.com/p/shakti-peeth…

Shakti Peethams in Telugu states.

As per the Puranas, when Sati died, a grief stricken Shiva, carried her body, performing the Tandava...

Pancharama Kshetras where 5 Shiva temples are located.
Draksharama
Amararama- Amaravati
Ksheerarama- Palakollu
Somarama-Bhimavaram
Kumararama- Samarlakota

Veerabhadra Kshetrams dedicated to Shiva's fierce form
Lepakshi
Pattiseema
Rayachoti
These are the more prominent ones, though there are Veerabhadra temples in most parts of Andhra, Telangana.

Other prominent Shaiva Kshetras in Telugu states
Tadipatri- Bugga Ramalingeswara
Kottapakonda- Dakshinamurthy, Trikooteshwara
Srimukhalingam- Madhukeshwara
Tripuranthakam
Nandaluru-Someswara
Mahanandi- Mahanandishwara
Yaganti- Uma Maheswara
Vemulawada- Raja Rajeswara
Keesaragutta
Pushpagiri-Vaidyanatheswara
Again these are the more prominent ones, you can find a Shivalayam in every city, town and village of Telugu states.

Ganesha Temples, the more prominent ones are
Kanipakam
Bikkavolu
Ainavilli
Sakshi Ganapati at Srisailam
Apart from this all the Shaiva Kshetras have smaller Ganesha shrines, and the Ganesha Temples in every major city and town.

Subramanya Temple at Mopidevi is the most well known ones, many come here to do the Sarpadosha Puja. The Shiva Linga here is located on an ant hill.

Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple at Pithapuram is one of the Tri Gaya temples along with Bodh Gaya in Bihar, and Biraja Temple at Jajpur, Odisha. This is called the Padha Gaya.
Read here to know more
sadashree.substack.com

sadashree.substack.com/p/pithapuram?u…

Pithapuram

Pitapuram,one of the 3 Shakti Peethams in the state along with Srisailam and Draksharama, and also k...

Telugu land is where Vishnu is worshipped in all forms from Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narsimha to Rama, Krishna. And in form of Venkateswara, Chennakesava, Madhava, Bhavanarayana, Ranganatha, Padmanabhaswamy.
Matsyavataram- Vedanarayana Swamy, Nagulapuram
Kurmavataram- Sri Kurmam
Varahavataram- Simhachalam( Varaha Narasimha), Tirumala( Bhoo Varaha), Mandasa.

There are around 32 Narasimha Kshetras in Andhra, Telangana, and it's quite common to find people named Narasimha, Narsimhulu, as well as other variations like Appanna, Yadagiri, Obuleshu. The prominent ones
Simhadri
Antarvedi
Korukonda
Kadiri
Pennahobilam
Ahobilam
Vedadri
Mangalagiri
Penchalakona
Yadadri
Dharmapuri

Pancha Keshava Temples all of them in Godavari districts.
Ryali is the most prominent where Vishnu is worshipped as Jaganmohini Keshava, one of the few where he is in this form.
The others are at Tanuku,Duvva, Kotalapparu,Mandapaka.

One of the Pancha Madhava Temples is located at Pithapuram, in the form of Kunti Madhava. These were believed to have been built by Indra to atone for killing of Vritra, the others being Bindu Madhava(Kashi), Veni Madhav(Prayag Raj), Sethu Madhava(Rameswaram) ,Sundara Madhava(Thiruvananthapuram).

Pancha Bhavanarayana Kshetras where Vishnu is worshipped as Bhavanarayana Swamy are located at Bapatla, Ponnuru, Narasaraopeta, Bhavadevarapalli( Krishna dt) and Sarpavaram( near Kakinada)

Shri Venkateswara, the Kaliyuga Devam, Ilavelpu( Family Deity) for most Telugu people. While Tirumala is the most well known, other prominent Venkateshwara Temples are at
Dwaraka Tirumala
Kadapa
Vadapalli- Called Konaseema Tirupati
Upamaka
Appanapalli
Tadipatri
Appalayakunta.
And the Venkateshwara temples in all major cities, towns of Andhra, Telangana.

You also find temples dedicated to Hayagreeva in Telugu states, the prominent ones are at
Yadadri
Machilipatnam
Mahbubnagar

Rama Temples are found in every nook and corner of Andhra, Telangana. Every village by default will have a Ramalayam along with Shivalayam.
The more prominent ones
Bhadrachalam
Vontimitta
Gollalla Mamidada
Ramatheertham
Kodanda Rama Temple at Tirupati
Dichpalli
Sitaramaswamy Temple at Shamshabad
Ramatheertham

When Rama is there, can Hanuman be far behind. Apart from the Hanuman temples, one can find those huge statues of him all over the countryside.
The more prominent Hanuman temples are at
Kasapuram- Near Guntakal
Ponnuru
Ardhagiri
Hanuman Junction
Tadbund, Karmanghat- Hyderabad
Kondagattu
Beechupalli

The prominent Krishna temples in Andhra Pradesh are at
Movva
Hamsaladeevi
Chilakalapudi- Near Machilipatnam, Pandurangaswamy
Karvetinagaram
Bobbili
Jetaprolu

And the ISKCON temples at Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Anantapur, Vizag, Vijayawada, Nellore.

One of the few Brahma temples in India is located at Chebrolu, the Chaturmukha Brahma Lingeswara temple which combines Shiva Linga with representation of Brahma.
sadashree.substack.com

sadashree.substack.com/p/chebrolu?utm…

Chebrolu

Chebrolu in Guntur district, famous for the Chaturmukha Brahma Lingeswara Temple, was called as Tamr...

Andhra Mahavishnu at Srikukalam, Krishna dt, this is where Shri Krishnadeva Raya composed the Amukta Malyada.
Andhra Mahavishnu is believed to be an avatar of Vishnu himself, but as per some records and inscriptions he was an ancient king, much before the Satavahana era.
sadashree.substack.com

sadashree.substack.com/p/srikakulam-a…

One of the few Sun temples in India, the Suryanarayanaswamy Temple at Arasavilli near Srikakulam.
And one of the few Shani Devata temples at Mandapalli
You also have the Nava Janardhana Temples at Kotipalli,Korumilli, Machara,Kapileswarapuram,Mandapeta,Alamuru,Jonnada,Madiki,Dhavaleswaram.

Apart from the 4 Maha Shakti Peethams, the other famous Devi temples in Telugu states
Bhadrakali Temple- Warangal
Kanakadurga Temple- Vijayawada
Ashtalakshmi Temple- Hyderabad
Saraswati Temple- Basara
Padmavathi Temple- Tiruchanoor
And the numerous Grama Devata temples that would need a separate thread.

This was not an exhaustive list of temples,basically the more prominent ones in Andhra, Telangana, where I tried to categorize them.
Hope you enjoyed reading it, and thanks for following this long thread patiently.