Gnana Saraswati Temple

The Gnana Saraswati Temple stands on the Godavari at Basar in Telangana, one of the subcontinent's most celebrated shrines of Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and learning. Tradition connects it with the sage Vyasa, who after the Kurukshetra war settled here for prayer; his abode was called Vasara, later becoming Basara in Marathi speech.

The temple is credited to Bijialudu, a Karnataka king who ruled Nandagiri from Nanded in the 500s. It is one of three temples near the Manjira and Godavari confluence. After Muslim invaders destroyed its images in the medieval period a Nandagiri chieftain reinstalled the idols in the 1600s.

Saraswati occupies the sanctum with Lakshmi and Mahakali nearby, making Basara an abode of the goddess trinity. Families bring young children for the Akshara abhyasam, in which they trace their first letters before the goddess.