Erakeswara Temple, Pillalamarri

The Erakeswara Temple stands on the west side of Pillalamarri, 8 km north-west of Suryapet off National Highway 65, on the bank of the Musi river. Inscriptions record that Erakasani, wife of Beti Reddi of the Recherla family, feudatories of the Kakatiyas, commissioned it in 1208 CE, and the deity, Erakeswara, 'lord of Eraka', is named after her. Pillalamarri was the seat of the Recherla Reddy rulers, and its temples were built by relatives of Recherla Rudra Reddy, builder of the Ramappa Temple.

The temple is one of four intricately carved stone and granite temples at Pillalamarri, all from the 12th and early 13th centuries; about 250 m to the east stand the twin Shaiva temples of Nameswara and Trikuteswara, and the ruined Chennakesava Temple lies a little further south-west. Erakeswara was damaged during Alauddin Khilji's raids into the Deccan in the early 14th century, and an inscription of 1357 records the reinstallation of the deity under the Musunuri Nayakas.