Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy asked people for name suggestions for the upcoming Mamnoor airport in Warangal last week, and the responses poured in fast. What started as a straightforward call on social media has turned into a full-blown conversation about history, symbols, and what Telangana wants to put front and centre. Kakatiya names keep coming up more than anything else, and that has brought an older argument back into the open.
The airport itself is finally moving. Land acquisition is done, the site has been handed over to the Airports Authority of India, and the government has put money into it. Revanth has been pushing hard for it to become an international facility, with a target around June 2028. He has even told officials the design should take cues from local heritage — the kind of arches and temple styles you see around Warangal. So the project is real. The name is the part that has people talking.
Warangal was the Kakatiya capital once, known as Orugallu. The dynasty left a strong mark — forts, temples, irrigation works, and a line of rulers that still sit in local memory. Rani Rudrama Devi is the one who comes up most. She ruled in the 13th century, took on challenges that many kings of her time never faced, and remains one of the few women rulers people still talk about with real respect. Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who is from Warangal, suggested “Rudrama International Airport” or “Kakatiya International Airport.” Revanth replied with a short “That’s the SPIRIT..!!” and that exchange spread quickly. Other voices, including actors and directors, have backed similar names. Prataparudra and Orugallu have also been floated.
There is another side to the suggestions. Some people, including director Srikanth Odela, have put forward Sammakka-Saralamma International Airport. Those are the tribal deities linked to the big Medaram jatara. Revanth has spoken positively about them before. During the earlier debate over the state emblem, he had said he respected Sammakka and Sarakka, who, in the stories, stood against Kakatiya power. That earlier stand is what makes the current naming talk interesting.
Two years ago, when the state emblem was being redesigned, Revanth made it clear the Kakatiya Kala Thoranam would not stay. He called it a symbol of anarchy and said the official identity of Telangana should reflect the people’s movement, the struggles and the sacrifices that led to statehood, not the old dynastic markers. That decision drew criticism at the time from those who felt the Kakatiya period was central to the region’s identity. Now the same government is looking at names and design elements tied to that very period for a major public project in Warangal. The contrast is hard to miss, and people on both sides of the earlier argument have noticed.
There has also been some chatter about “Rudra Dev.” Rudra Deva was an early Kakatiya ruler. Revanth is said to use a similar name for his grandson, whose official name is reportedly Reyansh. No one in government has proposed naming the airport after the child, and the public suggestions that have gained traction are still focused on Rudrama Devi or the broader Kakatiya identity. Still, the coincidence has become part of the online discussion.
Other names are in the mix too — former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who had roots in the region, and a few political figures. BRS leaders have offered their own preferences, some supporting Rudrama Devi, others floating different options. The conversation has not stayed limited to one party or one group.
What makes this more than a simple naming exercise is the way it touches deeper questions about how Telangana remembers its past. For many in Warangal and the surrounding districts, the Kakatiya period is not distant history. It is the story of the place itself — the fort, the temples, the sense of continuity. For others, especially those who emphasise the Telangana movement and Adivasi histories, the focus should stay on resistance and people’s struggles rather than kings and queens. Revanth’s earlier comments about feudal symbols and his praise for Sammakka-Saralamma sit on one side of that line. The strong public pull toward Kakatiya and Rudrama names sits on the other.
The airport will eventually get a name. Whether it is Rudrama, Kakatiya, Sammakka-Saralamma, or something else, the decision will say something about the balance the government chooses to strike. For now, the suggestions keep coming, the old arguments have resurfaced, and Warangal’s new airport has become the latest place where Telangana is sorting out how it wants to see itself.
Sources: India Today, The Pioneer, Telugu360, Hyderabad Mail, Deccan Chronicle, The Hans India, Times of India, ETV Bharat.
@Rohit Manral
