ABSTRACT
SHAMIRPET is a village situated at a distance of about twenty-five miles from the twin cities ofHyderabad and Secundra-, bad in the Deccan plateau of India. Culturally it lies in the region known as Telangana, which is itself a part of the wider culture-area of Andhra-desa. 'Tehingana is a country of fertile fields and barren'rocks; a land of temples, tanks and lakes. It is estimated that there are over twenty thousand lakes and tanks in this region, which covers an area ofmore than 42 ,000 square miles. Shamirpet is lo~ated by the side of one of these tanks and lies on the road' that links the capital city of Hyderabad with Karimnagar, the headquarters of the northern district of that name.
