Bhu Bharati Telangana: Check Land Records After Dharani

Telangana land records now live on Bhu Bharati (bhubharati.telangana.gov.in), which replaced the Dharani portal in April 2025. You can look up any survey number there for free in a few minutes: pick the district, mandal, village, survey number and khata, type a CAPTCHA, and the current pattadar and extent appear.

This guide explains what changed from Dharani, walks through the search click by click, decodes every field on the result, and tells you exactly what to do, and whom to approach, if something on your land has changed without you.

What replaced Dharani, and what changed for landowners?

Bhu Bharati is Telangana's new land records system, built on a new law: the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act. It replaced the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020, the law behind Dharani, and the records kept under that law were carried over into Bhu Bharati.

For an NRI family, four changes matter most:

• Appeals are back. Under Dharani, a wrong entry often meant going straight to the civil court. The new Act sets out a clear ladder of appeals, from the tehsildar to the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), the District Collector and a Land Tribunal.
• Bhudhaar. Every parcel is to get a Bhudhaar, a unique land ID: a temporary one first, then a permanent one tied to the plot's location and the coordinates of its corners.
• Survey maps. From a date the government notifies, a survey or sub-division map must accompany sale registrations and mutation applications, so the record and the map stay in step.
• Notice before change. Before an inheritance mutation, the tahsildar must send a show-cause notice to everyone named in the record and consider objections.

If someone sends you a "Dharani" link today, treat it with suspicion and type the Bhu Bharati address yourself.

What does the Telangana record show, and what doesn't it prove?

The record of rights (ROR, often called the 1-B) lists who holds each survey number in a village, as pattadar, occupant or mortgagee, and the nature and extent of their rights. The pahani is the village land register that sits behind it, and the pattadar passbook (PPB) is the booklet given to each pattadar.

Under the Act, every entry in the record of rights is presumed true until the contrary is proved. That makes it powerful evidence, which is exactly why a wrong entry needs fixing quickly.

It is still not a title deed. Ownership rests on registered documents such as a sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, will or court decree. A changed record also does not show possession: someone can be on your land with the record untouched, and the record can change while the land looks the same.

How do you check land records on Bhu Bharati, step by step?

The public search is called Land Details Search and needs no login. Have your survey number ready; the khata number helps but the portal lists the options for you.

1. 1

   Open Bhu Bharati

   Type bhubharati.telangana.gov.in yourself and choose Land Details Search (the page address ends in knowLandStatus). Ignore look-alike sites that charge to show the record.
2. 2

   Choose the district

   Pick the district where the land is today. Telangana redrew its districts in 2016 and later, so an old family document may name a different one.
3. 3

   Choose the mandal

   The mandal is the revenue sub-division, the Telangana equivalent of a tehsil or taluk.
4. 4

   Choose the village

   Names are shown in English and Telugu. If yours is missing, look for the revenue village name rather than the hamlet people call it.
5. 5

   Select the survey number

   The list includes sub-divisions, often written with Telugu letters, for example 112/అ. Pick the one on your documents.
6. 6

   Select the khata number

   The portal shows only the khata numbers that hold land in that survey number. If there are several, each one is a separate holding.
7. 7

   Type the CAPTCHA and submit

   Enter the characters shown in the image, five capital letters and digits, then submit. Save the result with today's date visible.

Not sure what your record is called or which details to search by? Our land record finder walks through it for every state.

How do you read every field on the Bhu Bharati result?

The result appears as cards rather than a table: one card per pattadar and one per survey number. Here is an invented example of what you might see, followed by what each field means.

A few fields need a closer look:

• Extent in Ac.Gts. The figure "2.15" means 2 acres and 15 guntas, not 2.15 acres. There are 40 guntas in an acre, so 2.15 here is 2.375 acres. Our land unit converter does the sum.
• Several pattadars, one survey number. Joint holdings show a card per pattadar. Check that every heir you expect is listed.
• Transaction status. This is the field to watch. A pending transaction you did not start is the earliest sign that someone is trying to sell or mutate your land.

How do you get a certified copy, and what does it cost?

The Act says extracts of the record of rights must be available on the portal, and certified copies issued to anyone who applies, on payment of the prescribed fee. The online view is enough for checking, but banks, courts and lawyers will ask for the certified copy.

In practice there are two routes. Apply through Bhu Bharati's own services, or ask a relative to apply at a Mee Seva centre, the state's citizen service counters. The fee is small and set by the government, but it changes, so confirm it on the portal or at the counter on the day rather than relying on a figure from a website.

Why can't you find your land on Bhu Bharati, and how do you fix it?

Most problems are small. Here are the common ones and what to try.

• The site will not load from abroad. Bhu Bharati often refuses connections from outside India. Ask a relative in India to check, or try again at a different time of day.
• The village is missing. Check the district and mandal first; many villages moved to new districts in 2016. The list uses revenue village names.
• The survey number is not listed. It may have been sub-divided. Pick the sub-division that matches your documents.
• The result is blank. An empty result can mean the pattadar has chosen to keep the details private, or that the request could not be processed. Try again later, then ask at the tahsildar office.
• The name is in Telugu or spelled differently. Search by survey number, which is exact, and compare the father's name.
• The CAPTCHA keeps failing. Refresh the image and type it exactly as shown, all capitals.

What should you do if something on your record has changed?

Act within days, not months. Appeal deadlines under the Act run from the date an order is communicated, and they are short. The Act also says an inheritance mutation application is treated as approved if no order is passed in the prescribed time, so a notice you never received can turn into a changed record.

1. 1

   Capture the evidence

   Save a dated screenshot of the result and download whatever the portal offers. Note the transaction status and any new pattadar or khata number.
2. 2

   Get a certified copy

   A lawyer or officer will want the certified extract, not a screenshot.
3. 3

   Find out what caused the change

   Ask the tahsildar office, in person or through a relative, which application or order changed the entry. A Right to Information request is a fallback; our RTI application generator helps you draft one.
4. 4

   Appeal to the right officer

   Against a tahsildar's order, appeal to the RDO within 60 days. Against an RDO's order, appeal to the District Collector within 60 days. Second appeals go to the Collector or the Land Tribunal within 30 days.
5. 5

   Check for a registered sale

   If the change came from a registered document, an encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar will show it. Talk to a local property lawyer about the next step.

The appeal ladder in the Act, in short:

Until a Land Tribunal is set up for an area, the Act says the Commissioner acts as the Tribunal. Rules and notifications under the Act can adjust the details, so confirm the exact deadline for your case with a local property lawyer before you file. If you are not sure who passed an order, our guide to mutation explains how a change usually moves through the revenue office.

How can an NRI handle Bhu Bharati from abroad?

You can do most of the checking yourself, and the rest without handing anyone power over your land.

• Viewing needs no Indian mobile number or login, only a connection the portal accepts.
• Applications such as certified copies, corrections or a passbook usually involve an Indian mobile number for OTPs and payment. Keep an Indian number active, or let a trusted relative use theirs for that one request.
• Office visits to the tahsildar or a Mee Seva centre run on Indian working hours. Our India office hours planner shows when to call from your time zone.
• Sending a relative is fine for collecting copies and asking questions. They do not need a power of attorney to view or collect a certified record, and you should not give one for that purpose.

For the bigger picture on Telangana land, see our Telangana state guide.

How do you keep watch on Telangana land without checking every week?

The simplest routine is to check the Land Details Search every month or two, compare it with your last saved copy, and pay special attention to the transaction status. That works, but it is easy to forget, and appeal windows are measured in weeks.

PlotPehra can do this for you. We check your plot's official Bhu Bharati record every week and flag any change: a new pattadar, a different extent or a pending transaction. We also watch the ground from space with Sentinel-2 imagery, because clearing, fencing or digging never shows up in the records. A real person reviews every alert and explains it in plain English and Telugu, by email and WhatsApp. No power of attorney, ever.

Whichever way you choose, keep a dated copy of your record on file, keep your registered documents safe, and look again whenever anyone back home mentions a buyer, a survey or a "small correction".