Why Lepakshi ?? Good drive from Bangalore !! Largest monolithic Nandi !! Hanging Pillar !!
Historical Veerabhadra temple !! Sita Devi's Feet !! Rich folklore !!
Lepakshi
"Lepakshi" the tale behind the name dates back to Tretayug. The story goes
like this,"Jatayu" the mythical king of Vultures , fights bravely with Ravana when he tries to abduct Sita Devi. Jatayu falls during the fight and waits at Lepakshi for Lord Rama , to tell him which way Sita Devi was taken.
Lord Rama on seeing Jatayu , takes him and says "Le Pakshi" , Le means Arise and Pakshi means Bird in Telugu.
The Drive
With small hills on both sides and wide roads , its a pleasant drive with most of the journey over NH7 Bangalore-Hyderabad Highway. Even with a late start we had a comfortable drive with not much traffic. You would find a prominent arch marking the entrance to Lepakshi on the left side of the highway. The road gets a little bumpy after this for a few kms but its just for a short while. We saw the road was under expansion , probably it would be fixed soon.
On reaching the place we decided to hire a guide , to get more insight on the place
which will help us and the blog readers to appreciate the place and the stories behind it.
As we had a late start , we had reached the place around 12P.M , it was extremely hot to walk around the place but no regrets we loved the place but its a good idea to start early or go in the evening when its not punishing hot.
Veerabadhra Temple
The main attraction of Lepakshi is the Veerabadhra Swami Temple and all other attractions are either in the temple complex or associated with this temple. The temple is around 480 years old and dates back to 1538AD. It was built under the supervision of Manthri "Viruppanna" and belongs to the Vijayanagar style of architecture.
The main deity of the temple is Veerabadhra Swamy , a fierce incarnation of Shiva.
Lord Shiva moaning to the loss of his wife Sati Devi , creates Lord Veerabadhra in personification of his anger and wrath. This fierce warrior God was often worshiped during the wars at the medieval times. The temple complex also has many Linga's which are even older than the temple itself , a Hanuman statue and a deity of Bhadrakali.
The Dancing Hall
The hall we find as we enter the temple complex is the dancing hall. This hall is made up of several pillars all with distinct carvings. The pillars contain carvings of Ramba dancing , several demi gods playing musical instruments and Bhringi - Apasara's three legged dance teacher can also be found on one of the pillars.
As we moved across the hall , we found another carving from an unheard folklore.
Lord Shiva is seen with a bowl begging for food , and Parvathi Devi in the form of Annapurna Devi is shown offering food to him. It is said Lord Shiva tests her by making her saree fall down but still she is seen offering food with devotion and good heart.
It is was so astonishing to see so many stories carved into a single temple , there is so much meaning behind these stories , which were carved to be passed on for generations to come.
The Hanging Pillar
The hall consists of around 70 pillars and all the pillars seemed to be balanced by one pillar
and this is a very distinct pillar "The Hanging Pillar" yes you read it right the pillar seems to be hanging as the base does not touch the ground.
It is said that a British architect tried to make the pillar touch the ground , when he was in the process he realized that moving this pillar shook and moved all other pillars making them lose balance. He realized moving the hanging pillar would bring down the temple and discontinued his pursuit !!! Yes the hanging pillar seems to be balance point for all other pillars in the temple.
Murals made of vegetable colors
The ceilings of the temple is adorned with the murals of stories and folklore of the Gods and Demi Gods. The most surprising thing is the paintings were made of colors produced by crushing vegetables , leaves and flowers. You can find small holes in the ground which were used to crush the vegetables and flowers to extract the color.
It is very surprising to realize these paintings were made several hundreds of years back !!!
The Linga on Seven Headed Cobra
As we walked around , our guide took us behind the temple and showed a small house like structure which once was the kitchen where the sculptors mother used to prepare food for them. On a festival , she had spent time in prayer and told her children that food would be prepared a bit late than usual and they had to wait for sometime. The sculptors decided they would carve something as they waited for food and by the time their mother came out of the kitchen they had carved this magnificent seven headed cobra holding the Linga on it.
The mother came out and was as surprised as much as we are today seeing this magnificent piece of art !! It is said mothers drishti had cracked sculpture. Since a cracked sculpture is not worshiped the Linga does not receive any offerings or prayers even till this day but even till day it still remains as a magnificent work of art !!!
As we walk around the temple complex , we can also see the plates of the sculptors carved on the ground , yes they used to eat on huge plates which were carved on the ground !!!
Unfinished Kalyana Mandapa
The unfinished Kalyana Mandapa contains well carved pillars with each pillar housing a sculpture of a Demi God who is attending the wedding of "Lord Shiva" and "Goddess Parvathi". You can notice the roof and finishing of this mandappa is not completed , hence its name "The unfinished Mandapa".
The story of why it remains unfinished goes like this , few enemies of Manthri Virupanna who was constructing the temple had spread rumor to the King about treason and the King had ordered the guards to blind Virupanna and take him captive.
When the guards tried to take him captive , he denied of treason and said he would not surrender to the King. He plucked his eye balls himself as an offering to Lord Veerabhadra and threw them on the wall near the unfinished mandappa.The guide showed us two marks on the wall which looked like blood oozing out of it , he said that those were marks of Virupanna's eye balls. After this Mantri Virupanna died and the constructions of the temple came to a halt.
Lepakshi Saree design Carvings
Next to the unfinished kalyana mandappa are 36 pillars with each side of the pillar adorning intricately carved patterns which are often used in silk sarees as "Lepakshi Pattu Saree designs" , 36 pillars with 4 sides result in 144 unique designs !!
Sita Devi Padam
As we walk down from there , we come across a huge foot which is atleast more than 4 times the size of average human foot !! The guide said this is the right foot of Sita Devi. In Threta Yuga it is said that humans were upto 25ft tall and hence the foot is so big !!
It is said that in this hill Jatayu bravely fought Ravana and fell as he tried to rescue Sita Devi as she was being abducted and taken captive. It is said Sita Devi made this foot print and filled it with water, blessed Jatayu to drink the water and survive till Lord Rama comes.
Jatayu is said to have lied there drinking water from the foot till Lord Rama came.
Lord Rama had come and taken Jatayu and told "Le Pakshi" meaning "Arise Bird" in Telugu hence the name "Lepakshi". This story dates back to Threta Yuga.
Largest Monolithic Nandi
We thanked our guide and started off to the next stop "The Nandi". Most people might consider guides as a tourist trap but when we spoke and interacted with this person we realized how nice these people are and how passionate they are to pass on the stories they know , yet make so little earning in this small humble village.
Our next stop "The Basavanna" Nandi , it is one of the largest monolithic Nandi's in India , second to the Tanjore Nandi. Magnificent in size , beautifully sculpted and proportional this Nandi was built to face the Linga sitting on the seven headed Cobra.
It was definitely postcard perfect - A huge Nandi surrounded by a small park. From here we could see a huge statue of Jatayu on a nearby hill , visible for a very long distance. We heard from our guide that it was closed so we did not want to take the trouble to climb up the hill instead we just enjoyed the view from the Nandi.
Right next to the Nandi is the AP tourism restaurant, as it was already 2 o clock we decided to have lunch , so we had Andhra meals - obviously we are in Andhra why miss a chance to eat a sumptuous meal. We enjoyed a heavy meal and started off to Bangalore.
The drive back was enjoyable. It was an astonishing experience with so many stories folklore and amazing sculptures. We were filled with awe and amaze as of how ancient Indians were strong and talented to build such structures hundreds of years back !!! We should learn to appreciate and preserve what these old souls have left behind for us.
Planning your trip to Lepakshi ?? Check out Lepakshi - What to know before you go
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