Lepakshi

Lepakshi is a tiny little village in Andhra Pradesh, South India, and it is about 15 KM from the town of Hindupur. While this little town was ruled primarily by Vijayanagar rulers, it was invaded by various rulers like Qutub Shahis, Moguls and the Nawabs of Cuddaph. Even Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan have taken over this territory which was subsequently occupied by the British.  Like other important places in India which are famous for Archaeology, this town too have been traumatised by various rulers. The evidence of these invasions is visible in various ways in this town even today especially on the sculpture! SAD!

Lepakshi is an ideal example of Vijayanagar style of architecture! The entrance of the city has a huge statue of Nandi (Bull). At 27ft in length and 15ft in height, it is a colossal structure, reputedly India’s biggest monolithic Nandi. Besides the record size, the perfectly proportioned body, finely-carved ornaments, and smooth contours add to its grandeur and make it a popular photo-op with visitors.

 

 

The main attraction of this place is the Veerabadhra Temple. This is a renowned place where the best specimens of the mural paintings of the Vijayanagar kings are also available. The best part of this temple – A Hanging pillar. This pillar or Column literally hangs from the roof and there is a physical gap between the pillar and the ground! One can actually slide a news paper in this gap and check it!!! There are about 70 pillars at this 16th-century temple of stone in Vijayanagar style, but this one is the best known and a tribute to the engineering genius of ancient and medieval India’s temple builders!

The temple dates back to 1583 and was built by the brothers, Virupanna and Veeranna, who were initially in the service of the Vijayangar kings. It has idols of Ganesha, Nandi, Veerabhadra, Shiva, Bhadrakali, Vishnu and Lakshmi.

On the temple’s outer enclosure, one can see a mammoth Ganesha — carved in stone and leaning against a rock. Near to it is a massive Naga (Snake) with three coils and seven hoods. It forms a sheltering canopy over a black granite Shivalingam. It’s reckoned by many as the largest Nagalinga in India.

The Lepakshi temple also has the finest specimens of mural paintings of the Vijayanagar kings. The 24 by 14 ft fresco of Veerabhadra on the ceiling before the main sanctum sanctorum is the largest in India of any single figure. The rest of the frescoes are also beautiful and show an impressive attention to detail with colours strikingly contrasted. Sadly these frescoes are peeling off in many places and are in need of better maintenance and expert restoration.