Lepakshi - The Temple that Time ForgotOnce again the restless traveller in us saw us leave for Lepakshi at 6am.Lepakshi is a town that is fighting a hard and brave battle against obscurity. Despite being a contemporary of its more famous cousin of the Vijayanagara dynasty, Hampi, Lepakshi lies lonely and forgotten at the border between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is hard to believe today that that this remote town was once a bustling centre for trade and pilgrimage.
Lepakshi today is like any other small dusty village lying 122 kms away from Bangalore. The town as such does not have any other attractions for tourists, but the temple, with its rich heritage makes it more than worth the trouble of visiting.
You have to take the Bangalore Hyderabad Highway: Bangalore - Yelahanka - Devanahalli - Chikkaballapur - Bagepalli - Lepakshi. You turn off NH7, exactly 6kms after the Bagepalli toll booth into a narrow road (supposedly a state highway - really??) leading to the temple. There are no signs, but you can ask for the Hindupur - Anantpur road. About 3 kms down this road is a sculpture of 2 storks, stick to the right road and continue on. It is 15kms from the main road to the temple. Just near the car park are shops, similar to those found outside temples everywhere, selling everything from puja items like flowers and coconuts and incense sticks to polyester saris and plastic buckets! The presiding deity here is Veerabhadra Swamy, an irate form taken by Lord Shiva. According to our guide’s version, when Parvati died during Daksha yagna, Shiva struck with grief and rage threw a clump of his hair on to the earth and the spot where it fell now houses the temple and the statue of the lord( along with the udbhava murthy). Indeed the entire temple abounds with legends about Shiva and Parvati and their royal wedding and separation later.What is in a name?There are also ample stories floating in the air inside the temple walls about the other divine couple Rama and Sita, and in fact, one of them relates to the suggested origin of the name Lepakshi. It is believed that when Ravana kidnapped Sita, the brave bird Jatayu fought against the evil king and died in the battle on this spot. As it lay wounded, its wings cut off by Ravana, Lord Rama said with compassion, “le pakshi” (rise, o bird!) – and so, Lepakshi. Look out for the imprint of the giant footprint just outside the kalyanamantapa, believed to have been left by Sita herself!
The other and equally gory story about the name points to the brothers Veeranna and Virupanna, under King Achutaraya of the Vijayanagara dynasty. The latter who was treasurer of Penukonda province (today’s Anantpur) spared no expense to have the temple built the way he wished as a tribute to the Lord, leading to suspicions from the king about embezzlement of money. In grief and in anticipation of royal punishment, Virupanna plucked out his own eyes and threw them against the wall, where the muted blood stains from centuries ago are believed to be visible even today. (By the way, the Government had these stains tested and has confirmed that they are indeed blood stains – Spooky, huh?!) And thus, lepa-akshi (blinded eyes).
The Vijayanagara architecture style
The temple at Lepakshi has several characteristics that are unique to the Vijayanagara style of architecture – the most striking being giant monoliths; in Lepakshi the Nagalinga and the Nandi are both the largest such statues (other monoliths from the period being the Ganesha temples at Hampi and the Gomateshwara statue at Karkala).
You enter the temple at the Mukhyamantapa (main hall) directly into the natyamantapa (dancing hall) that is at the centre of the building and leads into the Garbagruha or the sanctum. This hall has pillars depicting divine musicians. Walking along the side of the temple on the outer prahara, you then come to the giant statue of the seven-headed cobra Nagalinga and further down, Ganesha etched into the wall.
This walk leads to the other important structure within the building, also an essential element of Vijayanagara architecture, the open-air Kalyanamantapa (wedding hall). This Kalyanamantapa has been depicted as the site of the celestial wedding between Shiva and Parvati, and each of the pillars is a celebration of this – drummers and musicians adding to the atmosphere and lesser gods and goddesses blessing the couple. Close by stands the Latamantapa, with its 42 pillars, each carved with intricate motifs of birds and flowers, used to this day as designs on sari borders, and the reason why AP handicrafts chose this name.
At the Natyamantapa look up to find the most fascinating feature of the temple, the murals that adorn the ceiling. The vibrant colors of natural vegetable and flower dyes still catch the eye of the visitor. Each of them depicts a story from mythology.
The Nandi
