Short Trips from Bangalore – Visiting Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh

We visited Bangalore, India many times before but never had the opportunity to visit the temple town of Lepakshi.  Lepakshi is about a 1 ½ hour drive from the Bangalore airport. So, when we had a chance to visit Bangalore, we decided to take an early morning flight so that we had an opportunity to visit Lepakshi as a day trip from Bangalore.  We hired a taxi for our trip and our driver picked us up at the airport.  One important note if you are taking a taxi – please let them know that Lepakshi is in Andhra Pradesh (which is a different state from Karnataka where Bangalore is located).  Although it is not a big deal, we learnt that some taxis may not have the necessary permissions to cross state lines.  Since the drive is away from the city, it was quite smooth.  Excellent roads throughout.  If your driver is not familiar with the exact location, Google maps helps you find the exit you need to take from the highway to reach the town of Lepakshi.

We reached the Lepakshi temple around 12:30 pm.  On the way, we saw a large statue of a bird (Jataayu) on top of a hill.  We later learnt that it was a park built to show the beauty of the town.  We did not venture up the stairs but if you have time and the stamina to climb stairs, do check it out.

The town name Lepakshi originates from the word “Le Pakshi” which literally means “get up bird” in the Telugu language.  According to some legends, the origin dates back to the Indian epic Ramayana.  The story goes like this – after Ravana abducts Goddess Sita, he starts traveling towards his kingdom.  Jataayu, a vulture, notices this and starts following them.  Along the way, a battle ensues and he is hurt and falls down in the town now known as Lepakshi.  When Lord Rama arrives at the spot, he commands Jataayu to get up (hence Lepakshi).  Jataayu then conveys the message regarding Goddess Sita.  Please note, there is another place located in Kerala that talks about the same incident.  Regardless of the story, the place is definitely worth visiting.

As it was a weekday, it was pretty quiet when we arrived at the temple.  The main temple is surrounded by two boundary walls.  The outer boundary wall contained little shelters.  This is where traveling pilgrims spent the night before moving on.  The main temple complex is contained within the inner boundary wall.  The dwajastambha is located between the outer boundary and inner boundary walls. 

Once you enter the area surrounded by the inner boundary wall, you will notice a large “natya mandap” (dance hall) with many intricately carved pillars.  We found a guide who was willing to show us around but needed a few minutes to begin the tour.  So, we decided to go inside the main temple first.  The main deity inside is Lord Veerabhadra Swamy who is a form of Lord Shiva.  Surrounding it are a few smaller temples one of which is dedicated to Goddess Parvati.    We took an opportunity to circumambulate outside the inner sanctum walls.  As we did, we looked up and looked at the ceilings and found beautiful fresco paintings. 

Once we finished paying our respects, we met our guide at the natya mandap.  Once again, we were glad to have hired him.  Otherwise, we would not have known about the many legends surrounding the temple.    We started the tour in a clockwise direction.  Along the way, he explained to us the various deities depicted in the pillars.  Then we reached the famous pillar known as the hanging pillar.  Here, the pillar is suspended from the ceiling except for one single point in the fourth corner of the pillar.  Apparently, the only reason why this fourth corner is so close to floor is because there was time when outsiders tried to decode the mystery of the hanging pillar and in doing so applied so much force on the roof that a slight tilt occurred.  It was fascinating to see a scarf pass through the bottom with such ease.  Beautiful fresco paintings adorn the roof of the mandap area.

As we exited the natya mandap, we turned right to go towards the back side.  As we turned the corner, we were greeted by a large Nagalingam which was simply spectacular.  Next to the Nagalingam was a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesh.  We spent some time here absorbing the amazing energies.

We then continued on to the open, half done mandap.  The sculptures in this mandap describe the wedding scene of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati where different deities were in attendance.  We asked the guide as to why this was half done.  The explanation was quite simple.  The construction of the temple happened during the reign of King Achyuta Deva Raya of the Vijayanagar empire.  However, as the king was fighting many wars, they ran out of funds to complete the construction of the temple.  There is a secondary story that one of the builders, Virupanna was accused of misusing the allotted funds.  As a result, construction was halted and he pulled out his eyeballs and flung them on one of the walls as self-punishment and red stains are still visible on the walls.

As we made our way back to the main mandap, we crossed an area where a large footprint appeared.  According to legend, during the fight between Ravan and Jataayu, Jataayu was wounded and fell down.  Goddess Sita stomped her foot on the rock and water started to gush.  She asked Jataayu lay down there sipping water while waiting for Lord Rama to arrive.  To date no one knows the origin of the water.   We continued our journey back into the main mandap where we marvelled at the pillars and the frescos above. 

Research is everything.  During the past few trips, I haven’t been doing as in-depth research as I normally do.  As a result, I knew there was supposed to be a famous Nandi in the town but couldn’t figure out where it was.  I ASSUMED it would be within the temple complex which it was not.  It was past lunch time and we were hungry.  So, we decided to grab some lunch first before it was too late.  The only place we could easily find was the Haritha hotel.  Luckily, they were still serving lunch at the time.  The lunch was simple, the restaurant basic, however, well maintained and clean.  After having a hearty lunch, we headed out.  Lo and behold, right outside the hotel was the monolithic Nandi!

As we stopped outside the Nandi, we noticed the beautiful park surrounding it.  We took off our shoes and walked around.  We checked out the rest of the park as well.  From the Nandi statue, we could see the large bird in Jataayu theme park (yep, the same statue we saw when we first entered the town of LePakshi).   

After spending some time here, we continued our journey back to Bangalore.  The only problem was that as we entered the outskirts of Bangalore, we were slowed down by traffic.  A journey that should have taken us 1 ½ hours to complete took us 3 ½ hours instead!  Luckily, our night halt was in Bangalore.  So, please keep that in mind just in case you need to head somewhere else the same night.

One more beautiful location off the India bucket list!