Veerabhadra Temple, Lepakshi

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Veerabhadra Temple, Lepakshi

Lepakshi is a small village in Mandal in the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Hindupur and approximately 120 km (75 mi) north of Bangalore. Lepakshi is culturally and archaeologically significant as it is the location of shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Veerabhadra which were built during the Vijayanagara Kings' period (1336–1646).

Location: lepakshi Temple

The Veerabhadra temple of Lepakshi, which was built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna, is dedicated to Veerabhadra. It is an example of the Vijayanagara architectural style. Much of the temple is built on a low, rocky hill called Kurmasailam — which translates to tortoise hill in Telugu, after the shape of the hill. The temple dates back to 1583. However, Puranic lore has it that the Veerabhadra temple was built by the sage Agastya. It has idols of Ganesha, Nandi, Veerabhadra, Shiva, Bhadrakali, Vishnu and Lakshmi. 

I was accompanied by my wife Akshatha for this trip which we planned on a sunday afternoon. We left home at around 3:00 P. M. It took almost an hour to reach Airport toll booth. There was heavy traffic till airport as always. I was confident that once we cross airport toll, we could speed up for the remaining distance in short time. The road from devanahalli to lepakshi is just awesome and not much traffic also. We reached Lepakshi by 5:10 and headed to Veerabhadra Temple. The temple parking area is heavily populated with lot of shops around it. 










There are about 70 pillars at this fabulous 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. However, it is a bit dislodged from its original position, it is said that during the British era, a British engineer tried to move it in an unsuccessful attempt to uncover the secret of its support.









Besides the Hanging Pillar, another draw is the spectacular Nandi, located almost a mile before the main temple.


Well, overall I was a bit disappointed but still enjoyed the drive. I would recommend only if is only a half day trip in the evening. 



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