Lepakshi - A blend of art, architecture, mythology and history

Recently i visited a group of Vijayanagara and Chalukya period monuments in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. And in my posts I'll be sharing about what i enjoyed the most and what i learnt in each of these places. Some of these are stories shared by the Guide there, some are my observations.

This post is about Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh which is a 2.5hrs ride from Bengaluru airport. This place has an active Veerabhadra Swamy temple built during the Vijayanagara period and also has some architecturally interesting aspects.

I found the sculptors multifaceted in their artistic expression. They have depicted puranas, produced optical illusion, utilized vaasthu, experimented with angles, directions and architectural engineering. In addition there is a blend of mythology and Indian belief systems offering varied stories dating back to trethaa yuga, times of agathiya muni, chola kings of 12th century and ofcourse the Vijayanagara kings of 16th century.
We first went around the Lepakshi Veerabhadra Swamy temple looking at the deities and the sculptures and i must say that i did not understand much. Later we hired a Guide who explained every aspect of the temple in detail and it helped me appreciate the art and history better. 

The ranga mantapa of the temple has pillars with beautiful, life sized carvings and the roof with paintings in natural colour. Some of these paintings are still intact helping us understand the puranas (understand this as mythology) from the eyes of a 16th century artist and the lifestyle of people in this region 400 years ago.

Below are some of my observations:


None of the women depicted in the paintings have plaited their hair nor are they wearing a blouse. Did i mention that they are in different shades of brown :)



Check this thing out. The famous hanging pillar of lepakshi. Apparently there are 70 pillars in this ranga mandapa and one of them "was" hanging. It's intriguing that all 70 pillars and the ceiling were interconnected in some manner and the hanging pillar was key for rest of the pillars and the ceiling to be in place. It is an architectural marvel. I wonder how someone could have conceived such an idea that is an artistic experimentation of architectural engineering. The guide explained, that in 1902 during the British rule, two English men curious and wanting to understand how this whole thing worked, took an iron bar and moved the pillar a bit. The pillar comfortably sat on of its ends disturbing the setting of the entire ceiling and rest of the pillars. It reminds me of what my dad said about his first engineering lesson at school. "Never touch anything if you do not know how that works." I've wondered how would anyone learn if they don't experiment. Now i know where it applies.

This is a mural painting on the roof of this temple. From the right, there's is Virupanna, Viranna the governors who commissioned the construction of this temple, their sons and then followed by the chief sculptors in the temple. Notice their posture. While the seniors have their hands joined together like they are praying, the juniors have their hands folded. This maybe because folded hands were traditionally accepted as a gesture of showing reverence and respect to elders in this part of the country.

Do you notice anything different about Brahma's face? A moustache less bearded face.

All the stories about the temple and the kingdom that sponsored the construction of the temple are written in halegannada (old kannada) within the temple complex.

The temple structure does not have a foundation but are built by interlocking blocks of granite stones.
Below are some of the mythological stories related to this temple, as shared by the Guide.

Legend goes that...

Here's a naga lingam (lingam under the snake hood). The Guide tells us that there's a kitchen here in the temple in which the food for the sculptors is made. Once when the sculptors were hungry and when the food was not ready yet, the sculptors utilized the time (apparently 1 hour) to sculpt this nagalinga.  When their mother who was cooking in the kitchen came out and found this beautiful, magnificent nagalinga, was amazed at her sons' skill. the legend goes that the mother's dhristi led to the Linga get a few cracks. But these cracks are now filled by the ASI with cement.

The main temple construction was initiated by Virupanna and Viranna, who were governors in the Vijayanagara kingdom and was sponsored by Krishnadevaraya, the emperor of Vijayanagara empire. Veerabhadra Swamy who is their house deity was found as a swayambu rock (naturally appeared) in Lepakshi and they built this temple around the swayambu in the 16th century. But this is not the first time this became a worshipping place. 

A chola King built a lingam here in the 12th century and has worshipped and conducted yagnas. But even before that, it is told that Agathiya muni worshipped another lingam here 5000 years ago. And the lingam is still available here for worship. But that's not all. This place was of importance even before that. Lepakshi is the place where the wounded Jadayu (the mythical eagle from Ramayana) fell, while trying to stop Ravana from kidnapping Sita devi. Jadayu  was thirsty as a wounded bird and Sita Devi while being kidnapped in pushkavimaha (the aircraft) pressed her feet on the ground, that happened to be near the temple, that formed a relief that had continuous source of water from which the thirsty jadayu could drink.

 Till date there's water in this relief and no one's able to ascertain the source of water in this relief. Now wait. This Sita padham is so huge that it cannot be a human's feet. But the Guide says that people in thretha yuga, the time when Ramayana happened, were 20-25 feet tall. I don't have a way to verify this, though. But it's an interesting story.

There's a stage like structure behind the main temple and this stage with pillars is incomplete. The stage was supposed to depict shuva-parvati wedding and therefore ecah pillar has an important God or demi-gods in it and each of them is placed according to Vaastu.

As mentioned earlier, this temple construction was being sponsored by the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya and overseen by Virupanna and Viranna his governors. While this was being constructed, Krishnadevaraya fell sick (small pox) and passed away. He had a son and a daughter. The son was poisoned and killed, so the daughter was the only surviving heir. The daughter Thirumalaamba was married to Ramaraya who became the Emperor after Krishnadevaraya's death. Remember, Lepakshi is far from Hampi where the Emperor lived. And Ramaraya was fed with negative details about Virupanna's initiative of building this temple and how the emperor's money was being exploited to build this temple. The emperor ordered his men to bring Virupanna and to remove his eyes. Virupanna who got to know about this decision of the emperor, felt that he should remove his eyes even before anybody else does that. This he plucked his eyes and threw it on the wall of a shrine opposite to the Kalyana mandapa. Legend goes that the blood from his eyes are still in the stone wall.

Here's a large plate like structure near the kalyana mandapa. The Guide tells that this was the food plate used by the sculptors. The plate looks really big for a normal person to eat. But i suppose for someone who does such hard, physical work it should have been ok to eat in such a large plate.

One's devotion is often tested by the Gods apparently, even if the one who is tested is his own spouse. I fail to understand the logic behind the concept of this test. But here goes the story. Shiva disguises himself as a beggar and Annapoorani(Parvati) was serving him food. She is not even aware that her clothes are moving away from her body but she continues to serve him. Such is the devotion that is depicted on this sculpture from 16th century.

Similar mandapas can be found in old temples as this one. These are meant to house the devotees who visit the temple. Think of it like the OYO of their times. But yea, for free.

There's so much more in this place that one could learn and explore. It's a treasure trove of history, mythology, art and architecture.

Note: If you are using a rented vehicle, while going to lepakshi from Bangalore, you need to go further down another 45 min to penukonda where you have a check post to get state permit before you go to lepakshi. Interestingly this penukonda is different from penugonda near beemavaram where Vasavi kanyakaparameswari temple is located. And state permit costs ₹1600.

My four lines #36

இன்று பிரபஞ்சம் காத்திருக்கிறது
நீ உள்ளம் கொடுக்குமொன்றுக்கு காதுக்கொடுக்க
அது உன் கூடாத கணக்குகளையம்
அதிசயமாய் கூடும் கனவுகளாக்கும்

My four lines #35

பள்ளிக்கொண்டான் பயிற்றுவித்தான் பதியவைத்தான்
பண்பிலான் பலமிலான் பயனுறான்
பண்பட்டான் பக்குவப்பட்டான் பாரமாகான்
பயமற்றான் பதறான் பலியாகான்

My four lines #34

வகைப் பிரித்து ரசம் பூசா எண்ணத்தில் ஒன்று
விஸ்தாரமாய் மையம் கொள்ளும் நெஞ்சில் என்று
அறியாமல் போன நிம்மதியின் தூது ஒன்று
பிழையோ பிழைத்ததோ என்ற குழப்பத்தில் இன்று

My four lines #33

எது அறிவிலிருந்து மனதிற்கு பயணிக்கும் முன்
நெகிழ்வித்து கண்ணில் கண்ணீர் முட்ட செய்கிறதோ
அதனை விட்டுவிடாமல் போஷித்து காத்திரு
பொருள் தேடும் தேவையை ஓய்வித்து உன்னை அது செலுத்தும்

My four lines #32

அடர்ந்த ஆலம், சிலிர்க்க வைக்கும் காற்று,
கிளைகளுக்கிடையில் எட்டிப்பார்க்கும் பிறை நிலா,
மெய் வருத்தி மைல்கற்கள் கடக்கும் முயற்ச்சிகளுக்கு,
இந்த உள்ளம் சேமிக்கும் கணங்கள் தான் எறிப்பொருளாகின்றன.

My four lines #31

Finding structure and meaning in a whirlwind,
Breathing life into disparate pieces of time and people,
You navigate through the abstract and the absolute,
Making an art of life and at times life of art.

My four lines #30

Like driftwood you get pushed around in high waters,
Appeasing and pleasing demons all through the way,
Weighing your worth against approvals blessed,
Unable to recognise what remains of you, but survived.

My four lines #29

When you swing through the spectrum of hope-despair,
What helps you float through the lighter end,
Is not what prevents you from fading into the darker end,
It is to sit tight and take a dip in the shades as they pass by.

My four lines #28

There's a part of you, your logically aware self is not aware of,
It surfaces when you immerse into something for the sake of doing it,
Sans worries of consequences, love or hate of it.
That part, is profound, has answers to most of your questions.

My four lines #27

நிழல் கண்டு ஆதங்கம் கொண்டு
நிஜம் மாற்றும் பேரிச்சைத் தோன்றும்
நிழல் கொஞ்சம் அருகில் வந்தால்
நிஜம் போற்றும் மனதின் மாற்றம்

My four lines #26

If education could be about learning to enjoy learning,
If life could be about celebrating the gift of life,
There's no failure but for failure to learn,
There's no death but for mourning to live.

My four lines #25

Good souls bring sunshine through your dark tinted world view,
Their timing in life is a creepy conspiracy of the universe,
You don't find them, your mess of a life does, from places unnoticed,
They stand by you in your unchosen battles and silently pray.

My four lines #24

Words, you lay them dry, hoping they'll stand up for your thoughts,
Inadequate, nonresilient, and God forbid hollow they remain,
While you want them to break the silence and mean the truth,
They simply fill the gaps when minds speak incessantly.

My four lines #23

You don't know what you are made of, made for,
But you're heavily drunk on making it big, so big,
You blossom and wither a thousand times a day,
In a hope to remain high through warships and headwinds.

My four lines #22

In your attempt to add value and create change,
You discover courage to lay bare and exposed,
You fight labels and fears, internal and external,
As you try to reinforce your validity to yourself.

My four lines #21

Like a pendulum they sway closer and farther,
As their need determines their proximity with you.
With a strange world sense exist these temporary humans,
Forming bonds in vacuum, inhaling their own exhaust.

My four lines #20

The pointlessness of the ramble in your head,
Misses the point in a dark messy zone,
When it frets, "what's the point?", and you know,
The point of life is nothing but to honour your gift of life.

My four lines #19

Make amends, pursue like you believe in its uncertainty,
A power that lies in its belly to change and heal.
Search for its purpose or curse its cranky woes,
Life is every bit worthy of making peace and moving on.

My four lines #18

Beyond the stories you tell and believe in your head,
A narrative gets written in every life you touch.
While the dark lies may hound and cloud the pastures beneath,
The long forgotten smile you planted will be busy raising a garden.

My four lines #17

பலம் சொல்லும் குறிக் கண்டு பலவீனம் தலை எடுக்கும்
மனம் வாழும் இடம் நம்பு பலம் சொல்லும் குறி முறிக்கும்
நிலை மாறும் வரை வம்பு வசைப்பாடும் நிலைக்குலைக்கும்
பிழைத்தாளும் வரை நின்று நிலைநாட்டும் மதி சிறக்கும்

My four lines #16

A journey, so soulful, begins with an authentic self,
With the courage to be an honest you to you,
The wisdom to not force the not-so-you on you,
And the trust for the universe to teach you a thing or two.

My four lines #15

In a prayer so loud and queer,
You pun the almighty and make it clear,
"Make the laughter last, oh dear,
Not in your list but on my face" you steer.

My four lines #14

In a fight between tears of delight and a hard-pressed smile,
Your heart chooses tears over a million smiles.
Even when inner peace takes a long sought sabbatical,
Your head finds a place to stay all the way true.

My four lines #13

விடையே விடையின் பொருளே பொருளில் அகப்படாத விதியே
விதிக்குள் அடக்கமே அடங்கிடும் ஆவியுள்ள அனைத்துமே
அனைத்திலும் ஓட்டமே ஓட்டத்தில் மறந்திருக்கும் காயமே
காயத்தை மாற்றுமே  மாறாத இறையான கருணையே

My four lines #12

When you don't want to be connected to your emotions,
When you want to stay numb amidst a cyclone of thoughts,
You turn indifferent to even art and love,
Erecting a tomb of life over a part of you that is dead.

My four lines #11

Breeze on your face, you carry a song in your heart,
For every beat, the bus finds a pit or a bump to drive over.
When the toddler coos, the women chat over fried roots,
And you smile, create your world in every frame around you.

My four lines #10

Droplets on my window shined a smile on my face,
As the lightning struck from a hard shuddered cloud.
I gazed at the summer showers that bent an arc of hope,
With a well deserved coffee, in a long awaited moment.

My four lines #9

When your goodness robs you of your laughter,
You ponder and wander in your head thereafter.
You dare question the purpose of your being,
But it's time when you know it's all about staying.

My four lines #8

Though the rational mind acts civil and keeps stereotypes at bay,
Minor reinforcements don't fail to remind and make you pay.
Time and again change wants to have a chance for good,
But sadly, it hardly shows up for it to be understood.

My four lines #7

Biggest learnings come from being in other people's shoes.
You appreciate the imperfect humanness,
A discovery that tells you how seriously silly we remain,
In an all-perfect universe of expectations.

My four lines #6

அரசியலற்ற கல்வி, உஷ்ணம் தணிந்த பூமி,
பசியில் வாடாத பிள்ளைகள், பெண்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பான ஊர்கள்,
இப்படி எத்தனையோ விண்ணப்பம் இருக்க,
முதல் விண்ணப்பம் மறதியை மறக்க.

My four lines#5

நிறைவாக தோன்றும் ஒவ்வொரு நிகழ்வும்
விரைவாக நிகழும் மாயம் தோன்றும்.
வியப்பாக விளங்கும் நேரம் மட்டும்
விளங்காமல் போகும் காலம் முற்றும்.

My four lines #4

The louder the noise outside, the thicker the skin must you wear,
For the realms of truth lie deep inside the treasure trove that you are.
If to stand the test of time is a strength of a kind,
Far beyond go the testing times as they muscle up the mind.

My four lines #3

Do you crave to be the Forrest Gump of sorts?
One with a purpose that is driven by love,
One with a one-track mind that directs action sans boredom.
But the difficult part of it all, is to keep it simple.

My four lines #2

It is hopeful when Hope would rather be dormant than niche.
Ever wondered its locus or questioned its timing?
Change over inertia, wisdom over wrath,
Hope chooses the world for you, for simply remaining curious to live.

My four lines #1

Life feels so entitled to meteoric outcomes,
While you barely block the pelted stones.
But what's meteoric than to hold your head high,
Even at the cost of everything south of it?

Day In and Day Out

When you play so many roles in your act,
Finding who you are can be an unkept pact.
A moment, a truth, that's all you need,
For a mighty forest begins with a seed.
But in all the frenzy that does not let you get a wink,
You end up saying more than you think.
Then come the versions, the stories, layering above,
And you get keen on discerning more than you love.
You see rats and horses perform with verve,
You fancy exhibiting more than you observe.
Yet those nights with nagging emptiness leave a trail,
Twisting and turning you in the bed, making you frail.
And then you wake up everyday and say bring it on,
As life sweeps you off your feet before you are gone.

Developing space for authenticity to take shape

I have found that my authentic self is my best self. This self surprises me everytime for what it can offer and stresses me out lesser than my otherwise-self, as it is is not influenced by comparisons and sources it's contents from inside rather than outside. But this authentic self does not surface too often and for it to appear more often than it does today, I think I need to do the following and I think this will help anybody else who wants to do the same.

-Allow it to happen when it happens. Let the thoughts flow when they do. Do not let anything disturb your thought process.

-Give it chances to manifest itself. Talk, write, think, argue  to let yourself get comfortable with being authentic and to resist the urge to align with rest of the world.

-Introspect to see what drives you to acknowledge and encourage authenticity. Examine if it's healthy or if it perpetuates or satisfies any unhealthy values like the need for approval from others

-Don't be guilty of pursuing authenticity since you might have to avoid distractions even if they are from a good, reliable or loving source.

-Be generously curious about things you want to be curious about. Try some new subject (something you are not curious about) once in a while, read, talk or get to know about that.

-When you feel bored, dry in your mind, uninspired, not feeling curious about anything, don't be desparate to get your best self on track. Just stay put. It's a natural cycle to get back to yourself.