Lepakhshi Darshan

Day 1

India is a land of wonders and Lepakshi is one of those. Lepakshi is a small temple town situated at around 200 km distance from Bangalore. It is a magnificent Shiva temple built during Vijayanagar empire. There are multiple legends associated to the temple which make this place so special. While visiting the place, one would remain astonished by seeing the creations of our ancestors.

Lepakshi has been derived from two words Le meaning Rise and Pakshi meaning bird. Legend says Jatayu fell down at this place after getting defeated by Ravana. So, when Lord Ram came, he said compassionately "Le Pakshi"- 'rise , o bird!' and hence the name Lepakshi. That's why Mother Sita's footprints are found inside the temple.

We visited the place during covid time. We started early in the morning and came back by lunch.

1. The hanging pillar: There is actually a hanging pillar in the temple which does not touch the ground. Many people tried to find the science behind this, but failed. The pillar looks normal, but when we see closely, we can find that it is in hanging state. It is said that one of the British engineers tried to move the pillar to understand the architecture, but the temple started shaking and hence it was stopped.

2. The Paintings: The magnificent paintings on the roof and walls are beautiful and convey messages about lifestyle of olden days and stories of Mahabharat and Ramayana. They are magnificent.

3. The foot print: As legends say, while Demon king Ravana tried kidnapping mother Sita, she was crying and put her step in here. So, they says the foot mark is always filled with the tears of mother Sita and hence is always wet. A mysterious water stream ways flow over here.

4. The partially constructed Kalyan Mandapa: This was constructed during the absence of the king and he was so furious to know upon his arrival and ordered to stop the construction immediately. He thought the royal treasure was misused in his absence. It was believed that the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvati was supposed to happen here. This has one hundred pillars with wonderful carvings on the wall of those.

5. The eye marks on the wall- The story continues as the king was so furious that he ordered the treasurer Virupanna to be blinded and to show his loyalty the treasurer took his eyeball out on his own and gave it to the king. But the ling threw those away and hence the blood stain of two eye balls on the wall can be seen today.

6. The Monolith Nandi: There is a monolithic Nandi near the temple which is said to largest in India and is perfectly constructed.

7. The unique Shivalingam: There is a beautiful monolithic Shivalingam here which is said to be completed within an hour while the mother of the sculptures prepared their food.

8. The Jatayu statue: There is a beautiful Jatayu statue near the Nandi. This is situated on a small hillock which is unique in its own ways. To honor Jatayu's gallantry and renunciation, the statue of Jatayu has been made here.