Hidden Gems Near Bangalore: Part 6 Lepakshi(Mythology overlaps Beauty here)

Date of Travel: 19-20 November 2016
Time Taken: 3 hours from Bangalore
Cost: Petrol and Food

TGIF takes a whole new level in Bangalore. Toll Booth lines of cars on weekends leading to outside the town run miles. Hearing and reading a lot about the HIDDEN GEM, we (me, my wife and my 2 years old) finally planned to cross a place out of our bucket list that has eluded us for very long time. 

The planning:

We wanted to cover something nearby but yet which always missed our radar and hence we planned to go to Lepakshi temple, a place so beautiful you will need to see it with your eyes to believe it exists so close to bangalore. 

We surprisingly did manage to be ready sharp at 5 am. My kid seemed happy about getting up in the early hour, a good Omen of things to come. We were driving a TUV- Mahindra so was not afraid of any potholes as we heard many stretches of AP State highways were being worked on. We took the outer ring road to reach the airport and then the NH-44 going towards Nandi hills. We covered good ground and had crossed Nandi hills in about one and half hour. 

Suddenly out of nowhere, a mist started forming on the roads, initially, we thought of it as smoke as Bangalore is not so chilly these days. But as we progressed we had to switch on our fog lights and the drive speed fell below 40 kmph. As the stretch is clear of any living population so the entire area was looking as if we are in by lanes of Ooty. My baby was full awestruck to even talk as she hadn't seen such a fog in her small life. We were also enjoying the beauty but were only worried about time. Luckily though it lasted for only around half an hour and then we zoomed past to Lepakshi. 

Lepakshi Temple Entrance

Lepakshi, a place forgotten by the government but kept alive by the villagers nearby. It serves them well as their livelihood depends on the place.  Luckily we were the first one to arrive on the scene. Even the priest entered the gates as we were parking. The place entrance is a small gate as compared to the huge Nandi idol at the corner of the road leading to the temple. The initial idea was we will go check out the place and leave in few minutes, but Boy o Boy! We were in for a real surprise. The place is huge once you go inside and has some amazing marvels carved out of stone.

 The main temple itself is of Lord Veerabhadra standing majestic among the big boulders. Although fully enclosed there is artificial light inside that will not make you feel claustrophobic? The priest himself explained us the history of place once puja was done. According to him 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 and was built by the brothers, Virupanna and Veeranna, who were initially in the service of the Vijayangar kings after their wish for a son was granted. 

Kalyan Mantapa

However, Puranic lore has it that the Veerabhadra temple was built by the sage Agastya. Another legend gives the town a significant place in the Ramayana — this was where the bird Jatayu fell, wounded after a battle against Ravana who was carrying away Sita ma. When Sri Rama reached the spot, he saw the bird and said compassionately, “Le Pakshi” — ‘rise, bird’ in Telugu. It has idols of Ganesha, Nandi, Veerabhadra, Shiva, Bhadrakali, Vishnu, and Lakshmi.

Hanging Pillar

The whole place is a cameraman's delight and you will find scope for taking some amazing pictures here. The place is well known for its floating or hanging pillar. So out of multiple pillars supporting the structure, there is a huge one which does not touch the ground. You can actually pass a handkerchief or newspaper at its base. Wish some of this architectural genius would have passed down to our generation. It is said that Britishers did try to find the logic behind the pillars but as soon as they tried removing one of them the entire structure started to shake and hence nobody tried it afterwards

After eating the Prasad we had a hearty breakfast at APTDC hotel, the only decent place to eat in the vicinity. After inquiring if they accept cards a big no came and we ended up paying in cash. Low cash alert sounded its first bell. After this, the journey was smooth with occasional patches of road where some construction was going on to expand the roads. For people who don't know, this area is one of the largest groundnut producers in India, there is also a ground nut school nearby.

Suddenly out of nowhere a beautiful stretch of Red Rock Mountains came, with a temple on one side and mountain on other we thought it might be entry to the destination but Google map said otherwise, so we pushed on, I still don’t know what was the name of place but it was a beautiful spot. This brought us to the closure of the first chapter of our journey. This place could be an ideal bike ride away place if you do not want to club it with Gandikota. A must visit I must say.

Tips: 

1. Take good amount of food with you as you will find nothing on long            stretch.
2. Carry your sun lotion, shades or umbrella if coming in afternoon as the stone becomes very hot
3. Best time to come is early morning to see the Sunrise