Lepakshi Temple, Andhra Pradesh: Astonishing Architecture of Vijayanagar Empire

Home

Blog

Lepakshi Temple, Andhra Pradesh which is also known as Veerbhadra Temple, here, people come from far and wide to see a miraculous pillar hanging from the roof, on which the entire strength of this temple rests. Before knowing about this swinging pillar, let us know about the history of Lepakshi temple!!!

Lepakshi Temple & Its Connection with Lord Ram

There are two known beliefs about the construction of the temple. It is believed that the temple was built by the sage Agastya in the Ramayana period.

According to the Ramayana, when Ravana was abducting Mother Sita and taking her to Lanka, Jatayu fought with Ravana to save Mother Sita from the clutches of Ravana. Jatayu got badly injured in this fight. When Ram came to this place, he saw Jatayu in an unconscious state and said, “Le Pakshi” which means “O Bird” or get up bird. This is how the place got its name Lepakshi.

According to another belief, the earliest evidence regarding the construction of the present-day temple is related to the Vijayanagara Empire during 1533. The inscription located in the temple informs that the temple was built by Virupanna and Viranna, the revenge officers of King Achyuta Devaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire. This temple situated on the Kooramselam hill is a fine example of the mural astonishing architecture of the Vijayanagara Empire.

The Hanging Pillar

The Natya Mandap is right in front of the main temple. It has a total of 70 pillars. There is that mysterious pillar in the north eastern corner of this Natya Mandap which is seen hanging about half an inch above the ground. But the surprising thing is that despite not standing on the ground itself, the entire temple rests on this eight feet tall pillar.

To solve the mystery of this astonishing architecture, in 1902, British engineer Hamilton came to Lepakshi temple for investigation. As soon as Hamilton tried to move the pillar by putting an iron rod under this pillar, the rest of the pillars also started moving from their place. Because of which, Hamilton had to stop his investigation immediately.

This temple always made us wonder how well ancient technology had presented anti-gravity and levitation. There is hardly any way in modern technology that can hang granite block weighing several tons of 20 feet in the air.

Is the hanging pillar of Lepakshi Temple a false story?

Research also says that you can slide a piece of cloth from one end of this pillar, but cannot pull it from the other end. If this pillar is completely hanging in the air, then the cloth should be pulled from the other side as well. The cloth which was pulled during the investigation got stuck on the other side. According to that research, this pillar is not actually suspended in the air, as one corner of it apparently rests on the ground, which is still standing. If you examine it closely, you can confirm it.

Stunning Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi

Lepakshi Temple or Veerabhadra Temple is divided into three parts – Mukh Mandap, Ardha Mandap and Kalyan Mandap.

There is a Kalyan Mandap in the premises of Lepakshi Temple, whose construction was incomplete. There is also an interesting story behind this pavilion!!

Some ministers complained to King Achyuta Devaraya that Veeru Panna was misusing the state treasury in the construction of the temple and after this complaint, the king ordered that both the eyes of Veeru Panna should be taken out. When Veeru Panna got to know about this decision, he was very sad that how the king accepted this allegation as true without any investigation. Veeru Panna himself took out both his eyes in grief and threw them on the front wall. It is said that these two marks of blood are still visible on the wall of the temple.

The Giant Footprint of Hanuman Ji or Sita Maa

Even though archaeologists believe that this temple was built only 500 years ago, but the local people say that this temple was built long ago by gods of gigantic stature. This can be confirmed by the huge footprint made in the temple, which can be of a giant person or some deity, standing about 25 to 35 feet.

Believed to be the footprint of Lord Hanuman or Sita Maa, this impression is one of the most amazing attraction of this historical site.

The Biggest Nandi Statue is in Lepakshi

Apart from the giant footprint, this Nandi idol, situated at a distance of 200 to 500 meters from the temple, is carved out of a single stone. This monolithic carving, made of a single rock, is very beautifully carved and is about 15 feet long and 27 feet wide. This is the biggest statue of Nandi so far.

One more special thing about this idol is that Nandi ji is seen sitting alone in it. As per Indian architecture, every Nandi idol is enshrined in front of a Shiva Lingam, but there is no Shiva Lingam in front of it.

Now, the question arises whether the ancient builder forgot to place the Shiva Lingam in front of the biggest idol of Nandi?

The archaeologists cannot answer this question, because the evidence to prove it has not been found yet, but the local people claim that the Shivling associated with the idol of Nandi ji is found inside the walls of the temple 500 meters away.

This huge lingam is about 12 feet tall and is guarded by a 7-headed serpent deity. This type of lingam is also called Nagalingam, and it is the largest Nagalingam in the world.

Ancient Vedic texts mention a method of worshiping the Lingam. Ancient people used to have darshan of Shivalinga by placing two fingers on the horns of Nandi ji, looking through between the fingers and the horns. If you look at these two horns of this huge Nandi carving, you can still see half of the huge Shivalinga. Due to the walls of the temple, only half of the Shivling can be seen.

Apart from this, the murals on the walls of the temple give excellent examples of Indian painting.