Lepakshi: Of Vijayanagara empire and an enduring beauty etched in stone

The Jatayu Hill, Lepakshi village, Andhra Pradesh. Legend has it that Lord Ram said to a dying Jatayu: ‘Laya Pakshi’ or arise bird. The name Lepakshi derives from this utterance in the Ramayan epic. It is also to have come from ‘Lepa Akshi’ or an embalmed eye. (Photo: Twitter)

Intriguing stories are set in stone at the ancient site of Lepakshi, located in Hindupur district of Andhra Pradesh. Even though it is just under two hours (by road) from Bengaluru, not many people have an idea of the Vijayanagara empire’s architectural beauty. But you must visit to understand the glory of the Vijayanagara period during 1350-1600 AD when it was at its finest.

Since road is the only way you can enter Lepakshi village, the first thing that appears at the turn into the village is a giant statue of Jatayu perched on a hillock. Locals believe that it was at Lepakshi that the king of vultures died trying to save Sita from the clutches of the demon king Ravana. The statue, a 2015 addition, does not prepare visitors for the sights that will unfold.

A pavillion at the out 'prakara' of the Veerbhadra temple premises. (Photo: Jayanthi Madhukar)

A short drive leads to the Veerabhadra Temple. It’s best to get a guide to take you around or else, you will walk around the premises without a clue about its remarkable stories. A shoutout to Yajaman Veerabhadrappa who narrated the stories in a way no book can. Incidentally, there are several books on Lepakshi, including George Michell, Anna L Dallapiccola, John M Fritz and Brigitte Khan Majlis seminal work Lepakshi: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting (2019).

The temple was built by two brothers, chieftains Viranna and Virupanna, who were devotees of Lord Veerabhadra. It is set on a five-acre squat granite hill that’s shaped like a tortoise also called Kurmasaila (Tortoise Hill). Yajaman pointed at the interlocking stone wall forming the outermost enclosure of the temple complex which gives it a fort-like feeling rather than a temple. An incomplete pavilion-like structure carved from a rock is simply there on the path, giving an idea of the complexity in creating a temple structure entirely from the granite hill.

One of the sculptures depicting a lady giving alms. (Photo: Jayanthi Madhukar)

Yajaman dates the temple to 1530 AD but there have been found evidence indicating that the building of the temple complex would have started around 100-1350 AD, and so, the outer pillars, pilasters, and niches have features of the Chola, Pandya and Hoyasala styles. The temple is built in "trikuta" style with three shrines Veerbhadara, Papanaseswara, and the later addition of Raghunatha sharing the same platform and a pillared Maha Mandapa. The first halt was at the mandapa where Yajaman raised his stick to bring the crowd’s attention to a 100-petal lotus carved on the ceiling. This is one of the "easy-peasy" carvings that the artisans did at the time. The "Maha mandapa" has 70 stone pillars with beautiful designs carved. There are an estimated 730 different designs carved on these pillars. Talking of pillars, Yajaman led the way to one of the pillars and with practised ease, whipped out a handkerchief and slid it beneath its base. The kerchief went all the way in except for one corner. Lo and behold, that was the "Hanging Pillar" which floated above the flooring except when an Britisher engineer, in a bid to get it on the ground, tried to move it. During the process, the ceiling shifted and cracked while 10 surrounding pillars tilted. The endeavour was halted and the Hanging Pillar was left alone.

One of the grandest sights are the painted frescos on the ceilings and looking up at them is surely worth the crick in the neck. Done entirely in natural colours — there are small scooped out holes in the floor where the painters mixed the colours — these paintings are the only ones surviving from the mid-Vijayanagara period. There are stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata depicting scenes like Parvathi’s marriage showing a team of women helping Parvathi to get ready (a whole section of the research into the frescos focus on the textile designs), Draupadi Swayamwar, gods, goddesses — a "3D" painting of Bala Krishna whose eyes follow you no matter from where you stand and view it — local rulers, soldiers, saints, musicians and dancers. Inside the "garba gruha" is the largest surviving mural of Lord Veerabhadra (24-inch x 14-inch). It’s magnificent and as smart phones come out for the ubiquitous clicks, Yajaman gestured them away as no pictures are allowed within the "garba gruha".

Fresco depicting Parvathi and her ladies in waiting. (Photo: Jayanthi Madhukar)

Outside, there’s an incomplete Kalyana Mandapa with a magnificent assembly of carved gods, goddesses and saints who have come to witness the marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. Apparently, a lot of the incomplete works stem from the fact that Virupanna, the empire’s treasurer, had used funds from the royal treasury of the King Raja Achyuta Deva Raya to build the temple. When he came to know, the king was furious and demanded that the eyes of the treasurer were gouged. Instead, the dismayed Virupanna gouged his own eyes and threw it at a wall near the Kalyan mandap. The splattered blood stains (it was tested by the British) are still seen, enduring time and weather elements.

Shiva Linga monolith at Veerbhadra temple, Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh. (Photo: Jayanthi Madhukar)

There are two more highlights within the temple premises. One, a gigantic monolith Shiv Linga nestling beneath a hooded serpent outside the kitchen. Yajaman asked the diminished crowd (they had drifted away to take pictures) to imagine the sculptors, waiting for their mother to prepare their meal, carve the massive sculpture within a few hours to while away their time. The story goes that the mother was very impressed but the hood of the serpent cracked and the Shiv Linga could not be worshipped. Then there’s a massive footprint supposedly of Sita which is forever filled with water from an unknown source.

Wandering around the premises, you will see several stories carved on the walls. There’s one of a small boy who is sacrificed by his parents at the behest of their God in the disguise of a medicant in graphic details albeit, with a happy ending, one about a local ruler who decided to punish his errant son. You can spot a Chinese traveller on one of the pillars, a rotund Buddha on another and many more references to the period of the Chola, Kakatiya, Hoyasala and the Vijayanagara periods.

Nandi statue, Lepakshi. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

And if all this beauty isn’t enough, just a little away from the temple premises is a gigantic monolithic Nandi bull facing in the direction of the temple. It is one of the five biggest monolith Nandi sculptures in India. Another marvel of a glorious period.