Jan 1st
luckily was on Sunday this time ! So me & Bharath decided to take a one day
trip to Lepakshi.We were accompanied by his mother.All three left Bangalore in
our Nano at 9 AM and recahed Nandini hotel by 9.30 AM for breakfast.From there
we headed to Lepakshi and reached there at 11.15 AM.
Lepakshi is a small village in Mandal
in the Anantapur District
of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located
15 km (9.3 mi) east of Hindupur
and approximately 120 km (75 mi) north of Bangalore.
Lepakshi is culturally and archaeologically significant as it is the location
of shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Veerabhadra which were built during the Vijayanagara Kings' period (1336–1646). The
temples are the location of mural paintings of the Vijayanagara kings and Kannada
inscriptions. Near the temple complex is a large granite Nandi bull. On a hillock known as Kurma Saila,
"tortoise shaped hill", are other temples to Papanatheswara, Raghunatha,
Srirama, and Durga.
Veerabhadra Temple
The Veerabhadra temple
of Lepakshi, which was built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna, is
dedicated to Veerabhadra. It is an example of the Vijayanagara architectural style.Points of interest in the temple
include a rock chain, Vastu Purusha, the Padmini race lady, the hanging pillar,
Durga Paadam, the eyes of Viroopaakshanna and Lepakshi saree designs. The
paintings on the roof are made with natural pigments.Another
interesting aspect of this temple is that it is North facing.
Lepakshi Nandi
The Shiva's bull Nandi
is a granite monolithic sculpture on the main road of Lepashki approximately
200m from the temple. It is 4.5m high and 8.23m long making one of the largest
nandi in India. The sculpture has been positioned so that it faces the
Shivalinga which is shielded by a large serpent inside the temple. The nandi
wears a kaasu malai, a bell chain, earrings and other jewellery. Legend has it
that the Naga of the Nagalinga was carved out of a single stone by sculptors
while they waited for their mothers to prepare lunch. The Nagalinga is approximately
12 feet in height.Hindupur is a major town nearby and 14 km away from
Lepakshi. One can reach Lepakshi through Hindupur which is well connected to Bengaluru
and Anantapur - district headquarters.We had our breakfast at Hotel nandini and
reached lepakshi by 11.30 AM.After having the darshana, we left to Vidurashwatha
at 1.00 PM.
Vidurashwatha is a small village located in
the Gauribidanur taluk of Chikkaballapur district in the state of Karnataka, India.
Situated near the Karnataka–Andhra Pradesh border and about 6 km from
Gauribidanur, it played a major role in the Indian independence movement.
The name Vidurashwatha is
derived from that of a big Ashwatha (sacred fig) tree located in this
village. According to a legend of the times of Mahabharata, this tree was
planted by Vidura, a courtier in the kingdom of Dhritarashtra; and hence the
name Vidurashwatha.Unfortunately, in 2001, this ancient tree fell to the
ground.
The legend says that Yamadharma
Raja was cursed to be born as a human being and was thus born as Vidura. After
seeing all the bloodshed during the war, Vidura became remorseful and asked Krishna
for salvation. Krishna asked him to go for a theerthayatra (pilgrimage). After
visiting many places, Vidura came to this place, which was actually a hermitage
of Maithreya Maharishi. Once during sandhyavandhana in the river, Vidura got a
small sapling when he was about to offer argya to Surya. Maithreya Maharishi
asked Vidura to worship the sapling to get salvation. With great devotion,
Vidura worshiped the sapling and Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, pleased with the
devotion, gave him dharshan, and thus the name of the location became Vidura
Ashwatha.Another story is that, a long time ago when the river was flowing
rapidly, two brothers who could not cross the river took shelter on the other
side of the river bank where there is a temple to Shiva. In the night, one of
the brothers dreamed that Ashwathnaryana came and asked the brother to worship
him so that he and his future generations would be benefited. The next day the
brother was found on the other side of the river bank under the great sacred
fig. From then on, the worship of Ashwathnaryana was done by this family only.Vidurashwatha
is known as the "Jallianwala Bagh of the South".On April 25, 1938, as
a part of the freedom struggle of India, a group of villagers had congregated
to organise a Satyagraha. Similar to what happened at Jallianwala Bagh, police
fired indiscriminately at the group, resulting in the death of around 35
people. A memorial has been erected in this location bearing the names of those
who lost their lives in this incident.
After having the darshana, we
decided to head towards Gowribidanur but after 2-3 miles, we got to know that
the distance would be less but the road conditions was not favourable.So we
returned back to Hindupur route .It was 2.30 PM and we were quite hungry so we
purchased Bananas and Apples and had few.We reached the same nandini
refreshments at 4.30 and our lunch .We reached home at 7 PM.It was a spiritual
start for the New year.Happy New Year 2017 to all.
