Lepakshi

During child hood, heard a part of the poem (లేపాక్షి బసవన్న లేచి రావన్న) "Lepakshi Basavanna lechi ravanna" by Adavi Bapiraju and it conjured a beautiful image of a very lively bull. The monolith sculpture is so lively and realistic that the poet was asking the stone bull to stand up and dance. The vivid poem created an interest to see the place, and this has been one of the places I have been visiting regularly. A favourite now for its soothing ambience and laid back life.


Interestingly the temple is Lepakshi is not of Shiva, but of Veerabhadra, a super being created by Lord Shiva's wrath. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virabhadra) The Shiva lingam is at the back of the temple and the Nandi at the outskirts of the village facing the Shiva lingam. The houses in between now, don’t give us the opportunity to see one another.


Temple arch & Courtyard
The main temple has Veerabhadra as the main deity, and it also has "Parvati" if one section. At the back of the temple, there is a Ganesha, a depiction of Kalahasti and the gigantic Shiva lingam.

The main temple has beautiful frescos. It saddens me to see the ravage of time on these beauties. Every visit I see another bit missing. I did not take the snaps of the lovely frescos on the roof, however, these are some images which caught my eye. There is a lot written on the internet about Lepakshi, and few of the URLs I have listed below for the interesting details on the history and the pictures posted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepakshi
http://www.anantapur.com/travel/lepakshi.html
http://shil-travelmania.blogspot.com/

The Natya mandira (dance arena) has some interesting images of the celestial as per Hindu mythology viz., Rambha, Bramha, Tumbura etc. Here is one of Tumbura, who is supposed to be an expert in Music, a celestial sage.