A day trip to Lepakshi

Lepakshi is a small village near Hindupur in the Anantapur District,Andhra Pradesh and about 120 km north of Bangalore - Hyderabad highway. The name Lepakshi in telugu means (Le- Get up, Pakshi-Bird)Le-Pakshi.

Kalyana Mantapam

This place is famous for the Veerabhadra temple built by Viranna and Virupanna and memics Hampi's Vithala temple and definitely has the influence of Vijayanagar architectural style.

A huge monolithic Nandi Statue said to be the biggest monolithic Nandi in India is on the main road, about 200 metres from the temple. On the walls of this temple, several stories like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are sculpted. The paintings on the roof are nicely done.The Naga Lingam,the Hanging Pillar,Durga Paadam ,Kalyana Mantapam are some of the other notable attractions here.The Kalayana Mantapam was left un completed after the death of Virupanna. Only the pillars and sculptures were done with an open Mantapam.We wanderered around the temple taking pictures.There are lots of stories related to this temple.Hire a guide who will be telling all the stories surrounding Lepakshi. Avoid walking mid afternoon in case of hot weather or try wearing socks since one is not allowed inside with their slippers.

Reaching Lepakshi from Bangalore:Take Bangalore – Hyderabad highway and drive till AndhraPradesh border. Just 13kms after the border, you need to turn left at a village called Kondikonda and drive for another 14kms.There are no options for a good restaurant around Lepakshi.

This place is not much crowded surprisingly and makes a perfect day trip.Sharing some of the pictures of our trip.

Have fun and travel safe :)