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| Hanging pillar, Lepakshi, AP atlasobscura.com |
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| Hanging Pillar - Lepakshi, Andhra Pradeshmysterioustrip.com |
Among the Hindu temples of beauty and grandeur equally famous is the Veerabhadra temple of Lepakshi town (10 mile from Hindupur railway station in Anantapur district) , Andhra Pradesh. One of the centrally protected monuments of national importance, it was built in the 16th century and the architectural style is that of the Vijayanagara period. Adorned here in profusion are impressive carvings and paintings of exceptional workmanship.
The temple dedicated to a form of God Shiva has countless architectural wonders and among them is the presence of hanging stone pillar in one of halls. Hanging from the ceiling it barely torches the floor. through the hairpin gap one could insert a sheet of paper of a piece of cloth. Rest of the pillars 70 in number are well built and thy support the ceiling. This tall pillar hangs from the ceiling or floats without any support.nnn People who come to the temple strongly believe that passing objects through the gap between the floor and bottom of the pillar will bring them prosperity and peace of mind. The temple was built in 1583 by the brothers, Virupanna and Veeranna, who were initially in the service of the Vijayangar kings. However, legend has it that the Veerabhadra temple was built by the sage Agastya. It has idols of Ganesha, Nandi, Veerabhadra, Shiva, Bhadrakali, Vishnu and Lakshmi. The outer compound, has an enormous monolithic Ganesha- sculpted in stone and inclined against a rock. There is a shrine dedicated to goddess Bhadrakali in the temple
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| Veerabhadra temple Lepakshi, APviharadarshani.in |
Said to be the second largest monolith stone Nandi in India, after Gomateshwara, the Nandi sports a huge kaasu malai, a bell chain, earrings and other jewelry beautifully carved in the stone. Another huge monolithic stone Nandhi is in the 1000 plus year old Big temple - dedicated to Brihadeshwara (Lord Shiva) in Thanjavur city, TN which has a huge mantaba over it.
The primary god is a fiery god created by Shiva in his rage after the Daksha Yagna and the immolation of Parvathi. The Lapakshi temple is a sort of sermon in stone, a repository of sculptural wonders of vious sizes and rich stone carvings. It was in this place during the Puranic period God Sri Rama is said to have met the huge bird 'Jatayu' who had been struck by the king of Lanka Ravana (Lankeswaran) who was on his way back home with his hostage Sri Sita Devi, consort of Sri Rama. Sri Rama addressed the wounded bird as Le-Pakshi (Arise bird)
Quite inquisitive as he was, during he colonial time a civil engineer wanted to solve the puzzle of the hanging pillar Upon trying to dislodge the pillar, to his dismay, he discovered that it made the adjacent pillars move to maintain the equilibrium. Though it is not an earthquake area (supposedly Shield area and geologically stable) the temple, it is believed, can withstand any seismic event.
The famous ''Temple Car Festival'' in Lepakshi is held in February for ten days and people from Andhra and other states visit this temple. According to history, the temple's builder, Virupanna, a treasurer in Kings cout was accused of misusing the funds for building the temple and the king ordered him to be blinded. Hearing this, the builder as a punishment removed his own eyes,dashed against the wall and died. Even today those blood marks can be seen on a particular wall.
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| nd largest bull-Nandi, Lepakshi, .mysteryofindia.com |
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| Hooded serpent over Shivalinga, Lepakshi,.holidify.com |
In the first week of February, 2023 the G-20 delegates 'of several countries, who were in India were very much impressed by the monolith Ganesha, huge Nandi hanging pillar/Akaasha sthambha (built in 1530 CE) etc on a visit to the Sri Veerabhadra Swamy temple, Lepakshi. They were awe-struck by the architecture of the 16th CE temple. The ASI Archeological Survey of India (ASI) Amaravati Circle archaeologists briefed them about he temple history, its sculptures and murals,etc.
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