Lepakshi visit!

With one whole day on our hand, a long awaited visit to 'Lepakshi' was successfully done during my recent trip. A thread about this place written by one of the fellow IM member already exists in Andhra Pradesh forum (Click here ), hence with out going in to the detail, I would just be writing in little details which may be of some help to future visitors.

We (Me, hubby and a cousin), started from Tumkur (Karnataka state) as we were staing there at a relative's place. But we returned to Bangalore from lepakshi, so the trip was Tumkur - Lepakshi - Bangalore!

Though there are 2/3 options to reach 'Lepakshi', from Tumkur, we preferred the longer route as we would be travelling the major portion on National Highway rather than the State highway or the major district highway.
Trivia: I had seen the bad conditions of the road via Koratagere, so did not want to venture towards that side.

Route taken (from Tumkur): Tumkur - Dobbaspet - Doddaballapur - Tondebhavi - Gauribidanur - Hindupur - Lepakshi. (Distance about 135 Kms)



Road condition: Good road till Tondebhavi. Bad road from Tondebhavi till Gauribadnur. Manageable road till Lepakshi from Gauribidanur with a good patch just before Hindupur.

While returning to Bangalore, Route taken: Lepakshi - Chikkaballapur - Devanahalli - Bangalore.

Road condition: Just a drive of about 15/17 kms brings one to Hyderabad/Bangalore National highway, which is of 4 lanes and is in top form (Toll road)!

A pleasant sight near Gauribidanur:



And ofcourse this one too .



Hindupur Main road:



Food and Fuel:

Refueling self - Hindupur is the nearest town close to 'Lepakshi' with better options to have lunch. We had our lunch at a vegetarian restaurant very close to the Bus stand (sorry, I don't recollect the name), but I cannot forget the taste of 'pappu' served there. Excellent 'unlimited' typical Andhra lunch served on banana leaf.



Refueling vehicle - options near, Doddaballapur, Hindupur. Also I remember having seen petrol pump on the Hyderabad/Bangalore NH.

What we saw at Lepakshi:



The beauty of 'Virabhadraswamy temple', notable example of the Vijayanagar architectural style! The principal shrine is dedicated to 'Virabhadra (Lord Shiva)' with other smaller shrines inside the temple complex having a Shivalinga & Durga Idol.



The Mahadwara (main door)



Multi-pillared hall



What I liked:

Pillars with beautiful life size sculpture.



Painting on Temple Ceiling



The monolithic stone Shivalinga with 7 hooded serpent!



Open Air Kalyana Mantapam (Decorative pillars)







Just about 10 minutes walk or 5 minutes drive brings one to this place where one can see the 'giant monolithic Nandi, the bull' or popularly known as 'Basavanna' down south. Placed majestically in the open air, it stands (rather sits) almost 15 ft tall from the ground!



Closer to the Nandi!



And why not a side profile?



Surely a nice place to visit when the weather is good! Yes, I write that because on the day we visited (04 March, 2012), it was extremely hot.

Pssst pssst, something interesting for women: Ladies can take a peek and even shop some 'handloom silk sarees' in Hindupur. I did visit a place about 7 kms from Hindupur - Muddireddy Palli, just to check some sarees for myself. Handloom sarees starts from a price range of Rs. 3000/-, which I found a bit steep. The sarees look exactly like the Kanchipuram Silk sarees. The dealers (Manufacturers cum wholesalers & retailers) operate from their residence, usually huge mansions . So one will have to visit their bungalows to purchase the sarees. Some popular wholesalers whom I visited were - PR silks & Sarees, RaviTheja Silks and another 2 centres.

Note: The wholesalers are not much interested in attending to individuals on a 'Sunday', unless one intends to make purchases in bulk. So make sure not to visit this place on Sunday if one wishes to make teeny-weeny purchases.

Bombarding continues from Naveena.
A really short trip report from you this time.
Enjoyed the pics.

Ronak.

, Arrey waah! So it is you as always to go through my report 1st! But how on the earth did you notice this!

Short trip report because I know that people don't mind lengthy reports on Maharashtra forum , may be not on Andhra Forum!

Thanks Ronak, as usual . You seem to have a knack of coming in the line of my bombarding .

Be it Andhra forum or Maharashtra forum, you have created a big fan club of your trip reports so wherever you post a trip report readership is guaranteed.

Was on the home page checking out recently updated threads & what I saw was another bombardment of yours. Nandi photos are really good.

Keep writing.

Ronak.

Good friends like you have made me a complete 'spoilt brat' ! Thanks for those very kind words, Ronak.

The 'Nandi' looks very beautiful in the open and the best part is it is a protected monument and good care is being taken of the premises too. It is surely is a must visit place along with the 'Virabhadraswamy temple'!

One close-up for you .



Also thanks JuliaF and Trisha

Naveeeeena

These are stunning photos and how nice of you to remind me of my own mad dash trip to Lepakshi ex-Bangalore back in 2004.

I had a tiny point and shoot camera at that time (all of two megapixels) and the interior shots didnt come out as sharp!

I'm so tempted to add a photo from that trip just for comparison!

Lovely place for a visit ... totally worth the time and best of all, very devoid of the usual tourist hordes for such an impressive temple.

thanks again for sharing!

V

Good close up photo of Nandi.

Ronak.

Vaibhavvvvvv,

Felt really very happy that I could walk you back the memory lane and that too which you enjoyed!

Please post the photograph(s), from your camera! I had been using such camera for such a long time, those were the days I used to think 100 times before taking a snap (rolls were expensive and not to mention the developing charges ).

Now, it's a different story. The temple is a 'photographer's delight', so is the 'Nandi'! BTW, your favorite spot in temple to get photographed - here ? As I was editing the photographs of this trip, I remembered you a lot and your comment on WWTPT .




Only hitch I faced was, it was extremely hot on the day I visited. But, it was worth the visit. I was planning to visit this place for the past one year and only by chance I could sneak in this visit.

You can't be partial to Andhra forum after posting lengthy reports on Karnataka forum (Aihole, Pattadakkal and Badami) and Maharashtra (Satara). There is no limit, go ahead and freak out. Post more photos of street level action, market place things, people, local foods and the surroundings please. ..

The place seems to have wonderful temples and architecture.

.

I can't be scaring away, too, the readers on Andhra forum! Maharashtra forum friends are by now used to my 'blabbering' and 'photo heavy' threads. Some people like Ronak, are not even afraid of whatever missile I use against them, these days .

Your wish is my command - some more photographs!

As we left Karnataka Border and were entering your 'Kingdom' (Andhra Pradesh).



Ayyappa temple en-route:



Railway crossing before Dharmavaram:



Dharmavaram:



Busy street of Hindupur, towards Muddireddy Palli (place to shop sarees )



Yummy curries being served, for lunch! Just loved this joint. The owner was jumping with joy when he heard me telling the person attending to us 'pappu baagundi '. After a long time I had this spicy 'Andhra' food!



The temple is a beauty, surely!

Carving of lord Ganesha, on a rock behind the 7 hooded serpent and Shivalinga.



View of the open air mantapa from the outer complex:



Carvings on the pillars in the main temple:





A very intriguing sight - A village bus stop, just before reaching the Hyderabad/Bangalore NH!



Back on the track, Hyderabad/Bangalore Natonal Highway !




Now, hopefully, others don't get bored !!

Naveena, lovely second lot of pictures. Ayyappa temple looks so colorful. Take some more out of your kitty bag for the third round of pictures.

Ronak.

Excellent photographs and report, as usual Naveena!

The Tamata Pappu (Tomato Dal) in that part of AP is indeed excellent!

Here are a couple of recipes which may come close to that flavor, but nothing like it being cooked in a mud pot over wood fire:

http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/ar...al-tomato-dal/
http://www.sailusfood.com/2010/10/23...ra-tomato-dal/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwqj9DVqgRc

Those would be Dharmavarm sarees: http://www.apcofabrics.com/dharmavaram.html

Fabulous account. I had been there last year. But your photos hve given a new perspective!

Superb pictures naveena....You are really lucky that you have so much of time and passion to visit all these places..keep it up

Great thread, Naveena, and super photographs. Thank you.