Lepakshi

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INSIDE STORY

Where tales resonate

Lepakshi has history written all over it — from the Ramayana to a merchant’s devotion to the lord

Photos: Lakshmi Sharath

Architectural wonder Lepakshi

“Le pakshi’, (get up ,bird ) said Lord Rama to the fallen Jatayu who lost its wing to Ravana’s sword,” says my guide , a bit dramatically “and that is why the village is called so. See this sculpture, there are more stories...” his voice trails off.

I am in this small village, Lepakshi, near Hindupur in Anantpur district, looking at some of the rare mural paintings from the Vijaynagar era that adorn this ancient Veerabhadra temple.

The largest monolith Nandi stands here as a testimony to the building skills of ancient artisans. The sun’s rays touch the large sculptures in the unfinished kalyanamantapam of the temple.

Gods as artistes

The Gods are depicted as artistes — Brahma is on the cymbal, Narada on the tampura, and Shiva in his Nataraja avatar amongst others.

Stories myths and local lore resonate from almost every wall here. For instance, the hill on which the temple is built is called Kurmasaila as it resembles a tortoise. The giant multi-hooded Nagalinga was said to have been constructed out of a single boulder really fast — even before the cook finished preparing food for the workers. But the praise of the sculptor’s mother caused an “evil eye” and a crack in the boulder — the sculpture looks like it is split in the middle. The unfinished kalayanamandapam was built where Shiva and Parvati were believed to have got married.

Or, look at the carved large feet on the ground perennially filled with water — they are believed to be Seetha’s feet. “They also say it is Goddess Durga’s feet,” says the guide and shrugs when I ask, “Who is they?” Instead, he shows me the carved thali-like plates on the ground. “The locals were fed here,” he says.

While the panels, the sculptures and the paintings narrate stories from the Puranas and the epics, the heart wrenching story of two red marks on the walls of the shrine tell a sad tale. Virupanna, a merchant and treasurer of the Vijaynagar emperor, Achutadevaraya, decided to build a temple here when he found a sculpture of Veerabhadra here. He used the money from the treasury for the same when the king was away. The temple was almost completed, except for the kalyanamandapam, when the king returned to find his treasury empty and the temple built without his permission.

He ordered that Virupanna be blinded, but the merchant decided to punish himself by banging against the wall near the Kalyanamandapa.

The two red marks are said to be the stains left behind when the merchant gouged out his eyes. The village is also said to be called Lepa-akshi, because of this — village of the blinded eye.

The melancholy is a bit addictive, but the beauty of the pillars takes you away from the tragedy. The silence is mesmerising and the solitude seductive.