A Day Ride to Lepakshi Temple

After 3 weeks of the Dandiganahalli ride, we decided to get a new experience and revive ourselves so that we can carry out our work with full energy and think with a fresh mind. This time we thought to visit some historical place which we can explore in our day ride. After thinking and doing research we came on a conclusion that Lepakshi Temple would be the best place to visit near Bangalore as we can explore it in a day trip and also in our research we got to now that this temple has some relation with history. This is how we decided and visited Lepakshi Temple.

We started our trip early morning so that we reach the temple before the Sun reaches the top of the head because the temple premise is all stone and in temples, we are not allowed to go with shoes and as the day gets sunny the stones becomes very hot, also it becomes very difficult to walk.

Basvanna Temple:
There is a big Nandi statue before the main temple which is a major attraction of Lepakshi, it is the biggest Nandi statue in India. This statue is 27ft in length and 15ft in height, India's biggest monolithic Nandi. This huge structure of Nandi is cut out of a single stone. The area around this Nandi is well maintained in the form of a park.

About Lepakshi:
Lepakshi is a village located in the Anantapur district, in Andhra Pradesh. The famous Veerbhadra temple dedicated to Veerabhadra built in the 16th century is located here. It is famous for its sculptures, created by the artisans of the Vijayanagara empire. This place is known for the best mural paintings of the Vijayanagara Kings.

Legends in Lepakshi Temple:
Points of interest in the temple are the hanging pillar, Monolithic Nagalinga, a footprint of Maa Sita, and Ganesha.

As we entered the temple we saw a paragon of excellent architecture and art. The architecture is very impressive which made me think about the engineers and architect created this temple. You can also see sculptures of deities all around in the temple, all made of stone on walls and pillars and also the painting on the roof of the temple showing the Indian culture and traditions. The courtyard of the temple has Verandah on all sides with numbers of pillars.

After crossing courtyard, we reached the main temple. It has a lavish of sculpture and paintings over every inch of space on the columns and ceiling.

Hanging Pillars:

In this temple, Hanging Pillar is one of the attraction because the pillar does not rest on the earth fully. You can pass the thin piece of cloth below the pillar and it comes out at other ends. There are about 70 pillars at this 16th-century temple of stone in Vijayanagara style, but this is a tribute to the engineering of ancient temple builders.

Shivling guarded by a hooded Snake:

After watching this pillar, we stepped out in the courtyard of the temple and reached another attraction of this temple which was a huge Shivling under Naga with three coils and seven hoods. As we crossed the Shivling we arrived at an incomplete structure. It is a Kalyan Mandapa which means marriage hall.

Maa Sita's Footprint:

Moving further, we arrived at a huge footprint on the temple floor. It is said that when Ravana was abducting Sita, and taking her to Srilanka, they stopped at this temple to rest for a while. That is believed to be the source of the footprint that is seen on the floor of the temple premises.

Experience of Lepakshi Ride:

It was the month of June; the night before riding it rained so the weather was quite pleasant the next morning. We started our ride at 6 AM from Bangalore on our bike and reached Lepakshi at 9:30 PM with one break for breakfast. We spent around 30 mins near the Nandi statue and around 2.5 hours in the main temple. We were fortunate that the weather was cool and it made our ride easier and full of fun.

Best time to visit Lepakshi:

Weather in Lepakshi is hot during summer so the best time to visit is from July to February during monsoon/winter.

How to reach Lepakshi:

Best way to travel Lepakshi is to go by your own vehicle. You can also hire a cab and also other options is to use public transport like train or bus and reach Hyderabad and take tempo running to Lepakshi.

Tips:

• There are not many options for breakfast and lunch in Lepakshi. There is only one AP tourism department hotel. I will advise carrying snacks and a water bottle with you. On the way, you have options like Nandi Upachar and others.
• Wear clothes according to the weather, and try to reach early so you can roam around the temple before it becomes hot.

Thank you for reading. Hope you find all the information useful. Share your feedback in the comments section.

PS: Drive safe. Please keep all the places clean and green, so do not litter.

Bike ride from Bangalore to Dandiganahalli dam

Hi readers, this is my first blog. In this blog, I am writing about my first 100 km long bike ride from Bangalore to Dandiganahalli dam, with my friends.

Dandiganahalli Dam is a good place to visit for a day outing in the vicinity of Bangalore. You can reach this place without taking any break. Out of 100 km distance, around 65 km is on NH44 while rest is a village road. If you visit this place during monsoon seasons, the hills are covered with clouds making a scenic view to click photographs. But we visited this place in the month of December and in the morning the weather was chilly and foggy, however, it became bright and sunny after few hours of the sunrise.

Panoramic View

To reach Dandiganahalli, we started our ride at 7 AM from Bangalore. After riding for 1 hour, we stopped for tea and breakfast. After this short break, we again started our ride and reached the Dandiganahalli village in about 45 minutes. To reach this place we travelled through different roads and also did off-roading on village roads. As we reached the Dam, we saw the endless cloud covering the river and the light of the sun was making the river more beautiful. There was a path from the start to the end of the dam which was quite a good spot to click the pictures. We clicked some pictures while walking and riding the bike on that narrow path. We went till the end point of the dam where there was an extension in the water. It's pretty solid and safe. The views from there are pretty good.

Path to the dam

After enjoying at the viewpoint, we went further in the forest area which leads to a trek to the next two hills. There was a faint trail which you can follow. This trail initially guides you to a high ground from where we saw the full view of the dam and the surrounding areas. If you follow it further, it'll guide you to the trek in the hills. But due to the tiredness and shortage of time, we didn't follow the trail till the very end but it looked good for giving a try.

Extension of dam in Water

Best time to visit this place:

Although I went in winter. But I think the best time to visit this dam would be monsoon because in monsoon you can enjoy more landscape views and you will find enough water in the river.

How to reach this place:

Taking a road trip by bike or a car is the best way to reach this place. On the way, you find many small villages where you can ask the way also GPS can help you.

If you are going to this place, please carry your food because you will not find any shop near the dam.

In the end, I would like to say as much as we enjoy such places we should also be responsible to protect nature, so please do not litter the place.