Top News

There are many such temples in India, where the roots of religion and faith are very deep. Here one or the other temple can be found at a distance of a few kilometers, where lakhs of devotees come for darshan. One such famous temple is located in Lepakshi village of Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, which is called Veerabhadra Temple or Lepakshi Temple. This temple is dedicated to Veerbhadra, the Rudra incarnation of Lord Shiva. This place is considered to be a wonderful confluence of Indian architecture, mystery and faith. There are many mythological stories to this temple. Come, let us know about its history.

Inscriptions on the temple walls show that the village was earlier known as Lepaksha, Lepakshi and Lepakshipura. Veerabhadra Temple is mainly built on a turtle shaped rocky hill, hence this hill is called Kurmasailam. Kurmasailam means ‘turtle hill’ in Telugu language.

History of the temple

Veerabhadra Temple was built in the 16th century (1530 AD) during the Vijayanagara Empire. It was built by two brothers named Virupanna and Veeranna, who were the governors of Vijayanagara during the reign of king Achyutadeva Raya. This temple is an excellent example of the Vijayanagara style, with intricate carvings and magnificently carved pillars. According to Skanda Purana, it is an important pilgrimage site of Lord Shiva.

Birth of Virbhadra:

This story is to King Daksh Prajapati, i.e. the father of Mother Sati. Daksha performed a grand yajna at Kankhal, in which he called all the gods and goddesses, but deliberately did not call his son-in-law Lord Shiva in it. When Mother Sati reached the Yagya without being invited, Daksh insulted Lord Shiva in front of everyone. Mother Sati could not bear this insult and she sacrificed her life by jumping into the sacrificial fire.

As soon as Lord Shiva came to know about this, he became very angry. He uprooted one of his locks and threw it on the mountain, from which the fierce and powerful Veerbhadra and Bhadrakali appeared. Veerbhadra completely destroyed Daksh’s yagya and ended Daksh’s life by cutting off his head.

Even after this, the anger of Shiva and Veerbhadra did not subside, due to which a threat of destruction arose on the universe. Then Brahma, Vishnu and other gods approached Shiva and prayed to him to calm down. He said that it is necessary for the Yagya to be complete, because an incomplete Yagya disturbs the balance of the universe. Accepting the prayers of the gods, Lord Shiva embraced Veerbhadra in his embrace. It is believed that due to this his fierce form was calmed down and he was established there in the form of Shivalinga.

Some specialties of the temple

• The Hanging Pillar– This is considered to be the biggest mystery of the temple. There are a total of 70 pillars in the temple, out of which one pillar does not touch the ground. It hangs from the ceiling and a thin cloth or paper can be easily removed from beneath it. It is said that during the British rule, an engineer tried to move this pillar, due to which the entire structure of the temple started shaking.
• Giant Nandi– A huge statue of Nandi made by cutting stone is located at a distance of about 200 meters from the main premises of the temple. It is considered to be one of the largest Nandi statues in India made from a single stone. Its length is about 27 feet and height is about 15 feet.
• huge shivlinga– Behind the temple, there is a huge Shivalinga carved from a single stone, over which Sheshnag is seen spreading its shadow. According to local belief, the craftsmen created it during their free time while waiting for lunch.
• Mother Sita’s footprintsThere is also a huge footprint on the floor of the temple, which is believed to be that of Mother Sita. The special thing is that this footprint remains filled with water in every season.

Note: The things written in this news are based on religious and local beliefs. We do not confirm this.