Lepakshi Temple (Andhra Pradesh)

image credit : Nand Kishore Kartha

The Lepakshi temple situated in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, is also known as Veerabhadra temple. The architecture of the temple reflects the Vijayanagar style and located 480 km from Hyderabad. The architectural beauty of the temple is unparalleled with fine carvings arts. A 10 day long festival is celebrated in the month of February. On this occasion a car festival is conducted, which is attended by huge number of people.

image credit : Sridhar Vedantham

A monolithic “Nandi” (the bull) sculpture of 6 ft. height and 8 mt. Length is placed in the Lepakshi temple. It is considered to be the biggest monolithic Nandi in India. The majestic artistry of Nandi sculpture is mesmerising fo the tourists. This popular pilgrimage center of Southern India is located centrally between Hindupur and Kodikonda check post. The Lepakshi temple can be divided into three sections – the ‘Mukha Mandapa’, (or the ‘Nitya Mandapa’ or ‘Ranga Mandapa’), the ‘Artha Mandapa’ and ‘Garbha Griha’, and the ‘Kalyana Mandapa’.

image creit : Sridhar Vedantham

The sculptures and the mural paintings seen in the Natya and Kalyana Mandapams are exceptional for their artistic beauty and skill. Most of these sculptures portray the mythological puranic episodes like ‘Ananthasayana’, ‘Dattatreya’, ‘Chaturmukha Bramha’, ‘Tumburu’, ‘Narada’ and ‘Rambha’. The Lepakshi temple has been built in honor of Lord Veerabhadra. According to the legend the Kalyana Mandapa of the temple had witnessed the marriage Lord Shiva and Parvati. The ‘Natya’ (Dancing) and ‘Ardha’ (worship) Mandapas are the best parts of the temp-le in terms of architecture. The ‘Natya’ Mandapa has been adorned with sculptured pillars depicting life-size musicians and dancers.

image creit : Sridhar Vedantham

Ghrishneshwar Temple (Maharashtra)

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Ghrishneshwar Temple is a very revered temple, situated in the state of Maharashtra. It lies very near to the Buddhist caves of Ellora, only half a kilometer away, and serves as the abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India dedicated to Lord Shiva. Even the Ajanta Caves and Dulatabad town of Maharashtra are situated nearby. The temple, with exquisitely sculpted walls, was built under the patronage of Queen Ahilyabai Holkar, one of the rulers of the erstwhile state of Indore.

Grishneshwar Temple, also known as Ghushmeshwar, has a very interesting legend attached to it. It is said that there was once a very religious woman, known as Kusuma, who used to worship Lord Shiva on a daily basis. She used to immerse His Shivalingam in a tank, as a part of her everyday prayer. Her husband had a second wife, who got jealous of the devotion of Kusuma and her resultant respect in the society. In a fit of rage and resentment, she murdered Kusuma’s son.

Kusuma became extremely depressed when she came to know that her son had been killed. However, she continued worshipping the Lord. It is said that when she immersed the lingam into the tank, after her the death of her son, he miraculously came back to life again. The legend further goes that at that time, Lord Shiva appeared before Kusuma as well as the villagers. It is said that on Kusuma’s request, Lord Shiva manifested Himself at the very site, in the form of the Jyotirlinga Ghusmeshwar. From then onwards, the temple is highly revered by people and attracts devotees from far and wide.

Ossian Temple ( Jodhpur, Rajasthan )

Located at the edge of the Thar Desert, Ossian was once a prosperous city. Though today, it does not find place in the regular tourist guides of India, Ossian boasts of more than 100 Hindu and Jain temples dating back to the Medieval Age. According to some legend, Utpaladeva, a Rajput Prince of the Pratihara Dynasty founded this town. Then it was known as Ukesha or Upkeshapur.

Ossian boasts the earliest of all medieval temples of Rajasthan. The earlier temples are like miniature shrines. Some temples are only eight feet in height. These are intricately carved red sandstone edifices. These are dedicated to Harihara or the union of Vishnu and Shiva. Even foreign scholars consider these as the architectural masterpieces for the carved raising plinths, pillars and the spires.

The Sun temple is among the oldest group of temples. It was built in the 10th century. They are also compared with the carvings of the Sun Temple at Konark. Further records shows that there is another magnificent Sun Temple right in the middle of the town. This temple and some other subsequent shrines were destroyed during the Turkish and Afghan invasions of India. The house of more than hundred temples, Ossian, today only houses sixteen of them.

image credit : Travels with a Hat

Majority of the temples at Ossian have decayed with time. The images of the deities have also been lost. The one temple that still remains vibrant is the shrine of Sachiyamata on a nearby hillock. This temple was built in 1234 AD and is dedicated to Durga or Mahisasura Mardini. Today it is a very important shrine of the Jains.