Latha Mantapa,Lepakshi,Veerabhadra temple

                                    Lepakshi is a village in the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh. The Veerabhadra temple of Lepakshi, built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna, is dedicated to Veerabhadra.  It is one of the important heritage sites in Andhra Pradesh highlighting the legacy of Vijayanagara Dynasty.

                                   Folklore in these parts says that Lepakshi actually is “le pakshi”, which means “rise bird” in Telugu. During the Ramayana era, this was the place where Jataayu (the legendary bird) fought Raavana as he was kidnapping Sita. Ultimately, Jataayu lost the battle and fell here. When Rama came searching for Sita, he found Jataayu, who told him of Sita's kidnapping by Raavana and the direction he had taken. Rama is then supposed to have asked Jataayu “le pakshi”, asking him to rise and hence the name “le pakshi” for the place.

                                   On one side of the unfinished kalyana mantapa behind the main temple is the “latha mantapa” which has about 36 pillars and each of these pillars have a unique design on each face of the pillar, thus making up 144 unique designs. These unique designs have inspired the motifs of the sarees manufactured here. Most of the border designs of sarees are replica or inspired from these designs.