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. 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.
The Veerabhadra temple at Lepakshi was built in the 16th century, during
the command of King Achuta Deva Raya. The murals of Lepakshi are most excellent
displays of the murals and paintings of Vijayanagara period. The ceiling is
divided into a number of strips and the individual strips are broken into
square or rectangular panels. Each one of the panels depicts a particular
scene, or part of one, in keeping with the theme of representation in the
central panel.
In the northern part of the ceiling of the natyamantapa of the temple,
the story of Manu Needhi Cholan is painted. It is the longest single panel in
the temple (4'-6'' Hx70' W). The entire story of Manu Needhi Cholan is depicted
in continuous narrative style with elaborate details in the 16th century
Vijayanagara style. The initial portion of this ceiling painting is faded and
damaged.
Manu
Cholan was one among the 15 out of the 63 Nayanmars to whom Shiva has appeared
as Rishabharudra. He was known for his justice. He sacrificed his own son under
a chariot as punishment for running over calf.
The cow
is running in panic towards the calf that gets crushed under the speeding
chariot of Veedhivitanka Cholan.
The
mother of the calf comes to the palace and rings the bell, put up by the king,
for the public seeking redress when in distress
The king assures the
mother that justice will prevail and after consulting his gurus decides to
punish his son in the same manner.
The dead-body of the calf
is placed above a horse-cart having six wheels and driven by two horses. The
mother of the calf, the cow, is standing behind the cart. The cart is driven by
a charioteer holding a whip. The prince was made to lie in front of the cart
and got crushed beneath the wheels
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