It was an unplanned trip. We decided on a Friday evening about it over a short phone call, and early next morning we were on our way. That simple.
Wild grass in morning sun
We started before dawn and hit NH7 out of Bangalore. After a brief photo-stop just out of Bangalore, we were cruising through the open roads for next two hours. It was a pleasant drive all the way(bad roads, I will not talk about!) and we kept driving without realizing that we missed the left turn from the highway to Lepakshi. All for good it must be, as we ended up driving through many pretty waterbodies and stopped at a place or two to make pictures. A few photo-stops and another breakfast stop later, we were at Lepakshi as late as 11am. Or may be much later.
We lost our way, and stopped at some pretty lakes..
Sun was high up and showing off himself a lot when we reached Lepakshi. Instead of getting into the temple, we decided to rest for a while and drove on until we found a nice shaded place – a tamarind grove. We whiled away some time there, and returned at lunchtime for some food. With little else to do after food, we entered the temple and immediately signed up with Virupanna, a guide. He said – ‘give me whatever money you please’ – a business deal I hate immensely. He did not budge when we asked for a quote and eventually hired him anyway.
Outer wall of the temple
temple entrance
It turned out Virupanna was good. He had a good voice, a confident and pleasant way of narrating things, and he knew the place well.
A few minutes of wandering around the temple, and I fell in love with the place. The temple has a nonchalant air to it. It doesn’t go by the rigid rules with which temples are often constructed, but more like – its architects decided to do a fair deal of experimenting and redesigned things on the go. Unusual as it seems, the moment you enter from the main door, you hit a wall, and need to take a right turn to enter another door to get to the temple interior. Our guide said that some of the sculptures were carved by the workers with the only purpose of whiling away time. Thats very likely, as a few structures looked very out-of-place from rest of the temple complex. There are some boulders within the temple complex that are left as is, and part of the floor of the temple complex is left unleveled. These out-of-place structures and natural elements immensely add to the charm of the place. What I loved the most is an incomplete Shiva-Parvati Kalyana Mantapa that stood out beautifully with its pillars standing out to the sky with no roof on their top.
Our guide Virupanna explaining us..
This, Virupanna says, was built as the sculptors were waiting for their lunch to be served!
There was much more. I was gawking at the frescoes(something that I am fond of) at the outer wall, and Virupanna said – “come inside, I will show you more of them”. The inside roof of the temple had many well-preserved frescoes on the roof, and Virupanna had a story to tell about each of them. Much can be said about the carvings on the wall, frescoes and other elements that make up the temple, but they would sound no more than boring descriptions until one sees the place. I will leave it at it.
Frescoes on the inner roof
The temple was built during the reign of Vijayanagar kings by a local chieftain named Virupanna. Not surprisingly, part of the structure looks so much similar to Hampi. The outer walls, pillars and the Mantapas seem to have drawn influence from Hampi’s Vithala temple.
After the guided tour, we settled down in a corner of the temple till evening, made another trip around the temple in the evening hours, and headed back to the town around 5.30pm. Lepakshi is yet another place where I would like to return again some day to spend more time.
Information
Lepakshi is around 140km from Bangalore. Take Bangalore – Hyderabad highway and drive till Andhra border. Just at the border, you need to turn left at a village called Kondikonda and drive for another 14kms. The left turn is easy to miss, so look for it carefully.
There is no accommodation available at Lepakshi, so it is best done as a day-trip from Bangalore. There isn’t much option for food too, and you will have to settle for a couple of small restaurants.
Besides the temple, there is a monolith Nandi statue just outside the village, which is said to be largest Nandi statue in the country.
Also see: Our photography Day Outs in Melukote.
I started this as a Photo Essay, as I was feeling lazy to write and thought of filling it up with photographs instead. But as I started scribbling, words filled in so much, it became a pretty long story. The weekend trip to Melukote was an eventful one.
Yoganarasimha temple, as seen from the town
On the streets of Melukote..
Melukote or Melkote is generally done as a day-trip from Bangalore. But we were keen to be there at the time of sunrise, so decided to make it a two day trip. There aren’t any places to stay in Melukote, but we managed to sneak into the house of a kind lady who not only gave us place to stay but also ensured that we were fed to brim!
Melukote town and the Kalyani, as seen from the top of the hill
Melukote is a temple town, standing immune to the stride of time. There are a couple of temples, a few Kalyanis and mantapas that make the town. And most of the residents seem to be priests. Houses have an old-time look and nothing in town is flashy or modern. And unlike most religious places, it is not garish but quiet, pleasant and easygoing. People are friendly and hospitable. At the place where we stayed, we were treated like old relatives who are coming home after a long time. It was a pleasure spending time there. My fellow traveller said – “I can easily spend a week here”, and I can’t help but agree. But a ‘tourist’ doesn’t have so much to do or see in Melukote beyond a day-trip’s itinerary.
We took an early morning bus from Bangalore, reached there a little before noon and headed towards Yoganarasimha temple after lunch. Having plenty of time in hand, we took 4-5 hours to cover what should otherwise take 15 to 30 minutes. The first long stop was at a Kalyani at the base of the temple – a well-known landmark I have seen in many Kannada movies. In the hour or two we spent there, we watched people take ritual ablutions, go for a swim, sit for meditation or just take a stroll around it.
The Kalyani
We made our way further towards Yoganarasimha temple on the top of a hill – the major landmark in Melukote. A bunch of happy kids encountered us on the way up, who were eager to pose for the camera. They gave us a good time while they had their fun looking at their poses on the LCD.
The way up to the top is through steps that can tire the aged, but is actually a short climb. There are a few trees on the hill, and half way through I suddenly exclaimed – “these trees are planted!” On the otherwise barren hill, someone had thoughtfully planted leafy trees along the path to give shade to the people visiting the temple. Bless them!
The steps leading to Yoganaraimha Swamy temple
I took a detour just before the temple and found the path opening up to the vistas of the plains below, revealing the vast planes, fields and villages at a distance. It was an overcast evening with plenty of shade from the clouds and pleasant breeze on the hilltop, which invited us to spend another hour there.
When we eventually reached the temple to finish our long journey, I was pleasantly surprised by the temple’s design. It did not have the typical dark sanctum and priests performing rituals on the other side of a fenced arena, but instead an open and informal interior where anyone could freely walk around. It was a pleasure to be inside, and to go up on the top of temple to savor the 360-degree views of the surroundings. We stayed there till sun down.
The temple Gopura at Sunset
At the top of the temple..
The idea of spending two days in Melukote was to be there to relish the early morning hours. But things did not work out as we planned. Next morning, we woke up only after 8, and seeing that the sun was already high, took our time and came out only after 9. It has been such a disappointment missing the morning, two-three weeks since the trip we are still it blaming each other for it!
We walked to Sankrit research institute which was closed being a Sunday, and then to Raya Gopura and Akka Thangi Kola. Raya Gopura is another landmark which has served as a location for many movies. The watchman at the Gopura said there was a movie crew previous evening too. Akka Thangi Kola are a pair of kalyanis next to each other.
Raya Gopura, they say it was built overnight, which is not easy to believe
Thangi Kola
We then met friends who drove down from Bangalore in the morning, and headed towards Tondlur to a gigantic lake which is more than a kilometer long. We spent a couple of hours there lying down in a lonely sandy shoreline eating just harvested sugar canes that we picked up from nearby fields. Pleasure at its prefect form!
Coming back from Tondlur, we drove around aimlessly for sometime and returned to Melukote to spend rest of the evening again at the Kalyani, and eventually headed back to Bangalore.
Much as we had planned on it, we still left a couple of things undone as we returned back. An early morning stroll in the town was one of them. We were also keen to talk to the man of the house where we stayed – one of the priests in a temple – about the history, origin and all other things about Melukote, which did not happen.
Description of Melukote is never complete without a mention of Puliogre, the favourite dish of the town. Go to any place, and be assured that you will be offered Puliogre. It is indeed delicious, but at the end of two days, we had an overdose of it. All meals that we had in Melukote included Puliogre in the menu, and sometimes it was a Puliogre-only meal! Sakkare Pongal is another dish the the town takes pride about.
An eatery selling Puliogre
Melukote Information
Melukote or Melkote is a small town in Mandya district, around 120km from Bangalore. To get to Melukote, drive on Mysore road till Mandya. Ask for directions and turn right in Mandya and drive for another 40km to reach the town. If you are taking bus from Bangalore, you need to go to Mandya and change buses. Ask for private buses to Melukote once you get down in Mandya.
There is no accommodation available in Melukote. There are a few eateries that serve clean and healthy food, but don’t expect much.
Cheluvarayaswamy temple
Places to see: Yoganarasimha temple on the top of a hill is the primary attraction. Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple in the town is another well known place. Some landmarks in the town are the Kalyani below Yoganarasimha temple, Raya Gopura, Akka Thangi Kola and the Sanskrit research institute. Tondlur kere is a huge lake 15km from Melukote
, and is worth a visit.