Found in Lepakshi | Ancient Indian murals

Photos from the Veerabhadra temple in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.
Lepakshi mural

An ancient Indian mural at Lepakshi,

A little over a 100 kilometers away from Bengaluru (earlier Bangalore) is a small temple town called Lepakshi. Geographically in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapura District, Lepakshi has now become famous for its Veerabhadra Temple. And this temple is quite an exhibition of sculptured pillars and ancient Indian murals.

Veerabhadra Temple’s murals are on its ceilings. The paintings narrate stories from Indian epics and ancient Indian mythological tales. Β Some of the murals at this temple in Lepakshi have lost their colour and so don’t really depict the stories they are meant to tell. However some of them seem to have gotten some touch-ups.

The home of these ancient murals — the Veerabhadra temple dates back to the age of the Vijayanagara dynasty that ruled these parts of India between the 1330s and the 1640s. Built in the Vijayanagara style of temple architecture, the Veerabhara temple is swaddled in age-old legends. Β You can read more about the temple and see more sights from there in this post on the temple — ‘Of Pillars of chiseled art, murals and legends.’.

Ancient Indian murals on Veerabhadra temple's ceilings, Lepakshi.

Those are some very impressive pillars but look up and you will see some ancient paintings on the ceilings of this temple in Lepakshi.

Ancient Indian murals at Lepakshi.

Some discoloured murals from the ceilings of the Veerabhadra temple in Lepakshi in South India.

Ancient Indian murals at Lepakshi.

More murals on the ceiling, Veerabhadra temple, Lepakshi.

Ancient Indian murals at Lepakshi.

Here’s more ancient art relating stories from ancient Indian legends.

Ancient Indian murals at Lepakshi.

The paintings in some parts of the temple are very clear and offer so much to look at.

More posts on art and sculpture from Indian temples:

Of Pillars of chiseled art, murals and legends.’

Hoysaleshwara temple – A signature of the Hoysala dynasty

A sculptural banquet in Belur

Belur’s beautiful bracket belles

600-odd steps and a colossal monolith

Linking to the meme — Monday Mural

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Dee (Divya) Blogger, Freelance Content Writer & Content Strategist. πŸ“Έ Loves tripping.πŸ›£ Tipsy from every TRIP!😬🫣 🏞Follow > for intoxicating virtual trips!πŸ₯‚πŸ˜‰
36 Comments on this post.
  • Sami
    16 January 2017 at 7:24 am
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    Impressive temples and art. The artists that lived centuries ago had loads of patience to paint on the ceilings.

    • dNambiar
      17 January 2017 at 3:27 am
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      I swear — it must have been a lot of work to do art on ceilings and these pieces seem to have a lot of details on them, too.

      Thank you for coming this way, Sami. πŸ™‚

  • s.c.
    16 January 2017 at 10:21 am
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    I like that paintings. What history must have gone along those stories.

    • dNambiar
      17 January 2017 at 3:30 am
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      There are so many stories hidden in those paintings. I wish I’d taken more pictures to peruse later.

      Thank you for visiting this post, SC.

  • tom the backroads traveller
    16 January 2017 at 1:36 pm
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    …a lot of history here!

    • dNambiar
      17 January 2017 at 3:31 am
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      You bet!:)

      Have a great week, Tom.

  • Klara S
    16 January 2017 at 9:14 pm
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    Amazing place.

    • dNambiar
      17 January 2017 at 3:32 am
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      It really is.
      Welcome here, Klara. πŸ™‚

  • magiceye
    20 January 2017 at 1:24 am
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    Amazing art. On my must visit list.
    Light seems to have troubled you while taking these photographs.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 2:03 am
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      It is.
      I actually liked the light at the end of the corridor. I wanted to keep the light. πŸ™‚
      While I was working on the images for this post, I was wishing I’d taken more pictures of the artwork on the ceilings.

      You have to go see this temple. You’ll love the work on the ceilings and the pillars.

  • Prasad Np
    20 January 2017 at 9:57 am
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    I am so happy to see these murals, so different from normal posts about Lepakshi, but also sad at the sorry state of affairs….We need to do a better job in their conservation.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 2:07 am
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      Oh yeah, we should be doing better in conservation. But I wonder if they’ll be able to do justice to the paintings. It would be nice if we could actually see all the figures from our epics up on the ceilings of this temple.

      Thank you for stopping by, Prasad.

  • Oakland Daily Photo
    21 January 2017 at 3:56 am
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    Fabulous. India’s ancient culture is so incredible. Thanks for contributing to this week’s Monday Mural.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 2:07 am
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      πŸ™‚ It sure is. πŸ™‚
      Thank you so much for coming this way and thank you so, so much for hosting this meme. πŸ™‚

  • Jyotirmoy Sarkar
    23 January 2017 at 3:16 am
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    Good to know about the place, beautiful works captured nicely. Thanks for sharing.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:12 pm
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      You are so welcome, Jyotirmoy. πŸ™‚

  • shweta
    23 January 2017 at 4:58 am
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    Lepakshi is very popular and fav among bloggers πŸ™‚ loved the post Dee πŸ™‚

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:15 pm
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      I guess it’s because it’s one of the newer destinations. And it’s not very far from ‘namma Bengaluru’ πŸ˜‰

      Thank you, Shweta.

  • rupam { xhobdo }
    23 January 2017 at 5:06 am
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    Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:16 pm
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      You’re welcome, Rupam. And Thank you. πŸ™‚

  • Yogi Saraswat
    23 January 2017 at 6:32 am
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    This is the real treasure our great ancestors leave for us . Great visit

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:16 pm
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      Indeed.
      Thank you, Yogi. πŸ™‚

  • Tales of Travelling Sisters
    23 January 2017 at 9:27 am
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    Among all the pictures in this post, the one with murals caught our attention! Such beautiful colors, details on them looks so stunning!

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:19 pm
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      This post is dedicated to the murals of Lepakshi. When I was going through the Lepakshi album, I was wishing I’d taken more pictures of those ceilings.

      Thanks guys. πŸ™‚

  • Amit Agarwal
    23 January 2017 at 10:43 am
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    Splendid art! Spellbinding in fact!
    Thank you Divya for showing this:)

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:20 pm
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      I have to agree with you.
      You are welcome, Amit. And thank YOU.

  • Alok Singhal
    23 January 2017 at 11:06 am
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    Even inspite of the discoloration, some look so pretty (the one in the end especially).
    India is lucky to have a rich history…I have always been amazed with our forts and their detailed works!

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:23 pm
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      Oh yeah, that was what I thought too. Although some parts of those ceilings did seem to have had some restoration, I was amazed that that much colour was still there after all these years.

      Our ancient art and architecture are truly amazing.

      Thank you, Alok.

  • Rajesh
    23 January 2017 at 3:15 pm
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    Beautiful murals between the amazing carvedpillars.

    • dNambiar
      23 January 2017 at 9:26 pm
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      They really, are
      Thank you for the visit, Rajesh.

  • Sapnas
    24 January 2017 at 6:54 am
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    Well captured. Nice post and different perspective of Lepakshi.

    • dNambiar
      27 February 2017 at 7:30 pm
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      Thank you, Sapna. πŸ™‚
      The Veerabhadra temple in Lepakshi has a lot of these. We just have to look up at the ceilings to see them.

  • Raj
    26 January 2017 at 5:00 am
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    Majestic and rich in culture! Fascinating art! I so want to go there now!

    • dNambiar
      27 February 2017 at 7:34 pm
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      Isn’t it?
      A lot of the murals on those ceilings have lost colour so you really don’t know what they are talking about. Some however seem to have been re-done.
      But it’s nice to see some originals there. More than anything, it’s nice to see some painting up on the ceiling. I hope you get to see them sometime, Raj. πŸ™‚

  • The Untourists
    27 February 2017 at 2:08 am
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    How beautiful are these! Can’t we include more art and love in our every day lives today?

    • dNambiar
      27 February 2017 at 7:36 pm
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      Beautiful indeed.
      We definitely can. I guess the street art is an answer to that. πŸ™‚

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