Lepakshi–the drive

Located about 120 kilometres north of Bangalore, Lepakshi is a sleepy village in Anathapur District of Andhra Pradesh.

Known for its famous Veerabadhra Temple, this town traces its origins to the Ramayana. Legend has it that, after the abduction of Sita by the Ravana, Jatayu, the vulture tries to stop Ravana, and gets badly injured in the process…

As the vulture lies dying, Ram arrives there, in his pursuit of Ravana. Seeing the stricken bird, Ram says “le pakshi” or ”rise bird” which later on became the name of the place as Lepakshi.

We set out from Yelahanka by about 1500 hrs, hoping to complete the drive in time for some photography in the warm evening light.

It was a rainy afternoon and almost the entire journey was accompanied by heavy rain

but there were also brief patches of glorious sunlight which made the roads and the flowers in the median come alive

The route we took was on NH 4, and until the turnoff to the airport, the roads were crowded, but once past the first toll, it was a clear and free highway, with very few vehicles.

There were a couple of places where there were some road works going on and we had to use a single road for traffic on both sides, but except for these minor glitches, the road was a drivers’ delight….

Once you reach the small village of Kodikonda, take a left here and keep travelling about 16 kilometres to Lepakshi…