Description16th century Virabhadra temple, Lepakshi, Vijayanagara era Murals.jpg
English: Lepakshi is a village near Anantpur district, Andhra Pradesh. Prior to the 17th-century, it was major town and the regional capital of a territory with the Vijayanagara Empire. Lepakshi is home to several large spectacular Hindu temples with 16th-century sculpture and artwork.
This image is a collage of select photos from the 16th century Virabhadra temple, sometimes just called the Lepakshi temple. This is a downsized screenshot version, the original zoomable being 118 MB. All photos were taken by the uploader, and collage was also prepared by the uploader.
This temple has the best preserved and extensive collection of chitra (painting) artwork from the 16th-century India. While other temples of this era – such as those near Hampi, Tadpatri, Somapalem and other parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – were also painted, the paintings have not survived. It is likely that the somewhat arid climate and remote location of Lepakshi favored the preservation.
Both the ceiling and the walls of Virabhadra (Veerabhadra) temple were painted. This specific scene is from the edge of a ceiling. The uppermost part is a panoramic image of one of numerous murals in this temple. The lower middle two are sections of the same image but enlarged, while the lowermost shows the mandapa pillar with painted ceiling in the background.
Parvati here is sitting to the left, with a host of ladies with a diversity of skin colors and tones. She is getting dressed up for her wedding to Shiva, similar to the cultural practice of Hindu brides on their wedding day.
The temple contains many murals of Shaivism legends. It also includes paintings depicting the Hindu epics plus several secular panels.
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Captions
Collage of Parvati dressing up mural, one of the numerous murals in Virabhadra Hindu temple