Lepakshi Temple Hanging Pillar and Vijayanagara Architecture

The Veerabhadra temple at Lepakshi in Anantapur district is one of the most celebrated examples of Vijayanagara architecture, famous for its "hanging pillar" — one of the 70 pillars in the mandapam that does not rest on the floor but hangs freely from the ceiling with a narrow gap below. Traditionally, a cloth can be passed under this pillar as proof of its suspension. The temple's painted ceiling is India's largest expanse of surviving Vijayanagara mural painting, depicting scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Shaivite legends in brilliant natural mineral colours. The complex also contains a massive monolithic Naga Linga, and the world's largest stone Nandi bull (4.5 metres high, 8.2 metres long). Lepakshi is a protected UNESCO-tentative World Heritage Site candidate.