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Hampi Trip from Bangalore (A Complete Travel Guide with Itinerary)

Renu on December 24, 2016

After our numerous bike trips to nearby places in Bangalore, We have decided to take Hampi trip from Bangalore by train and explore maximum sightseeing places in one day.

Not just sightseeing in Hampi, but also some nearby places in Hampi which are less popular like Kukanoor and Itagi.

Did you know Mahadeva temple in Itagi is protected as a national mounument under Archealogical survey of India?. “Art historian Henry Cousens called this monument the “finest in Kannada country after Halebidu””. (Source : Wikipedia)

Here is the complete guide for one day trip from Bangalore to Hampi, Hampi places to visit and the trip costs for couples.

Hampi Trip From Bangalore By Train – Distance, Weather and Sightseeing

I have always wanted to go Hampi –a World Heritage site, it has been in my top priority list since we both started our weekend trips.

We live in Bangalore, we were just starting out bike trips to nearby places in Bangalore.

Read – How Our Love For Bike Rides Started in 2016?

The Distance from Bangalore to Hampi by road is 345 kms.

Since we were just beginners in bike trips, its quite not possible to cover such long distance by bike.

So, we have decided to go Hampi trip From Bangalore by train and spend one full day sightseeing.

Since the Hampi weather is too good in September (infact all over Karnataka), travelling and sightseeing would not be any problem.

To surprise hubby, I did all the research and planning. That is when I came across unique places in Kukanoor & Itagi and added those places to the Hampi trip itenarary.

Since it was a one day trip, there was no hotel booking required. We just packed some snacks and water bottle in our backpack for this trip.

If you are planning on road trip to Hampi from Bangalore, you could very well explore all the places mentioned below.

Since we went by train, we hired autos for short distances and traveled by buses for long distances.

Here is the complete guide on places to visit in Hampi and the good places to eat etc.,

Hampi Express to Kukanoor and Itagi

On 24^th Sep 2016, We boarded Hampi express at 10 pm at KSR railway station, reached Koppal stations next day at 8.35am.

(Since we decided to explore Kukanoor and Itagi, we got down at Koppal railway station, otherwise Hosapet would be the nearest station for Hampi.)

There was a Karnataka bus pick up at station entrance otherwise also KSRTC bus depot is 3 min by walk.

At 8.50am we boarded KSRTC bus to Kukanoor, travelled for about 40 min. There were no direct buses to Itagi, from Koppal one has to re-route from Kukanoor.

After refreshing up, we had planned to visit Kukanoor Mahamaya Temple and Navalinga temples before visiting ITAGI Mahadeva Temple.

I wouldn’t suggest eating at Kukanoor, not even for coffee.

Local people guided us to the Mahamaya temple, 15min by walk from the bus station.

1.a. Mahamaya Temple, Kukanoor

Outside view of the temple doesn’t give an image of being a famous temple mentioned in Mahabaratha. But to understand its great historical value, One has to enter the low roof entrance directly to the main deity, Shatrabala. There are 3 deities in the garbhagudi.

Two female deities:-Laxmi & Parvathi/MahaMaya, and One male Deity-Harihara. Harihara means Half-Shiva and Half-Vishnu. All the 3 idols are south facing, which is a rare thing, as most idols in temples face the north. South-facing deities are considered to be more powerful (source -Wikipedia).

The reference to this temple in Mahabharata suggests it was built before 8-9th century BC. There are rumors that there is a hidden underground temple below the current existing temple. The underground temple is dedicated to the Indian Goddess Kali.

b. Navagraha Temple, Kukanoor

The ancient Navagraha temple is present at the back of the Mahamaya temple. It is so painful to see the carelessness in the maintenance of such epic architecture.

This temple architecture cannot be described in words, one has to see and feel it.

Anywhere you see is Lord Sivalinga guarded by individual Nandhi.

I have never seen such alignment of 9 Sivalingas under one roof.

I’m glad we have visited this place on our hampi trip from Bangalore. Not sure when again we will get chances to visit here again.

2. Mahadeva Temple, ITAGI

We left from Kukanoor to Itagi by auto, we bargained for INR 100/- fare for 15 min travel to the temple and drop back to a bus stop.

Mahadeva temple was such a feast to sight. One cannot stop marveling at the decorative sculptures, art in pillars and roofs, also on the mandapa of this temple.

The temple was open for visitors, but the main sanctum was closed with a view.

The main deity, Lord Siva, can be seen and worshipped behind the closed bars.

Since it has been recently taken under Archaeological Survey of India, lots of repair work was going on around the temple.

There was a full-time security guard who guided us around the temple (also took our pics).

We spent some time there, exploring the temple and chatting with temple committee members who were in charge of that ongoing renovation.

Itagi Mahadeva temple under Archealogical survey of India. Hampi nearby sightseeing places, in our Hami trip from Bangalore — Main mandap, Mahadeva Temple, ITAGI

On the way back, the Autowala dropped us in the main road 2km away from Mahadeva temple, where we boarded a bus to Koppala.

We didn’t go back all the way to Kukanoor bus station to catch the same bus to koppala. After 40 min long journey, we reached Koppala at 1.10pm.

Had satisfying lunch at Krishna Sagar veg restaurant, then boarded bus to Hosapet, 40 min journey towards the Hampi, Karnataka.

Itagi to Hampi: Sightseeing in Hampi

3.a. Virupaksha Temple

From Hosapet bus depot, we boarded a bus to Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site, which was the last stop, paid 26/-fare for 15 min journey.

All the greenery on both the sides showed that it is a flourishing town in Thungabadra river. We ignored all the tourist guide swarming us, went to the great monumental Virupaksha temple, a breathtaking Lord Siva temple built on a vast area.

Totally we spent about 40 mins before we picked a travel guide (autowala) to see other sightseeing places in Hampi. We negotiated for INR 400/- for dropping us at few places by auto – Narashima Temple and Badavalinga temple, Queen’s palace, Elephants castle, and finally Vittala Temple.

Hampi sightseeing places - Virupaksha temple — Hampi Images: Virupaksha Temple Gopuram view from the temple Pond

b. Vittala Temple

Same tourist guide dropped us at a nearby bus stop from Vittala temple, where we took a share auto to Hosapet bus depot which saved us time. Hosapet is big township compared to Koppala.

Had dinner at Udupi restaurant just opposite to the bus depot, then went by walk to board the return train at 9 pm to Bangalore.

This How To Reach Hampi Directly From Bangalore – 1 day Travel Itinerary in Hampi

Well we wanted to see places as much as we could in the trip planned, so we have covered Kukanoor and Itagi Mahamaya Temple in our last trip.

One can skip travelling to Kukanoor and Itagi, instead, go directly to Hampi (get down at Hosapet railway station) so that you can spend more time in Hampi itself.

If we would plan a Hampi trip from Bangalore again (by train or road), this is how our 1 day travel itinerary in Hampi would be-

Board Hampi express (Train No. 16592) from Bangalore City junction at 9.50 pm or Bangalore cantonment at 10.10 pm or Yelhanka Junction at 10.35 pm
Get down at Hosapet next morning aroung 7 am, take local bus / cab to Hosapet main bus stand
Have breakfast at Udupi restaurant in the Hosaper bus stand
Take a bus / cab to look around Hampi before you go to much visited tourist place Vittala Temple
Look around all the Hampi tourist places
Come back, board the return train from Hosapet to Bangalore by 9pm.
Next day you are in Bangalore.

Explore our categories for all our one day trips and two day trips from Bangalore.

How Our love for Bike Rides started in 2016?

Renu on December 20, 2016

night ride from bangaolore to Tiruvannamalai temple

This is how we started to love bike ride from the year 2016.

Never did we thought that we would become passionate bike riders since then.

Bike rides – Starting of our Wonderful Journey

It all started when me and my husband Rajesh went for a casual ride to a cafe, enjoyed hanging out there for sometime..

We were married in September 2015 in our native Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.

Since ours was an arranged marriage, As much as we enjoyed the weekend hot dates in awesome restaurants in Bangalore, we were equally bored of the rest of time watching TV and cooking that special weekend meals at home..

We then started to go out on almost all the weekends, at least for a cup of coffee to a nearby coffee shop or to spend a day at resorts in Kanakapura road.

Initial days, we went on bike rides to spend time in Go-karting and snacking in cafe’s in Kanakapura road and Mysore road.

Soon we started to search for weekend getaways in and around Bangalore. I then research on the places two days ahead of journey and also have Plan B just in case we changed our mind.

So this is how we started our bike rides purely for bonding and recreation.

Our First One-day Trip Bike Ride from Bangalore to Srirangapatna, on 26th Aug 2016.

We started our very first bike trip from Bangalore, our home, to Srirangapatna (near Mysore) and nearby places.

Here is the pic of Kaveri River, taken on the way to Srirangapatna, our very first Bike ride destination.

Bike rides images, One day trip from Bangalore — Kaveri River near Ranganathar Temple, Mysore

While we were there, we went to the famous Ranganathar Temple and Nimishamba Temple.

Less we knew at that time, life would present us beautiful moments to cherish forever..

to be continued… (Love for Bike rides).

3 Temples in Tiruvallur All Time Crowded (One day Trip)

Renu on November 30, 2016

This is our one day trip from Bangalore by train to visit 3 famous temples in Tiruvallur.

Tiruvallur is a small district in TamilNadu. Surrounded by Chennai, Kanchipuram, Nellore of Andra is famous for many temples in the city. There are 3 temples in Tiruvallur you must visit if you are planning for a one day trip here.

Apart from the 3 temples in the list, we have also visited another temple near Tiruvallur called Pallikondeswarar Temple in Surutapalli.

The reason why we chose to visit this place is that we did not want to miss it in our life time. Because it is believed to be the first temple where Pradosa Pooja was performed for the very first time about 1000 yrs ago. That’s why this place is also called “Pradosha Kshetram”.

Here is the travel plan of how we reached Tiruvallur and how we covered these temples by local transport.

Temples In Tiruvallur – Famous and All Time Crowded

On 26th November 2016, on an auspicious day of Sani Maha Pradosam, we went to visit famous temples in Tiruvallur.

It was a well planned one day trip from Bangalore by train. We did not book any accomodations nor did go sightseeing any other places apart from the destination.

I have given list of places you could couple with Tiruvallur at the end of this article.

List of Temples with Google Map Link

Here is the list of all the famous temples in Tiruvallur.

Vaidhya VeeraRaghava Perumal Temple – One of the famous Vishnu Temples, with the presiding deity Veeraraghava Perumal is in a reclining position. It is also one of the 108 Divya Desams. Devotees offer salt and pepper here and pray for curing any ill health. The sacred tank here is Hrittapanasini, believed to be holier than the river Ganga.
Sri JalaNarayana Temple – The specialty of this temple is that both the Lord Shiva and Vishnu are the presiding deities. Lord vishnu inside the water tank in the reclining position is the special attraction of this temple. Click here for Google map directions – https://goo.gl/maps/Mn9qNrLYV8CQJVyA7.
Not far from here is yet another famous temple named Vishwaroopa Panchamuga Anjaneyar temple. A majestic 40 feet monolithic idol of Lord Hanuman with 5 faces. It is one of the very famous temples in Tiruvallur and crowded on all saturdays and other special occasions. Here is the link – https://goo.gl/maps/MgWR6EeRgPGJTNta6
Surutapalli Pallikondeswarar, Suruttapalli, Andhra Pradesh – Located 26 kms from Tiruvallur, situated in Chittoor district of State Andra. It is yet another famous, historically important temple is Pallikondeswarar temple. Though it is quite far from our destination, this is a must see temple. The uniqueness of this temple is that the Lord Shiva in a reclining position just like Lord Ranaganathar (Lord Vishnu). Since it is a rare sight to see Lord Shiva in this avatar, it is one of my most favorite temples so far. Here is the location link – https://goo.gl/maps/Waq7cBKEqKPbEzEDA

How to Reach Tiruvallur From Bangalore

If you are travelling by road, you would need just half day to cover all the famous temples in Tiruvallur.

So you either make it just a one day trip or couple other places to make it a 2 days long road trip.

For travellers from Chennai, Kanchipuram, Vellore and Tirupati, Tiruvallur is a neighbouring town. Travelling from Chennai to Tiruvallur is smooth with little travel distances, well connected by local trains, buses and road.

You can easily travel, visit all the temples in Tiruvallur and return home on the same day.

Other than places mentioned above, a trip to Tiruvallur needs to be planned and arranged for accomodation.

When we travelled from Bangalore to Tiruvallur, we took a train from Bangalore KSR station, reached straight to Tiruvallur.

Thankfully we had Train – 12610 MGR Chennai central SF express from Bangalore to Chennai. We left KSR Bangalore by 8 AM, arrived at Tiruvallur the same day by 1.30 noon.

After a relaxed lunch in the local eatery, we took a bus straight to Surutapalli Temple. After about an hour of travel, we reached the temple, stood in the darshan que for about an hr and returned back to Tiruvallur.

Since it was late evening, we hired an auto to reach the rest of the temples before they close for the day.

Temples near Tiruvallur – Other famous places near by

If you are planning a road trip from Bangalore, then you could choose to stay at Vellore or Kanchipuram, which are the closest cities to Tiruvallur, as you have no good options in your destination.

Since you could cover all the temples in Tiruvallur in just half a day, you could very well plan the rest of the trip to spend sightseeing temples near Tiruvallur in places like Kanchipuram or Vellore or even Chennai or Puducherry.

If you ask one good suggestion on the temples near Tiruvallur – I would suggest “Tiruttani” a very famous Arupadai Murugan Temple, located at a distance of 43kms from Tiruvallur.

Tiruttani nearby temples – How We Went One Day Trip From Bangalore by Train.

In Vellore you could visit couple famous places like Lord Shiva temple called Jalakandeswarar temple, Tiruvalam Lord Shiva temple (Padal Petra stalam), Padavedu Amman temple, the two very famous Vallimalai Lord Muruga temple and Ratnagiri Balamurugan temple.

In Kanchipuram, house for famous Sakthi Peedam Kanchi Kamakshi temple other than many famous temples.

And you could also stretch your travel plan two more days to visit Chennai, Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry.

Now you know how to reach Tiruvallur from Bangalore. Also you have the list of places to visit in and around temples in Tiruvallur.

Hope this article helped you with travel plan.

From Bangalore to Hassan Road Trip: Very thrilling Night Bike Trip of 500kms

Renu on November 23, 2016

This is our thrilling story of riding motorbike at night among the avenue trees in our 500 kms bike trip, from Bangalore to Hassan road trip.

Two new riders on a bike.

In the pitch dark.

With just a backpack meant for a day trip.

No rooms booked.

Only tall never ending trees and extremely irritating bugs by our side.

This is our story of thrilling road trip to Hassan in pitch dark, covering 500 KMs under 36 hrs.

From Bangalore to Hassan Road trip – 500 KM thrilling bike ride

Who would have thought we would be riding among the never ending tall trees in pitch dark in our Bangalore to Hassan road trip.

Believe or not it was totally an unplanned journey and we were totally new to that long bike ride too.

In 2016, we were just starting to go out to the nearby places in Bangalore and testing the water.

We were not actually ready to go on long bike rides. We wanted to take it slow after our day bike trip experience from Bangalore to Lepakshi temple. It was quite a successful bike trip – properly planned and executed.

Now we had screwed it.

We didn’t plan well.

So, we didn’t have an itinerary laid for this unexpected delay.

Nor any rooms booked.

Above all, no mobile network to book any rooms.

What should have been a one day trip from Bangalore to Adichuchanagiri hills has turned into a 2 days of thriller ride.

A thrilling bike ride at night to Hassan, because we had no other option.

After a long leisure darshan at Kalabhairava temple, sitting on the top of Adichuchanagiri hills late in the evening – we had only two options in front of us.

Go back home riding 135 kms to Bangalore or ride 90 kms to Hassan which is relatively less distance so we can be safe soon?.

As a new bee just started travelling by bike to places, 135 kms seemed like a himalayan distance to cross.

(Hardly 3 months later we had covered 335 kms just in one day’s bike trip to Melkote. Read here).

Adichuchanagiri hills – The intial destination of our Night trip from Bangalore to hassan road trip

Initially days I had a hard time coping with the cool attitude of Rajesh. He was super cool in everything he did and that includes not bothering about sticking to the time schedule.

In many ways I appreciated his coolness but at times he tested my patience and gave me really hard time. Especially on the days when we had to run a marathon to reach the airport and railway stations. Couple of times we had a history of missing them too.

Soon when we really started loving our bike rides, he couldn’t wait to wake up and get ready before me.

Now, sitting on top of the Adichuchanagiri hills, blaming our “coolness” for not planning the trip well. Meanwhile, we were nervously trying to connect to the network to get a hang of the google map.

inside view of bairava temple in Adichuchanagiri hills — Inside view of bairava temple in Adichuchanagiri hills

By calculating the distances to home and to Hassan from adichunchanagiri hills, and with zero energy to drive , we decided upon the best shortest distance to hit the bed ASAP.

That best decision was to ride to Hassan in the pitch dark.

So we made a hotel reservation at La Flora Pavanputra Resort before we descended down the hill.

We both experienced a chill in our spine when the parking area was completely deserted. The very place was buzzing with lots of two wheeler and four wheeler is now empty.

The small shops selling toys near the temple entrance are now completely covered and locked under blue sheets.

We both exchanged a look, that said “we are totally screwed”.

Though we did not show any concern or fear on the face, we were totally terrified of the situation.

La Flora Pavanputra Resort Hassan – Thrilling Road trip comes to an end

For more than 3hrs, it was a never ending journey among the avenue trees, literally holding the jumping heart in our hands.

We did it.

Successfully made it to the resort, all in one piece and we couldn’t be more proud.

We appreciated each other and acknowledged that we played good team sports.

Had it been someone else in Rajesh’s place, I very much doubt their behavior in such adverse conditions.

I am pretty sure they never would have exhibited the same level of bravery and leadership. All kudos to Rajesh.

Of various trips and risks we undertook in our bike travel, this Bangalore to Hassan road trip stays close to our heart till date.

Also, this trip brought us recognition as “bike riders” among our friends on facebook.

And Rajesh has got many appreciation for his new milestone of driving 500 kms under 36 hrs.

Soon people started expecting bike travel posts from us during the weekends.

Following this thrilling unplanned trip, we went on a well planned night bike ride of 200Kms, read here.

3 Places We Visited From Hassan To Bangalore Road trip

Next day morning, woke up in our room with a grumbling stomach since we had not eaten anything since the time we left the Adichunchanagiri hills. We were just grateful to be alive and having found a hotel room, the thought of feeding our stomach did not occur at all.

Soon we checked out our room right after the complimentary breakfast, for sure we will never return to this anytime in the future.

Doddagaddavalli Lakshmi Devi Temple

We rode our bike towards Belur instead of towards Bangalore, to visit this very beautiful -never seen before kind of Hoysala architecture. Not just the architecture is unique, the idols inside the small sanctum are unique too. Along with Lakshmi devi and Kali devi, there were also statues of both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shivalinga guarded by 2 guardians standing tall from floor to the roof.

We reached the temple around 9.40am, and spent till 10.30am. We allowed ourselves inside the sanctum since there was no priest to be seen and the temple gate was not locked.

After darshan, we spent time in the pillar hall, eating the peanut we bought along the way.

Here is some information on the uniqueness of this Hoysala architecture I gathered on the internet.

“There are 92 Hoysala temples in Karnataka. These temples are known to be Ekakuta, Dwikuta, Thrikuta, Chatushkuta and Panchkuta, depending on the number of shrines and towers. This Mahalaxmi temple is the only Chathushkuta temple (four shrines and towers) built in Hoysala Architecture style.

The temple is said to be built in the year 1114 A.D, by Kallahana Rahutha(from Kolhapur, Maharashtra), a wealthy merchant in Hoysala court. The place was called Abhinava Kolhapura, connecting it with Kolhapur”.

overview of Lakshmi temple - Hoysala architecture — Overview of Lakshmi temple – Hoysala architecture

Hoysala architecture in karnataka — Close View of Doddagadduvalli Lakshmi devi temple

Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Nuggehalli

Luckily Lakshmi Narasimha temple was open for darshan around 1.10 pm when we reached there. We have travelled about 75kms from where we left, to reach this temple via Hassan – Bangalore highway. We had spent time till 1.50 pm, the priest left the temple open, closing only the sanctum doors. Main deity of this temple is Lord Lakshmi Narasimha with Lord Krishna in the nearby sanctum.

bangalore to hassan road trip — Lakshmi Narasimha temple

Yediyur Siddhalingeshwara temple, Kunigal district

Around 4.15 after lunch at Bellur cross, we stopped at a very crowded Yediyur Siddhalingeshwara temple on the way to our home. Though it was a small temple with Lord Shiva as the main deity, we spent around 45 mins for darshan since it was too crowded.

We didn’t want to do anymore visiting places or temples anymore since it was already evening and a lesson from the previous day was to start the bike before it’s too dark and too late.

Places to visit in Bangalore to hassan road trip — Yediyur siddalingeswara temple images

Finally a suggestion to the readers. If you are looking to extend your trip from Hassan, you could go to the following nearby places. Take help of google maps, to find these places.

Belur, 38kms
Chikamagalur, 63 kms
Mysore, 111kms
Coorg, 103kms
Shivamogga, 155kms
Kodagu, 115 kms

Unforgettable Road trip in Our Travel History

This was our first experience driving a bike late into the night.

And it was totally an unplanned journey from Bangalore to Hassan road trip.

We totally enjoyed our return journey easing all the tension from the previous night and enjoyed the ride.

It was a total of 256 kms of bike ride from our hotel room in Hassan to our home in Bangalore. And it was a grand total of 500kms bike riding from Bangalore to Hassan road trip.

Till date this trip makes one of the interesting dinner conversations with our friends.

Looking back it was all worth it.

Lepakshi Temple From Bangalore: Two States, One Day, 300 Kms Bike Trip

Renu on November 10, 2016

We went on One day Bike trip to Lepakshi Temple from Bangalore. Our friends called us crazy to cover a total of 300 Kms by bike in just one day.

Lepakshi Temple From Bangalore – Distance and Route

On 5th November 2016, We went on One day bike trip to the very famous Lepakshi Temple in Anantapur District in Andra Pradesh district. After visiting Boga Nandeeshwara temple in Nandi Hills along the way.

Lepakshi temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Veerabhadra, widely popular by the name “Lepakshi” – a village located in Karnataka, 15 kms from Hindupur and 122 kms from Bangalore. The distance may vary a little based on the location you start from Bangalore. Lepakshi temple gained popularity for its historic importance and archaeological significance (especially for its floating pillars).

We have travelled 165 kms from our home to Anantapur district in Andra Pradesh state, a long ride on just one way.

This is how we went to Lepakshi Veerabhadra Temple from Bangalore, one of the most memorable one day bike trip in our life.

Lepakshi Temple from Bangalore: Two States By Bike in One day

On our one day trip to Lepakshi temple from Bangalore, we first visited Nandi hills temple at Doddaballapur. Since we were frequent visitors this Nandhi hills – Boganandeeswara temple, and it is located on the way to Lepakshi, we stopped for a quick darshan here.

Soon after lunch we then rode for about 80 kms to reach Lepakshi village, parked our bike, across the small shopping street.

Well, at 3 pm, after a long bike ride in the sun, travelled across a state, to witness the beauty of the Vijayanagar empire’s architecture.

We spent about 2 hrs hours around the temple, clicking pics and hanging out, cherishing every moment possible.

The main sanctum, was a small cave with many hindu idols, along with the Veerabhadra idol, there was a notable MahaKali statue, each idol speaking a history of its own.

After a calm and quiet darshan, we headed back to Bangalore, reached home by 8 PM.

Overall it was a smooth ride in Bangalore – Hyderabad Highways.

Read – Kolar is another best place for one day road trip from Bangalore.

One day trip From Bangalore _ Lepakshi temple images — Lepakshi Temple Entrance – Kodikambam

One day trip From Bangalore _ Lepakshi temple photos — Lepakshi temple photos

one day trip to Lepakshi temple - legendary temple — A Shivalinga Built By Cholas – Lepakshi Temple images

Lepakshi Veerabhadra temple – History, Facts and Temple Timings

These are the historic and archaeological importance of this Lepakshi temple –

It is a majestic temple built on a vast area (called tortoise hill) with astonishing sculptures and paintings on the pillars and roofs. Famous for the mural paintings of Vijayanagara Kings. Of the 70 pillars in the Vasantha mandapa/ Natya mandapa, one of the pillars does not rest completely on the ground a.k.a hanging pillar or floating pillar.
a breathtaking single rock sculpture consisting of a seven hood naga wrapped around Sivalinga and a huge Ganesha idol.
the ruins of a “Kalyana Mandapa” with unfinished pillars. (There is also a story that it is not actually a Kalyana mandap, it was a Vishnu temple which was destroyed by human conflicts, the Vishnu statue then kept inside the main sanctum.)
Several forms of Lord Shiva idols can be seen – a majestic Kankala Murthi, Dakshinamurthi, Tripuranthaka or Tripurasurasamhara and Ardhanareeshwara
Lord Hanuman’s small mandap and Goddess Sita’s footprint and a waterhole nearby
A huge Nandhi statue, a guardian at 1km before the lepakshi temple

And Finally, about another speciality of this temple which is not mentioned anywhere in the internet and I have no supporting documents to support the following points mentioned by one of the local guides in Lepakshi is this – (correct if am wrong)

This temple was said to be built around a Sivalinga statue built by Cholas, much older than this temple. (See in images)

About the Lepakshi Temple timing –

Unlike other Hindu temples, this temple is closed by 6PM. It is open on all hours from 6 AM to 6 PM for tourists and devotees.
During our ride to Lepakshi temple from Bangalore, we did not find any proper restaurant in the highways except for the one we had lunch near nandhi hills. So there are hardly any good choices nearby Lepakshi temple vicinity.

Although there are many blog articles written on visiting and their experience on travelling to Lepakshi temple from Bangalore, we didn’t read any of this. If we did, we would not have missed the famous “the hanging pillar” of this temple.

To Know more about the history of this temple, you can visit this website for more information.

How We travel by Bike?

Like most people ask, we don’t hurt our shoulders by carrying any backpacks while riding motorbike. All I carry on me is a small sling bag to keep money and mobile phones.

So how do we travel free?

If it is just one day ride, we carry a tank bag. This is a convertible backpack, with magnet to bind to the bike, sits comfortably on the bike tank without falling off, so we ride carefree. On long bike trips, we use both tank bag and a saddle bag for more luggage requirements.

When we went to Talakona in AndraPradesh, we carried saddle bags since it was just a 2 days trip. Even tough it was just a 2 days trip, we wanted to carry saddle bags to accommodate as much as water bottles as we were travelling to a rural area. While we were there, we have been trekking to the famous Talakona forest and waterfalls.

When we went on 11-days long bike trip in 2017, we carried both tank bags and saddle bags. Saddle bag only for clothes and travel essentials, while the tank bag to accomodate electronics like laptop, DSLR camera, chargers and stuff.

For this trip – Lepakshi temple from Bangalore, we carried just a tank bag, to keep couple of water bottles.