Lepakshi Ride - Navi & Bullet

[ss80]

Hi All,
One of my close friends bought a Classic 500 matte black and he wanted to go out for a short ride somewhere around Bangalore. My better half too wanted to get out of city for a fresh breath of air, hence we just planned up this trip.




I initially thought of renting a bike from Metro bikes etx, but after the last horror with ONN bikes, decided to rather go in my own NAVI! That's right 220kms on a Navi, as both I & my wife can ride, if its a bike, I alone will have to ride all the way & have to do multi tasking like - ride, listen to her, respond, nod head when I cant hear a thing but still have to agree .

We planned to start at say 6am and left a little late & reached hebbal by 6.40am. It was cold but we had no clue how the climate would be for the next few hrs. We rode towards Chikkaballapue & as soon as we crossed Yelahanka, heavy fog all over on the highway & this continued for like almost 50kms+ in super dense fog.

Visibility got worse as time passed & after sometime we had to stop as we could not see anything more than 10 -20mtrs from us. We enjoyed the ride throughout & both vehicles had no issues.

We stuck to 70 - 80kmph & everything was just good.








I was kind of drenched one side completly


From here, I sit behind and try to find comfort on the half-my-rear sized seat of navi :)


By 08.00am we reached the Kamath on the way, had nice idli vada & stopped no where till we reached the Lepakshi town.


The Wide entrance with bird on top.

As you approach near the town, you can notice another bird (Jatayu) idol far away. It wasn't as crowded like before despite being a Sunday.


The board explaining in detail about the temple. It's a ASI site, so open from 6am to 6pm only.


You can find tonnes of photos of temple exterior on the internet, so I am posting only the detailed/ inner side sculptures etc
One of these sculptures is like 3D! 2 images in one sculpture.

The temple has lots of roof paintings, makes us wonder how on earth they painting on roof! It would take crazy amount of skills, energy & interest to do these. Enjoy the pics.

 

[ss80]

Some more pics.
The size of the temple, arts etc simply leave you stunned especially when you visit the first time.

History: (As told by the priest)
The King did not have a heir and hence prayed to god, offering to build a temple, if he was blessed with one. His wish was fulfilled & hence in gratitude and faith, he built this temple. Unlike other temples, you cant see the Garbhagudi directly from outside and the entire temple is built at a height, as its believed that no one should fall on the line-of-sight of the angry god, hence the main idol's passage is faces a metal pillar outside the temple & then the compound wall.











We left Lepakshi & headed towards Chitravathi Dam that sits on the highway towards Bangalore. Just a 10mins site seeing place, Yes, there is water - last time it was dry.







After all this we had lunch at a okayish restaurant, it bang at that Chikkaballapur bypass & moved on to Bangalore.

Forgot to mention, we spotted many Superbikes ripping across on this Highway in the morning.

A bit of offroading too -

 

[bhvm]

Lovely pics bro.
Navii is marketed as an adventure/Quirky bike and you are using it the right way.
A small scoot at 70~80, with 2 people. Quite fast, I must say.

 

[SilverEyez]

Amazing ride with beautiful pics of the temple.

 

[radiant]

Nice ride and temple pics. Lepakshi indeed is an architectural marvel. We didn't know there is water in Chitravathi Dam.

Lepakshi has an interesting association with the Ramayana, and legend says was blessed by the presence of Lord Rama. The lore goes that when Lord Rama, met the dying bird Jatayu here, he helped him attain Moksha by saying the words “Le Pakshi”, which in Telugu means “rise bird”. Hence, the village got its name Lepakshi!

The legend of the Hanging Pillar goes like, a British engineer tried to rectify this architectural aberration. Though, he managed to make one corner of the pillar to touch the ground. It led to a tectonic shift in the roof of this outer hall, and pillar is now leaning on and the roof paintings distorted. Research revealed that the pillar acted as a ballast to the hall’s roof. Hence, a minor change could ruin this balance and cause irreparable damage to the structure.

 

[VR Shenoy]

Nice Pictures of the Temple Lepakshi.
Looks like it has been resonantly maintained.
So many pillars of this temple reminds me of 1000 pillar Basadhi at Moodbidri.

 

[ss80]

Lovely pics bro.
Navii is marketed as an adventure/Quirky bike and you are using it the right way.
A small scoot at 70~80, with 2 people. Quite fast, I must say.

Although it might sound funny, I am waiting for funds to take away this engine & keep it home. Find a 125cc activa engine (I believe its a direct fit) & swap it in NAVI!

 

[bhvm]

Buddy its not about engine. For smoothness, Its good idea. Not much else.
Even 70~80 on small scoots is quite scary.

Small tyres, Puny brakes, poor handling/ Cornering.
Plus in worst case, you do not have metal body/Airbags/ABS to protect you.
Be careful bro. Drive big burly SUVs at 100. Not small scoots.

 

[ss80]

Buddy its not about engine. For smoothness, Its good idea. Not much else.
Even 70~80 on small scoots is quite scary.

Small tyres, Puny brakes, poor handling/ Cornering.
Plus in worst case, you do not have metal body/Airbags/ABS to protect you.
Be careful bro. Drive big burly SUVs at 100. Not small scoots.

The 125cc desire is just to get 0 - 60 faster,
otherwise as you said, 2wheels & 3 digit speeds are not my cup of tea

With pillion, when I cross humps etx it takes a bit of time to reach 40 -50kmph.

 

[bhvm]

Yes noticed that on my activa too. It gets bogged down with a heavy pillion.