CHAPTER-I ' HISTOBICAL BACKGROUND OF THE REGION A, TOPOGRAPHICAL ANTECEDENTS LepakshI is a moderate village (Lat.13® ^8* N, Long# 7 7 ^ 3 6 ' E)** situated at about 15 l*i. east of Hindupur (Fig, I) on'fthe Kodikpnda-Anantapur road in Hindupur taluq of Anantapur D istric t, Andhra Pradesh, The place is very much known for its monumental temple architecture of Vijayanagara period. Especially the extensive mural paintings executed on the temple ceilings are world famous for th e ir special style and theme, B, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF,THE NAME In the epigraphical records available on the temple walls, the place is variously spelt as Lepaksha^, Lepikshl^ and Lepakshipura!^’ Even in the inscriptions of Achyutaraya's period (1529-^2) available at Tirumala-Tirupati, the place is also referred as Lepakshi, a village in Roda Nadu sub­ division of Penugonda-rajya. It seems that the place was an insignificant one before the constriiction of the magnificent temple and came into prominence during Achyuta­ raya' s reign (1529-^2 A.D.) especially due to the munificent activities of Virupanna, a royal officer in the personal staff of Achyutaraya^ who hailed from Lepakshi, The li t e r a l meaning of the word is (Lepa + Akshi — Lepakshi) an embalmed eye or a painted eye. How the village derived its name is difficult to explain. However, some scholars trie d to co-relate the l i te r a l meaning of the word with the painted eyes of the figures drawn in the mural paintings. But the epigraphical evidences show that the place was already known by this name much earlier to the construction of the temple, because the father of Virupanna was called as LepakshI Lakkusetti in the epigraphs. Some believed that the place derived its name from a female deity^ who might have existed at the place earlier to the construction of the temple. C. PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE PLACE The historical background of the region is generally guided by its physical features. They are the main deciding factors of the cultural heritage of a particular area. The region in which,LepakshI is situated forms part of the northern extremity of the Mysore plateau having an average height of 2,200 f t, above the mean sea level and having a 7 gentle slope towards the south ,_ The two important rivers, Penneru and Chitravati, originate in Nandi hills of Karnataka state and flow at 15 km, apart on either side of LepakshI. The area is generally flat, surrounded by hills. The land is generally poor and in fe rtile formed from the granitoid rocks. The granite occurs in clusters and detached dome-shaped masses often of great boldness and beauty are seen. The highest clu ster lie s at Penukonda Q (309 1 ft.) on which an impregnable fort of Vi^ayanagara period was built. The eastern part of the region is more hilly • There are only five ranges of hills, not of much height, which run in north-south orientation. In these, there are some isolated peaks, some of them having precipitous sides which offered,quite convenient strategic points for the construction of certain famous hill-forts like Gooty, Rayadurg, Kalyapadurg, etc., which played a commendable role in the history of medieaval India. Some of the dome-shaped granitic rocks have offered a convenient place for erection of beautiful temples like Lepakshl. Thus, major portion of the region comprises of the formation of the old archaean variety of rocks such as schist, gniess and granite of which the last has supplied a bulk of building material not only for the construction of huge cyclopean fo rt walls but also gigantic temple complexes especially during the medieaval and late medieaval periods in the region. The discovery of rock edicts at Yerragudi^ in Anantapur district and the other sites with rock edicts at 10 - ' 11 -12 Siddhapur» Jatinga Rameswaram , Brahmagiri and Rajulamandagirl**^ situated in the adjacent districts of the region clearly indicate that this region was under Mauryan rule sometime in 3rd Cent. B.C. After the downfall of the Mauryas, along the other parts of Andhra Pradesh, this came under the Satavahana sway. The recent exploration w « il|. and excavations at Sasanakota , a site in the vicinity of Lepakshi in Hindupur taluq has further confirmed the above analogy. The site has yielded ancient bricks of ^0 x 20 cm. size. Copper coins with elephant symbol on the obverse and early historical pottery all datable to Satavahana period has also been reported. The recent excavation at Palavoy”*^ in the Kalyandurg taluq of the same district has yielded a Satavahana copper coin with a legend on its obverse stating that it was issued by Gautamiputra Satakarni. The availability of hundreds of lead coins mostly of Satavahana kings at Andapur in Cuddapah d is tric t further confirms that this region was under Satavahanas hegemony for a pretty long period. After the Satavahanas, it seems that certain parts of Satavahana empire in between the Krishna and the Kaveri rivers had gone under the rule of the Pallavas and some into the hands of the Chutu kings of BanavasI, Some lead coins with horse symbol and inscribed with the name H ariti ( a part of the name_pf,Chutus) have been reported from some parts of Anantapur_and Cuddapah districts3^ At the same time another dynasty, i.e., the Kadambas, who were originally subordinate to the Pallavas, established th e ir supremacy over south-western part of Anantapur district. There were continuous conflicts between the Pallavas and the Kadambas for the control of the area, and ultimately to arrest the latter's supremacy, the Pallavas were compelled to bring Gangas in to the region. The two copper plate grants issued by the Western Ganga kings found at Sasanakota 18 near Hindupur and Penukonda , dated to the Vth and 5th Cent. A.D., point out their control over the region. In the latter part of the 6th Cent. A.D., the -3 Chalukyas of Badaml invaded this part of the country and subdued not only the Western Gangas but also Nala chiefs who were controlling Nalavadi Vishaya (the present Madakasira taluq and some parts of adjacent area). The Chalukyan inscriptions found in this region range in date from 609 to A.D. The other epigraphs found in the region also indicate that the Banas, an important feudatory dynasty_which rose to power during 5th Cent. A.D. with their head-quarters_at Parigi a place near Hindupur, had a firm control over the adjacent region. They were initially vassals of the Kadambas, then of the Western Gangas, the Chalukyas of Badami and finally of the Pallavas. They fought several battles with the Nolambas and the Western Gangas as a llie s of the Vaidumbas. Their inscriptions found in the region range in date from the 9th to the 12th Cent. A.D. A.D- _ By the middle of_the 8th Cent.j^ the Rastrakutas, though not having direct connection, controlled the politics of the region, through their powerful allies^ • • iO the Nolambas, who held th e ir sway over Nolambawadi 32,000. Their principal cities Uchhangi, Hinjera (Hemavati) formed parts of th e ir region. Inspite of several conflicts with the Banas, the Vaidumbas, the Cholas, the Western Gangas and even with the Rashtrakuta imperial power for some time, the Nolambas continued to hold their sway over the territory upto the end of 10th cent. A.D. Their inscriptions have been found at Hinjeru— (Hemavati) 20 “■ --v» TJcchang?^ Kambaduru^^(Kalyandurg taluq) and Madakaslra?^ About A.B.973> the Kastrakuta power had declined and the Chalukyas of Kalyani rose to prominence. Accordingly all the feudatories of the region shifted their allegiance to the Chalukyas. During Taila's regime the Chalukyas fought b a ttle s with the Cholas for the supremacy over Nolambavadi. The Kogali inscription dated to 992 A,D. refers to the victory overChola king and his rule over Roddanadu or Roddam which is in Penukonda taluq and also his supremacy over Nolambavadi. Even afte r his death in 997 A.D., his successor waged several battles against Cholas who retained th e ir supremacy over the region* Several inscriptions of Vikramaditya YI (1076-1126 A,D,) pli. oc: 26 were found at Konakondla , Uchchangidurga ^ Hemavati , 27 Kambaduru , P ollki (Gooty talu q ), Sangameswaram (Rayadurg taluq) of the region. Towards the end of his rule, Vishnuvardhana Bittiga, his Hoyasala subordinate, revolted against him and occupied some parts of Nolambavadi, Roddam and the area in between Pinakini and Jayamangali rivers which is only 20 km, from Lepakshi. But the subsequent inscriptions of the Chalukyan kings in the region, testify „that the Hoyasala occupation was temporary and the Chalukyas had their control over the region till 1200 A.I>., when Somesvara IV, the la s t ru ler of the Chalukyan dynasty, was defeated by his Hoyasala subordinate Ballala II and occupied Chalukyan territory. At the same time, the Yadavas of Devaglri also waged wars against the Hoyasalas and retained some territory in the region upto 1220 A.D. and were successful in their attempt, for shorter period to intrude into the Chalukyan territory* Eallala III brought the entire area around Penukonda including Hindupur and its adjacent lands under Hoyasala domination and appointed his governor and posted him at Penukonda, At th at time, certain areas around Hemavatl and Tadapatri were under the control of certain local chiefs called • 2ft N ijJu g al Cholas and Vaidumbas respectiTely, At the end of 13th cent., the Muslim rulers of Delhi tried to bring the Deccan under their control^^ which resulted in.political uncertainity in the region.