The marvellous Lepakshi (Veerabhadra Swamy temple complex) seems to be getting closer to international recognition as UNESCO has included it in the Tentative list of world heritage structures. Built on a tortoise shaped rocky hill called Kurmasailam, Lepakshi is known for its Vijayanagara style of architecture as it was built by Virupanna and Veerana, two brothers who were governors under the Vijayanagara Empire.

The 16th century temple is a fine spectacle of timeless art with murals and frescoes. The main attraction of Lepakshi is Basavanna which is the largest monolithic sculpture of a Nandi (bull). The other remarkable and engineering wonder of the temple is the hanging pillar. Though the outer portion of the temple has a big hall with 70 stone pillars and one of the pillars does support the ceiling but it doesn’t touch the floor as there is a marginal gap between the base of the pillar and the temple floor. YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy hoped to see this heritage site in the final list of the global heritage list.

ఏకశిలపై తొలచిన లేపాక్షి నందికి అరుదైన వారసత్వ సంపదగా గుర్తింపు పొందే అవకాశం కలిగింది. యునెస్కో వారసత్వ కట్టడాల తాత్కాలిక జాబితాలో చోటు దక్కించుకున్న లేపాక్షి అరుదైన గుర్తింపునకు చేరువకావడం సంతోషంగా ఉంది. యునెస్కో తుది జాబితాలోనూ ఈ శిల్పాలయానికి చోటు దక్కాలని ఆకాంక్షిస్తున్నా.
— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) March 29, 2022

The Nandi was part of Andhra Pradesh government’s tableau during the 2021 Republic Day parade in New Delhi.The other entry in the Unesco heritage list is Meghalaya’s living root bridge. There are close to 100 known living root bridges which can be found in 72 villages across rivers or running streams in the state.