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"Located in the village of Lepakshi, about 123 km from Bengaluru, this 16th-century shrine built under Vijayanagar patronage sits on a tortoise-shaped rocky outcrop and is guarded by a granite bull. The site is famed for exquisite sculptures, rare frescoes and finely chiselled carvings, and houses a famous 'hanging pillar'—one of about 70 pillars that does not touch the floor—along with a range of local myths including giant footprints, huge carved plates on rock, a single-stone granite cobra and crimson marks on a wall said to ooze blood." - Meenakshi J