Gita Mandir, Somnath

These are group of temples at Somnath situated on the banks of a Hiren river. This is a calm and serene place just 5 kms away from the Someshwar Mahadev Temple.

Gita Mandir is modern temple built by Birla family in 1970, which is dedicated to the Bhagwat Gita. 

Inside the temple there are 18 pillars and each pillar symbolizing a chapter from the Gita.

The main deity of the temple is Lord Krishna. 

Mainly Balram took Krishna here after Bhalka Tirth and his footprint is here at this place. 

Veerabhadra Temple, Lepakshi

The Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi has been built on a low altitude hillock of a large exposure of granite rock. This 16th century temple built by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire.

The architecture of the temple is that of Vijaynagar Style of that period. The main temple is laid out in three parts: the assembly hall, ante chamber and the sanctum. The assembly hall is a large sized open hall with a large space in its central part.

On the pillars and walls there are carvings of saints, guardians, musicians, dancers and 14 avatars of Shiva. Every pillar is of different style and shape. The open space in the middle part of the hall has large columns which have carvings of triple figures.

The temple also has a hanging pillar which is a medieval architectural wonder to witness. Out of the seventy pillars, this one pillar does not rest on the ground completely but hangs in the air, with enough space between its base and the ground to pass a sheet of paper through it.

On every corner of the temple one can find either carvings or paintings.