Visiting Places

Udupi is a divine shrine in the coastal region of Western Ghats. Situated about 60 kms from Mangalore, it is a fairly large and upcoming town that was sanctum of Madhvacharya, the great Sanskrit Philosopher.

The famous temple here, has a fascinating idol of Lord Krishna that is richly adorned with jewels. It is the center for education, social and religious activities. Distance - 0.3km.

Shree Mahakali Temple is situated 3 kms away from Udupi, Ambalpady is a well-known Shakti kendra. The 500-year old temples of Mahakali and Janardhana are famous.

Kadiyali Mahishamardini Temple of Udupi is one of the oldest temples in the district of South Kanara and has a history of more than 1200 years. The bearing of the Goddess in the standing posture, Her facial expression and the casual way of Her holding the weapons shows that it is but a child's play for Her to vanquish evil. This is a sculpture of unique beauty, devoid of any ornamental trappings. One falls under Her divine spell the moment they lay eyes on Her.

Indrani Temple is situated about 2 km east from Udupi and it is in the West of Vedachala (Manipal). The Temple, belonging to eleventh century, was last renovated in 1993 as per the plans of Raval Padmanabha Shastri, former priest of Sri Pashupathi Temple, Nepal. The whole sanctum sanctorum had been rebuilt in stones. The Goddess Durga is exhibited herself here in the form of five laterite Lingas (Panchadurga). At its back portion, an idol of Vanadurga is found. It has been replaced be a stone sculpture as the earlier wood sculpture (Daru Shilpa) was deteriorated due to exposure to sum, rain and other natural factors.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education is synonymous with excellence in higher education. Over 28,000 students from 57 different nations live, learn and play in the sprawling University town, nestled on a plateau in Karnataka’s Udupi district. It also has nearly 2500 faculty and almost 10000 other support and service staff, who cater to the various professional institutions in health sciences, engineering, management, communication and humanities which dot the Wi-Fi-enabled campus.

In the temple town of Udupi, a small chapel dedicated to Mother of Sorrows was built and inaugurated on 25th Nov. 1880. In 1880 the then Bishop of Mangalore, His Lordship N. PAGANI issued a decree establishing the independent Udupi Parish, with Fr. J. N. MASSE as the first Parish Priest. A small Church was built by Fr. Casmir Fernandes which was blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Perini on 8th Feb. 1918.

With a capacity of accommodating almost 3000 worshipers and built over two acres of land, the district’s largest mosque, the Jamia Masjid was inaugurated on August 10 in Udupi.

The Masjid stands three-storeys tall, with the basement comprising of a prayer hall separate for women capable of accommodating 400 women at a time with the ground floor being the main prayer hall. The complex also includes a parking area.

Malpe Beach located about eight kms to the west of Udupi. One of the best tourist destination of Karnataka and near to popular Island St. Marrys Island.

Malpe is an important port of the Karnataka coast. It is situated at the mouth of the Malpe/Udyavara River. The river is navigable to small cargo boats for about ten kms during high tide. The place has fascinating natural scenic view. It has been a centre of commercial activities for a long time, and one plus point is that it is a natural port.

A hamlet of Padu village about l2 kms south of Udupi Kaup is situated on the coastal belt, which passes through the West Coast National Highway. Marda Heggade, a chieftain, rose to power here during the Vijayanagara days. It has an old lighthouse, the guiding star of navigators who are warned of the presence of dangerous rocks in the sea. This Tower of light not only guides the ships but also has a monumental significance. Positioned all alone it spreads light on the shore of darkness. It was most probably begun in 1906 on the rocks and in about 1935 the tower was all set. The man made tower is at the height of about 34 meters and its light spreads over a distance of about 34 miles and can be seen from a distance of about 100 miles. The lantern has a burner of 55 meter P. V. burner comprising of 30 pieces, 5 panels and 3.6 diameter glass. The surrounding glass has a height of 1.83 meters. It has a spiral staircase. The fuel used for the lamp is kerosene Recently the electricity supply is also provided at the light tower.There is also an old ruined fort.

Sode Mutt is a one amongst 8 mutts of Udupi. Undaru Sri Vishnumurthy temple of Innanje belonged to the Sode Mutt. The temple is renovated and reestablishing rituals are going on. Here, on the door frame of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple an inscription was found. It was written in four lines in Kannada characters.

The record stated that the temple renovated by Vishvendra Tirtha Sripadangalu of Sode on 1926, Krodhana Samvatsara, Suddha 9th Sundayand reestablished with the ritual Brahmakalasha. Accordingly, the date corresponded to 21st February 1926 AD Sunday.

As stated in the record the temple got renovated 93 years ago and now again renovated in 2018.

The Temple is within half a kilometer to the west on the bank of the holy river “Seetha” and in the distance of 32 Kms from Udupi, the sacred land of Lord Krishna “Shree Kshetra Hosakatte” has an antiquity of 800 years. Shree Brahmalingeshwara the main deity and the subsidiary deities of the ‘Kshetra’ have been fulfilling the prayers of the devotees with good health, peace and prosperity, happiness and enjoyment in their lives

The devotion of goddess mari was commenced in Tulunadu during 17th century. Basappa Nayaka, one of the prominant rulers of Keladi royal family built a fort “Mahoragadha” on Kapu seashore in 1743. He also constructed a fort in Mallar to Shelter his military (Dandu). The goddess “Dandinamari” came along the military and settled in Kapu

During the 3rd century AD, Moolikapura was ruled by Dharmapala belonging to chandravamsha and kashyapa gotra. Raja Mayura Varma ruled the Kadamba dynasty (A.D 340-369) during this period. King Dharmapala named it Moolikapura as that place was abundant in medicinal plants and herbs. He worshipped goddess Jaladurgaparameshwari as their family deity. From then to now, Mulki (as it came to be called later), became historically famous as the punyakshetra of Bappanadu Sri Durgaparameshwari temple. Called as ‘Ulladi’ by the Tuluvas, the goddess is worshipped by everyone without racism and casteism.

During the early part of Kaliyuga, the good earth was struck by famine and pestilence. It did not rain for years. Even Brahmins were constrained to eat meat and the people were on the verge of becoming cannibals. Jabali, the great sage was distrubed in his ‘tapas’ by these troubles. Through his ‘Jnana Drishti’ he realised the root cause of all this. He found that Arunasura, the ‘rakshasa’ who escaped from death and fled when Goddess Durga slew Shambasura had increased his life span by following the teachings of his Guru. He had made the people stop all the yagas and yajnas as a revenge against the ‘devas’, and this had resulted in drought and scarcity for years.

Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, the land of righteousness and piety, is one of south India’s most renowned religious landmarks with a history as old as 800 years. Manjunatheshwara, the chief deity of the spiritual abode, has taken the form of a shivalinga and made immaculate, the temple town of Dharmasthala since and forever. Lord Manjunatheshwara, is being worshipped in a very unusual yet exceptionally inordinate manner in Shree kshetra dharmasthala, as this Shaiva temple is beseeched by Vaishnava priests and administered by Jain descendants.

“Dharmasthala”, the abode of dharma, is the quintessence of humanity and faith. As the name suggests, the word dharma in its truest sense means righteousness, it is the embodiment of the world’s most divine emotions in spite of one’s cast, creed or religion.

Kukke Shri Subrahmanya temple comes under the muzarai department of government of Karnataka. Lapped in the luxurious abundance of the beauty of the nature the village of Subrahmanya lies in the Sullia Taluk in Dakshina Kannada with a sanctity which very few places can boast of. The temple is situated in the heart of the village. Nature reveals herself in all her unhidden beauty in the rivers, forests and mountains which the temple is surrounded by.
Lord Subrahmanya is the main deity of Kukke Subrahmanya Temple. The main entrance of the temple lies to the east. The devotees will enter from west through main Gopuram and enter the inner quadrangle from the east. There is a pedestal in the centre of the sanctum. On the upper Dias there is the idol of Shree Subrahmanya and then the idol of Vasuki and little lower the idol of Shesha. While entering the inner quadrangle devotees should remove their shirts and banyans.

Saavira Kambada Basadi, a Jain temple in Karnataka, is well known across the world not only because it was built in 1430, but because of the remarkable pillars that are an integral part of the temple. The temples is also known as the Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani Basadi or the crest jewel of the three worlds. 

The local Chieftain Devaraya Wodeyar initiated the construction of the temple in 1430, but the temple as it stands today includes additions made in 1962. The temple was constructed over a painstaking period of 31 years. An equivalent amount of 9 crores was spent in the construction of the fascinating temple.

As per ancient Scriptures and inscriptions, along with other proofs found in the locality, it is clear that the Kollur Mookambika Temple has been an abode of Devi Shakthi’s worship for centuries. In an ancient inscription (dated 1481 A D) found here, the source of the Shakthi has been described. Shree Mookambika Devi in the form of Linga is the Adi Shakthi, the Creator and the protector of all forms of life.

Many of the local Kings have given lots of donations to this Temple. Prominent among them are the Kings of the “Keladi Dynasty”. They have been offering a variety of worships to the Goddess. Prominent Kings of the Keladi Dynasty, Sankanna Nayaka and Shivappa Nayaka had renovated the Temple and gave donations for the maintenance of the Temple. The Kings of Keladi Nayak Dynasty had believed that the Goddess is the symbol of victory. As such whenever they would win a war or drive away their enemies they were devoting the victory and celebrating it before the Goddess.

The ancient temple of Sri Sharada, the presiding deity of Sringeri has a glorious history that begins with the setting up of the Dakshinamnaya Peetham by Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada. Originally it was an unpretentious shrine with the Murti of Sharada made of sandalwood, installed over the Sri Chakra that Sri Adi Shankara carved on a rock. Subsequently Sri Bharati Krishna Tirtha and Sri Vidyaranya had a temple built in the Kerala style, with timber and tiled roof. Sri Bharati Krishna Tirtha substituted the sandalwood idol with the present golden idol.

“Sri Kshetra Horanadu” is situated on the banks of river Bhadra in a remote corner of Chikkamagaluru dist, Karnataka, surrounded by the natural vegetation, forest, green lands, and natural beauty of the Western Ghats. The great deity of Adishakthyathmaka Sri Annapoorneshwari’s Prathistapana was done by his holiness Agasthya Maharishi several centuries back. The hereditary Dharmakartharu of our family started 400 years back. Till the 5th Dharmakartharu, the temple was having a very small structure surrounded by full of natural vegetation and forest. Even then at least one or more people used to visit the temple, have pooja and were provided with free food {annaprasadam} and shelter and it is continued till date.

The ancient Mangaladevi temple is in Bolar, 3 kms. from Mangalore city bus stand. According to the legend, the name “Mangalore”, originated from the Goddess Mangaladevi who is enshrined in this temple, built in the tenth century in memory of a Rajmata of Malabar of the same name, who is said to have accompanied Yogi Matsyendranath, a prominent Guru of the Nath tradition. While he was on tour in Malabar for propagating his message, the Rajmata became his follower, renounced her worldly life and being initiated in the Nath tradition, and settled down at Bolar. At first there was a small building for her residence. Later a temple was constructed in her memory and an image of the Divine Mother was enshrined in it. This was the origin of the Mangaladevi temple which was re-built by the erstwhile ruler of Mangalore in 968 AD Thereafter the place came to be known asMangalapura, which, in course of time, was changed to Mangalore. The sculpture of Goddess Mangaladevi is perhaps the earliest Durga sculpture in the South Kanara District

The great saint and social reformer Brahmashree Narayana Guru who gave an all time relevant universal message – *”One Caste, One Religion and One God; Educate to be Free, Organise to be strong”*. Shree Gokarnanatha Kshethra, Kudroli is thr one and only temple in Karnataka sanctified and consecrated by Brahmashree Narayana Guru in the year 1912, which is now accepted by our community as our *”Aadi”*, which reflects our unity and strength. Under the dynamic leadership of our popular leader Sri B. Janardhana Poojary, Ex- Central Minister, the historical renovation could become reality in 1991. Since then *Navarathri Utsav* is being celebrated with the installation of Shree Sharada Matha along with Shree Mahaganapathi and Navadurgas culminating with the grand and highly attractive *’Shobha Yathra’* which is now popularly known at the international level as *”Mangaluru Dasara”*.