The Trip through Pics

The Lord Ganesha temple situated near to Kukke Subrahmanya temple. (left).

A bird's eye view of the nature from the Bahubali's statue situated in Dharmasthala (below).


A scene depicting the history of Mother Ganga's flow to earth with the help of Lord Siva (below).
Udupi Sreekrishna Temple Gopura.
Lord Harihara as sceen on the Gopura of Kumbakshi Harihara temple (left). A scene of Maravanthe beach (above). A very old "Rath" in Gokarna (right).

Temple X: Kateel

From Kumbakshi we directed towards Kateel which is a beautiful place situated near Mangalore. The way is enriched with greenary and hills and that journey was a wonderful experience. We reached the place by 1.30 PM and we rushed to the temple. We saw that a small elephant is ringing a huge bell with its tusk. We all wnt inside the temple and that was the time of "Mangalarathi". After the darshan of Goddess Durga, we all roam around that area for sometime.

Kateel temple is located in the middle of river Nandini. The river is coming from Kanakagiri and joins the sea on Pravanje. The name Kateel is a joint form of two words 'Kati' means centre (centre of the river) and 'illa' means area. The legend says that Saint Jabali cursed the daughter of Kamadhenu, Nandini and hence Nandini is flowing as a river in earth. The remady for the curse is that Goddess Durga will give blessings to her later. The area is full of greenary. Thousands of devotees are coming to this temple everyday. The temple management is distributing free lunch for all the devotees.

We all had our lunch in the temple and then left from Kateel. We then reached Mangalore by around evening 4 O'clock and directly went to Kadroli Gokarnanatha temple. It is a temple built recently with modern architecture. A huge Marriage hall, a garden, a pond etc. are main attractions here. All are newly built and still the construction going on. You will be able to see two huge elephant staues in front of the temple. Once you enter inside, you can see Lord Siva's family followed by a huge statue of Lord Nandikeshwara. Then Sree Krishna advising Gita to Arjuna is also carved over there.

From there we left immediately and came to the railway station. Everyone except me and my cousin left from there to Kerala by train and both of us came back to Bangalore with a lot of immemmorable events going on in our mind.

A really wounderful journey through the soul of Western Ghats of the great state Karnataka!!!!

Temple IX: Kumbakshi (Anne Gudde)

The fourth day started with the holy bath in Souparnika river. Heavy rain was there out-side and all of us went to the river shore. We had to walk almost one kilometer from the lodge to reach the river where we saw that the river is flowing with a roaring sound. The river was in brown color because of the rain and water is very cold. We all took bath in that ice-cold water and came back. After having Darshan in the temple, we departured from Kollur towards Kundapura.

From Kundapura we had our break-fast and directed towards Kumbakshi. This is a small village situated on the way between Udupi and Kundapura on the National Highway. A very old Lord Ganesha temple is situated here. Other temples situated in the same area are Lord Ayyappa temple, Lord Harihara temple, and Lord Lakshmi Narayana temple.

We reached Annegudde by around 10 O'clock. The rush was less on that day and hence we got a very good darshan. After that we went to the Lord Ayyappa temple which is relatively newly formed. It is constructued in a similar way as Sabarimala is. There are 18 holy steps created which will be opened only when the steps are open in Sabarimala, Kadatta Swamy and Karuppa Swamy on both sides and the idol is also similar. There we have a small Devi temple and a place where all "Navagrahas" are installed separately. Each "Navagraha" along with the tree associated with It, is also maintained there.

Another peculiarity of this place is monkeys. You will be able to see a lot of monkeys over there. We were lucky enough to see a monkey family also. From there we stepped down a lot of steps to reach the bottom of the "Gudde" (means hill) where the Harihara temple and Lakshminarayana temple are situated. The Harihara temple is a unique temple that both Siva and Vishnu (as Mohini) in the same idol. Another charecteristic of this temple is that, this temple is surrounded by a pond.

After the darshan, we all hurried towards Kateel which we heard will be closed by 1.30 PM.......

Temple VIII: Hattiyangadi (Via Maravanthe)

From Murdeswara, we proceeded towards the Hattiyangadi Ganesha Temple. On the way is the scenic beauty Maravanthe. You will feel the difference once you reach this place. The sea-wind is so huge that even drivers will close the glass of the window near to them. The wind contains water particles and is very hot in nature. There is no much shops or houses in this place except some temporary buildings.

In this place, one side of the national highway is Arabian sea and the other side is Souparnika river. Water on both sides. We stayed there for some time. Most of us went to the sea shore. Huge stones are laid across the sea shore to create a boundary between sea and road. The river is coming towards the sea, abruptly deviates from there and flowing back. It reaches the sea after a few miles. Another speciality of that river as per the people ofthat locality is that, the water in that river is not salty in nature even though it is flowing only some meters away from the sea.

After spending a few time over there, we left for Hattiyangadi. From the national highway we took a deviation towards left and reached Hattiyangadi. It is an eighth century Sri Siddivinayaka temple. The temple is situated on the banks of the river Varahi. The diety is of Bala Ganesha having just two hands holding lots of Modakas on one hand. An interesting fact is that the idol is growing every year. It is clear from the fact that the silver casting is now slightly smaller that the idol. Thirty-two Ganapathi idols as explained in Mudgala Purana are installed in the temple premises.

As we reached there in the evening, we took darshan there and then left from there. We reached back Kollur in the evening. That night we all went to the Kollur temple again got very nice Darshan. Later after finishing our dinner, we stayed in the same lodge that night.

Temple VII: Murdeswara

As and when we travelled towards Murdeswara, we got the signal that we are very near to that great place. This is due to the fact that the huge arch over Murdeswara is visible miles before. We saw the top of the arch first followed slowly towards the bottom just like how Damayanthi observed the chariot of Rutuparna and Nala (called as Bahuka that time). She saw the flag first then slowly the people in it, then the horses. Thus we reached there and all of us had our lunch there. The temple is situated on the sea shore and the sea is wild that day. Hence we can't touch the sea water.

Then we went to the temple and we can eaily make out that the temple is newly re-costructed using most modern items but keeping the divinity of a sanctum-sanctorium. We can have a good view of the sea from the top of the temple. We can observe even a small church on the far end of the sea. We then came out of the temple. While coming out of the temple, we saw a cat and when we tried to took a few snaps of it, it was behaving as if it is posing for a photo session.

Then we all moved towards the location where there is a huge statue of Lors Siva being situated. It was very huge and we heard that the cost of manufature of this statue is in terms of millions of Indian Rupees. Also we noticed that one left hand of Lord Siva's statue is broken in the lightning and thunder. Also we saw the statue simulating the scenes of Ravana giving the Siva "Linga" to the small Boy, Siva holding Ganga Mother in His head, Sri Krishna advicing Arjuna during the Mahabharatha battle etc. All these statues are made with great effort and hence are awsome and beautiful. The area was very clean and tidy.

Then soon we returned from there towards Hattiyangady......

Temple VI: Idugunji Ganesha

Idugunji is situated between Gokarna and Kollur on he same NH 17. So we started the journey back in the same way as we went to Gokarna. The cab driver told that the temple will close by 1.30 sharp and hence he was in a hurry. There was a huge block on the place where the road work is going on. Atlast we took turn towards Idugunji from NH and reached the parking area of Idugunji. It was already 1.20 and we were told that we have to walk around 1 km to reach the temple. We all ran towards the temple and fortunately we reached the temple before it closes. We all took "Darshan" there and took a few snaps also. The God is Lord Ganesha.

Immediately the temple is closed. Then we visited the near by shops where there are so many photos, caps and some fancy items which are made up of a special type of grass are kept for sale. Then we came back to the parking area and we went for having the lunch over there. Unforunately the food got over by that time. We all decided to return from there and we proceeded towards Murdeswara.

Temple V: Gokarna

That day's plan is to cover 5 places: Gokarna, Idugunji, Murdeswara, Maravanthe and Hattiyangady. So we started by 7 O'clock in the morning from Kollur. From there almost 30 kms is a narrow road with trees and water streams on both sides of the road. Then we joined with NH 17. The road is very smooth and perfect and hence we were able to travel very fast, except for a small distance where they are doing straightening of the road and hence the traffic got blocked for some time. Another interesting thing was that local farmers are selling farm freash vegetables such as cucumber, ladie's finger etc. on the road side. We also brought some cucumbers and continued our journey towards Gokarna. On the way we had our breakfast in Honavar. On the way we have to cclimb up a hill from where we will have the distant view of the Arabian sea.

After travelling for about 2 1/2 hours we reached the board showing that we have to take turn from there to reach Gokarna. Then again it was a narrow road, but there is not much of traffic. We started feeling like going back a few decades because we can see the local people, mainly the lower class people with traditional dresses - Old ladies wearing lots of black and brown chains around their neck and wearing sarees in special form and old men wearing only an over coat covering their body partially - and old buildings.

Atlast we reached Gokarna - a small costal town full of old buildings, narrow roads, and temples. Another peculiarity which I noticed is that most people are wearing traditional clothings - Farmers wearing the dress described above and priests wearing their traditional dressess. This is a very good place for archeologists and historians. As we want to cover so many places that day, we were in a hurry to go to the temple and rain is drizzling outside. Many priests are waiting outside the temple enquiring whether we need their help in doing the poojas. This is because that temple has many unique traditions. The "Siva Linga" is "Swayam Bhoo" (Self born).

The story of the temple goes back to "Tetra Yuga". Once Ravana got a "Siva Linga" from Lord Siva Himself with which Ravana can achive victory over the complete world. But Lord Siva put a condition that Ravana should not keep that Idol till he reach his country -Lanka. If at all that Idol is kept on anywhere, then That Linga will remain there. Ravana can no longer take the same. Ravana agreed to that condition. While Ravana was proceeding from Kailasa to Lanka, the demigods are afraid of this and they approached Lord Ganesha for a solution for this. In the evening Ravana wants to do his daily rituals and he want someone to keep that Idol sometime. At that time, Lord Ganesha came there as a small boy and Ravan told Him to keep the Idol for sometime. That Boy told that if he want to go back from there, He will call Ravana 3 times and if he is not getting any response, He will place that Idol in the ground. Rvana agreed for the same and went to the sea shore for doing the daily rituals. Mean while our Boy calledRavana 3 times in a very low voice and then he kept that Idol there and left the place. Ravana when returned after the rituals, saw that the Boy is missing and also that the Idol is kept on the ground. He tried to pull the Idol and it is already stuck there. By angry, Ravana throw away the box which covered the Linga and left that place. The place where that box and the accessories fell down became called as Murdeswara and the place where the idol is stuck became Gokarna.

The charecteristsic of this temple is, no specially dedicated priest is there. Anybody can offer anything to the God. Also all can touch the upper part of the "Linga" using the hand. You can offer milk, butter milk, flowers, tender coconut water etc. to Lord. It is told that they will uncover the full "Linga" once in only 12 years. We all prayed there and had a look at the architecture of the temple. It is very old and having a lot of work on the walls and roof. We also observed a lot of people doing many types of offerings to God.

After coming out of the temple, we had a look at the shops over there. All the shops are mainly selling the items required for the "Pooja" and idols of God. Some old house-hold articles were also there. Then we didn't go to the beach even though it is very near by. Because that will cause us to drop the visit of Idugunji Temple. So in hurry, we returned to the cab and started the journey towards Idugunji.........................................................................................................................

Temple IV: Kollur Mookambika

That journey was by bus, because we decided to stay in Kollur full day. That journey was a nice experience. The bus was a private bus and it is written that it is an "Express" bus, but took more than 2 hours to reach there. Mainly the roads for about 30 kms is very narrow and bus services are not so frequent.

At last we reached there by 1 O'clock. We already booked the rooms in a lodge and hence we kept all the bags over there. Then after refreshing ourselves, we all went to the temple. Then temple was closed for some daily rituals and hence we waited outside the temple in a queue. The queue was big enough and it took almost 2 hours to enter inside the temple. That was the time which I consider as the most auspicious time for me. Because it was my long ambition to have the "Darshan" in that temple for my parents. They are visiting the temple for the first time. Also I know previously that, they were very interested in visiting that temple and it didn't happen till then because of many reasons.

After coming out of the temple, we rushed towards the Food Court of the temple to have the lunch. That was again like the one which we had in Dharmasthala. We have to sit down on the raised platform and the food will be served in the specially made leaf. Then we all came back to the room and took rest for some time. Then some of us went for small shopping and then again went to temple for the "Darshan". That is the specialty of Kollur. You will feel a unique peace and calm atmosphere as if you are in a separate world. Once you visited that scenic place, you will feel like going again and again. For example, I visited that place thrice this year. Also it is evident that many famous personalities like Anil Kumble (Cricketer), M D Vasudevan Nair ( Malayalam Writer), Yesudhas (singer) etc. are regular visitors of Mother.

We took "Darshan" again and sat there for some time. There we can see the Golden chariot of Mother. There is a special platform where devotees can sing, or play musical instrument etc. My cousins sung some classical music there. Then we had our dinner in the temple food court. Then we all waited for the Holy Water which will be distributed in front of the temple by the temple priest everyday. It is belived that, that Holy Water is good for brain. We all collected that Holy Water in some small bottles and drank the same. It has a unique taste with a brown color. That day we stayed there thinking of having "Darshan" once more in the next day morning.

Next day early morning, we all got ready and went to the temple. The temple will open only at 5 O'clock and hence we waited impatiently out side the temple. Then once the temple is opened, all the people who were waiting out side rushed in to the temple and we all had the "Darshan". After that we came back to the room. By the time the cab for that day's travel was ready waiting for us out side the lodge. That day's plan is to go to some more temples lying towards the Karwar side.

About that trip is next blog!!!!!! Till then ciao!!!!

Temple III Udupi

The next day began with the visit of Udupi Sree Krishna temple. The Udupi temple is an old temple formed by Sri Madhavacharya. Once upon a time, Chandra - the king of stars came here to do some penances towards Lord Siva to absolve himself from the curse of Daksha Prajapathi. In Sanskrit, "Udu" means star and "pa" means king, and hence the name Udupi. It is belived that divine architect Vishwakarma created the image of Lord Krishna bearing a churn in his right hand and a string in his left hand, and Rukmini worshipped it everyday.

Then later on Madhavacharya got this image from a ship which was passing through this place. When the ship bearing this image was affected by stormy sea, he with is yogic powers calmed the sea and saved the ship. As a token of gratitude, the Captain of that ship presented this image to him and thus this image reached Udupi.The Lord is visible through a window having nine square holes in it. That window is called as 'Navagraha kindi'.

On the temple there are also sanctum sanctorium for Lord Subrahmanya, Hanuman etc. Also we saw a part of the kitchen, where a lot of pumkins are kept for cooking. Also we can hear the chanting of various 'Suktas' by many people who also does special offerings to God. The most beauty of that temple is the 'Goshala' - place where Cows are taken care. The temple look after many cows as cow is Lord Krisha's favourite animal.

After completing the temple visit, we took Darshan in the Chandramowleeswara temple, where it is belived that Chandra (moon) made penances to Lord Siva. Also we visited the Anantheswara temple situated nearby. Then that was the time for small kinds of shopping for all of us. We purchased some Sree Krishna idols, churns that was carried by Lord Krishna, and things like that. We also noted many students dressed like traditional priests, walking in a line. I think they are walking for some Vedic classess.

Then we came to Hotel Woodlands and had our breakfast there. There we realised the real taste of Udupi. Udupi is famous for delicious food. I can't express the taste of that food in words. It is much beyond that. After the food, we started the journey to Kollur.

Kollur - about that great place is next blog.... till then bye..bye..

Temple II: Dharmasthala

As I mentioned, we took a long route to Dharmasthala because the "Kumaradhara" river was inundated. We went in the way to Puthur and took some turns and somehow we reached the National Highway. Then the way is clear. But the way till N H was very fun. It is small road full of guttors, also need to cross another bridge where the river already started flowing through the bridge slowly. I am sure that also will be flooded in half an hour. Atlast by traveling not less than 15 kms extra, we reached Dharmasthala by 2.30 PM.

After reaching their, I enquired somebody over there about the temple. He told me that just five minutes before the temple is closed. Then it will open only after 6.30 PM. So anyway after taking so much struggle, we decided to stay there to have the darshan. So we first had out lunch from the temple itself. The temple is giving free food to all the devotees coming over there. The rain is drizzling all that time. Then we decided to visit the nearby tourist spots.

First we went to the vintage car museum. That was a wonderful experience for all of us. There we can see very old model cars, jeeps, horse chariots etc.. which are in working condition. The cars include the car which was used by our Father of nation - Mahathma Gandhi", Mysore king etc. There we saw the old chariots that were used to carry the dress materials of Kathakali - a unique art form of Kerala- and models of some aeroplanes etc. The point to be noted here is that all these vintage items are in working condition.

Then we came to visit the museum over there. But we saw that it will open only after 4.30 PM. So we decided not to waste time and we went to see the statue of Bahubali. The statue is situated on the top of a small hill where we will be able to see scenic greenary around it. The monolithic statue of Bhagavan Bahubali is situated over there and the hill is called as Rathnagiri Betta. The statue weighs almost 200 tons and 52 feet long and 14 feet wide. The statue was originally situated in Karkala, a place near Dharmasthala and later it is moved to Dharmasthala. We spent some time over there. Also we will be able to see monkeys roaming over there.

Then we cae back to see the museum. The name of the museum is Manjusha museum. After taking entrace tickets, we entered inside the hall. That was an awesome experience for me. The hall contains old sculptures, anciet work of arts, old coins, notes, different equipment used at that time, beutiful stones, different paintings, metallic statues, huge pots etc. I am certain that archeologists will admire this place. You can see different swords, house-hold items, musical instruments, sewing machines, type writers, cameras, handy-cams etc.

After that we came to stand in the queue. Then atlast we entered the temple. The temple is very old and is made in a unique style. We had very good darshan and came out of the temple. Then we finished our dinner from there itself. Oh God, I forgot to mention about the Annadhana Shala (Dining Hall). It is a huge hall with lots of entrances. They made a raised platform on many places for the devotees to sit. All the people will gat a stell plate. Then rise will come in a trolly, followed by the curries. You can even see some statues and designs on the wall. And most importantly, the hall is neat and tidy.

Then we departured from their by around 8.00 PM. On the way, one of the tyres of our qualis got punctured. After replacing that typre with the stepani, we reached Udupi around 10.30 PM. We took room in some lodge.

So next will be about the great town Udupi.....Till then bye...bye...