UDUPI - GOKARNA - MURUDESHWAR - KOLLUR - HORANADU - DHARMASTHALA - KUKKE TRIP, KARNATAKA, INDIA - TRAVELOGUE

 Travelogue: Udupi, Sringeri and Dharmasthala

Mid-April 2022

Weather: Sunny but bearable heat

PICTURE 1: Sringeri Saradambal temple

Karnataka, especially canara region, and Konkan region is full of greenery, abundant water resources and wonderful beaches.

On one side the Arabian sea and on the other side western guards. Scenic hilly terrain, having some wonderful mountain ranges. For example: the kudremukh range, the agumbe range, and the charmadi ghat (all four sides surrounded by mountains) range…. having lots of hairpin bends and single roads. (driving skill is very essential, I would advise use a local driver) you may not get access to internet, and don’t depend on google maps.

Our plan was to cover Udupi, gokarna, murudeshwara, kollur, horanadu, dharmasthala, and kukke. En route some more temples and scenic places. Last but not the least some beautiful beaches.

Day 1

Udupi local tour.

Udupi Krishna temple. Wow, lord Krishna darshan. Later opposite to Krishna temple you see two Shiva temples. Anantheeswarar temple and Chandra mouleeswarar temple. Both are very old temples and powerful too. The seer of Krishna mutt worships in these Shiva temples too and this is unique.

PICTURE 2: Udupi Shri Krishna temple

Day 2

Started the day with the blessings of mahisha mardini amman, inside Udupi town.

Later we went to Manipal, the educational epicenter of Karnataka. Wonderful campus well maintained. We had a quick look at the medical, engineering, and other institutions run there. It’s a pride of Karnataka.

From here we proceeded to pajaka, the birthplace of Madhvacharya, who established the Hindu principle of Dwaitha. Serene place, and you can have a look at the house where madhvacharya lived.

Durga temple and parasurama temple are part of pajaka kshetra, which are located on a small hill, motorable.

A life size statue of madhvacharya is also under installation at pajaka.

Don’t miss the Agni theertham which is a wonderful place for photographs and videos.

From here we went to few beaches like kapu, malpe, delta etc. all are awesome. Don’t miss the fish fry freshly cooked at roadside shops at malpe beach. they are awesome…yummy …

PICTURE 3: Malpe beach roadside fish stall

There is a hanging bridge near delta beach, which is a must see…

Sea walk is another attraction near malpe beach.

PICTURE 4 : Hanging bridge

Evening had dinner at famous Woodlands hotel and returned to the place of stay.

Day 3

We had a chaffer driven car at our disposal, and our Saarathi (Driver) named Praveen is so good guy… (he was our photographer all the time and speaks good English)

We first went to the temple called Durga chandi parameshwari temple. Newly constructed, but beautiful. Has a very rich look.

Later we went to a Vinayaka temple (Lord Ganapathi), which is very famous in this region at a place called Anegudde. very powerful Vinayaka, I heard.

Later we had our breakfast at a restaurant called Harsha. the cost of food is quite cheap at these places. (compared to Chennai) for 4 persons, the bill does not go beyond 400… that’s quite reasonable. I always prefer lassi or buttermilk after breakfast while travel, because they cool down your body and stomach.

The road from Udupi to Gokarna (Go in Sanskrit means Cow and Karna means Ears) is awesome… on one side the Arabian sea….

We reached Gokarna at around 12 noon. Luckily the crowd was less, and we could get darshan of lord Mahabaleshwara… interesting here is that the linga is immersed in water and you can insert your hand to get a feel… (keep some change to be given to the purohit) … There is a story of these temples (5 Temples) related to Ravana… and why he broke the shiv lingam… (Google it… otherwise travelogue will become a novel)

PICTURE 5: Gokarna Mahabaleshwar temple

From here we didn’t waste time and left for murudeeshwara temple. which is not far away….

PICTURE 6: Murudeshwar temple

We checked into hotel RNS residency, which is situated just close to lord Shiva.

On one side is lord Shiva and the other side is Arabian sea. (RN Shetty is the businessman who constructed this temple)

Murudeshwara, wow, what a place…. Lovely for photography, and sea sports… we spent entire evening at temple, clicking lots of photographs.

There is a small cave with carvings just below the Siva statue, don’t miss it. entry fee is just 10 rupees

Similarly, there is a lift available in the gopuram, charging only 10 rupees is worth trying. You can have a panoramic view of murudeshwara….

PICTURE 7: Lord Murudeshwara (Shiva)

 

Day 4

Morning sea swimming is suggested and watching the sun rise.

After breakfast we checked out and started our journey to kollur.

We reached koparnika river enroute and had a dip there. Knee deep water.

Kollur temple is a powerful one, having main deity as lord mookambiga.

PICTURE 8: Kollur moogambika temple

Buy special darshan ticket here for quick darshan. We had a wonderful darshan here.

Sweet laddu and Kumkum prasad are famous here. also, they sell saree here, and you can but them at a killer price. (including silk sarees)

One thing good I have seen in this part of the country is that, they do not allow you to go without eating the lunch served at the temple. (Free food which is called as Annadhana)

Sumptuous food: Rice, Rasam, Sambar, Subji, Payasam, and buttermilk… so delicious and tasty.. hats off… there is no limit on head count.. all are served.

After lunch we proceeded to Sringeri….

Travel from kollur to Sringeri is a real experience.. fully mountain range..

First we crossed kudremukh park.. (Forest range)

After this we started towards Agumbe peak… Wow… exotic… marvelous tea estates… (this is where the famous RK Narayan novel was made a film… Malgudi days.. Swami and friends… malgudi were an imaginary village created by Narayan…

SRINGERI; what a serene place… no words to describe… I would say that this is the best I have experienced so far…. In this trip…

PICTURE 9: Sringeri temple

The temple and its location are awesome… Adi shankara established the Mutt here. (one of the four mutts established by Adi Shankara)..

We had fantastic darshan here and had a dip at the Tunga river. And luckily we had darshan of the senior and junior seer of this mutt.. Chandramouleeswara pooja is famous here, which is conducted at the mutt (Which is walkable from temple).

We checked in to Hotel Sarada comforts here at Sringeri, which is a well-maintained hotel. The restaurant here is also too good.

Day 5

I could feel divine at this temple. As it was Tamil month beginning (Chittirai) I performed some rituals in the morning at the riverbed.

Again, had one more darshan of Lord Saradambal (incidentally it’s the name of my mother)..

The temple shop here is good for buying some souvenirs, and religious books.

We checked out the hotel and started our journey to Horanadu….

This is one of the best ride we had in our entire journey… its called Charmadi ghat (Four sides surrounded by mountains) more than 20 hair pin bends… full of green…. Awesome.. Avoid this route during rainy season, as landslides are common during that period.

We reached horanadu; Annapoorna temple.

PICTURE 10:  Horanadu Annapoorna temple

Again, we had a fantastic darshan here, and no need to mention.. good lunch….

From here we went to kalasa Shiva temple, and reached Dharmasthala by late evening.

Dharmasthala; fully crowded temple.. thousands of devotees.. we checked into the cottage (booked online). Straight went to bed, as we started to feel the tiredness.

Day 6

Early Morning, we went to the temple… crowded… we took special entrance ticket and had darshan of lord manjunatha.

I got a feeling that this temple is similar to Tirupati for Andhra, and Palani for Tamilnadu.. always crowded.

PICTURE 11: Dharmasthala Majunatha temple

We returned to the cottage and checked out and went to a Bahubali temple which is situated just close to manjunatha temple.

We started driving towards kukke Subramanya temple…..

We reached the temple in the afternoon…. Oh God… thousands and thousands of devotees…. Human heads everywhere like ocean…

PICTURE 12: Kukke Subramanya temple

So far we could have good darshan at all places, and here we are challenged… I always think positive and apply lateral thinking at these tough times.

I approached a security guard there and requested for darshan. First he refused, but later looking at my innocent face he got some sympathy and asked us to wait.

After 30 minutes, he came back and asked us to follow him..  you won’t believe we had such a wonderful darshan in 10 minutes…. Now, you need to believe god, comes in different roopam, when you are sincere… (he refused to accept any money) ….

From Kukke, enroute we had darshan at Sowthadka Shri maha Ganapathi temple. (Bell temple) … nice place. Full of bells tied onto the trees.

Our last destination is Kateel durga parameshwari temple… Awesome darshan….

Evening we came back to Udupi…. With full satisfaction.

Aum Namasivaya…. Thiruchitrambalam….

 

Google maps: Karnataka State, INDIA

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