Published by Vinayak Hegde on 12th February 2010
Along the small coat of Karnataka are several small pilgrimage places such as Murudeshwar, Udupi and Gokarna. Each of these town has a different character and has some unique characteristics. Two of the three towns – Murudeshwar and Gokarna have been mentioned in the Ramayana while Udupi is famous for it’s ancient Krishna temple. Most people associate Udupi with food but there are very few good places to eat in Udupi itself, which is surprising considering that you get Udupi restaurants dime-a-dozen in most South Indian cities. Udupi is also much smaller than I had imagined it to be. The city has grown about 2 km radius around the temple which is located in the centre. The day we reached there, preparations were on for the chariot-car festivals and decorated car-chariots dominated the entrances to the temple complex. The Malpe beach is one of the few white-sand beaches in India but we had to skip it as we headed towards Murudeshwara.
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Murudeshwara
is famous for the Murudeshwara (shiva) temple and the world’s largest Shiva statue. It also has a beautiful virgin beach and the water is very clear making it a good place to go scuba diving (Netrani Island). Murudeshwara is surrounded on three sides by the sea and the temple is located on the rock jutting out to Sea. Under the huge Shiva statue by the sea is another temple. The temple is surrounded on three sides by a exhibit which explains the mythological origins of the ‘Linga’ worshipped in the temple dating back to the Ramayana. Another notable feature of the Murudeshwara temple is the huge gopuram (Raja Gopuram – about 250 ft tall) at the entrance of the temple. It has 20 stories and is probably the tallest gopuram in the world. Murudeshwara is a hidden gem on the Karnataka coast.
