Temple Towns of Coastal Karnataka

From the lush hills of Karnataka and Goa, we now turned our attention to the coastal plains of Uttara and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka.

Gokarna - Dakshina Kashi - Where Ravana left the Atmalinga

Legend has it, that when Ravana went to Mount Kailash in search of a Linga for his mother to do Puja to daily, he prayed deeply to Lord Shiva (alternate explanation - he lifted Mount Kailasa and impressed Shiva), and won the Atmalingam (Shiva's own idol) as a prize. The condition was that wherever the stone was put down, there it would stay. Vishnu and Ganesha fearing Ravana's increased strength conspired to have him put down the stone in this place, and when Ravana tried to pull it up from the ground, it came out in the shape of a cows ear (4 meter tall). Unable to take it from there, Ravana in his rage tried to break the Atma Linga and some small pieces flew to 4 other places, where temples were built. Finally, he hit Ganesha on the head before returning to Lanka.

Gokarna finds mention in the Garuda Purana, Vayu Purana and Bhagawath Purana, attesting to the ancient origins of this place. The temple itself was first built in the 3rd century AD, and then subsequently added to by later rulers.

Today a temple to Mahaganapati (bottom), and Mahabaleshwar (3 pictures above) stand at this spot. Uniquely, only Indian dress (dhotis for men and saree or kurtas for women) allow devotees to enter the garbha griha. In all these temples devotees get a chance to touch the idol directly - the only large temple I have visited that allows this.

There is also a smaller temple for TambraGauri (Parvati) and a small pond called Tambrakund where the cremated remains of the dead are poured (similiar to Ganga in Kashi). The water has the property that it dissolves the ashes and bones.

The Old Town - Nothing seems to have changed for centuries?

We were lucky to have a guide, Anand Hosmane, who grew up in the area. In addition to his training to be a Pandit, he had studied hotel management, and provided a unique cultural

perspective as we walked through the old town. Typical small town with a huge kund (like our very own Banganga), and a matha (university) around it for students wanting to specialise in religious studies. Streets where families have lived for more than 800 years without change! Gorgeous old architecture.

For my kids, these winding lanes steeped in centuries of history and sameness stuck a cord (though these temples did not). The uniqueness of our ancient land was slowly seeping in.

The Beaches of Modern Gokarna

Today, the major tourist attraction of Gokarna are the beaches. Till a few years ago, it was the foreign tourists who came here from Goa for the pristine beaches, but today it is almost 90% Indian tourists. Courtesy the improved road infrasturcture, busses from Bangalore reach here in 5hrs.

We couldn't really appreciate the beaches due to the high seas and pouring rain, but we did do justice to Namaste Cafe on Om Beach, where my kids fell in love with the jumbo shrimp and the Pomfret Rava Fry. The shack successfully lulled you into the same lazy vibe of Goa. Definitely a place to return to when the seas are swimmable. (Aside: the Om Beach, when viewed from the Southern tip forms a natural Om shape, and hence the name.)

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Beyond the temples, 40mins South of Gokarna, where the cliffs of the Western Ghats plunge into the sea, over 4km of mud roads, we drove to Kahani Paradise. The hotel nestles in forest on one side, and Paradise Beach on the other side. We could have spent 3 days here.

I failed to capture the drama of these doors opening, the aarti for guests after, and the breath taking view immediately after.

The wind at the top of the hill has to be experienced to be believed. It feels like a cyclone. And this blows 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. No wonder local legend has it that Pawanputra Hanuman was born here, and only moved to Kishkinda as his karmabhoomi.

Lastly, I must mention the community dining table, where we had interesting conversations with guests who had traveled from Delhi and Baroda, and ate some of the most delicious preparations of Badanekai Yennegai (Stuffed Eggplant) Served with plain Rice, Rassam and ghee roti, Coconut bhindi curry, and mushrooms we have ever had.

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Next morning, we took a short walk down to the Belekan beach (Paradise Beach was closed due to high tide), through the coconut plantations and rice fields. This was truly an idyllic spot, where time stood still to enjoy the bounty of nature. At the end of the beach, was a temple of Anjaneya (Hanuman son of Anjani), which was powerful in its beauty and simplicity.

Onward to Shri Krishna Matha, Udupi

From Gokarna, we drove 3 hrs to our next stop in Udupi. The venerable, Shri Krishna Mutt, 1 of 7 holy shrines of Krishna in India. This temple is a living ashram. Made from wood and stone, there are various temples around a man made kund, the written history of which dates back 1500 years.

Legend has it that Krishna's birth mother, Devaki complained to the Lord that she had missed his childhood. In response, the Lord appeared to her as a playful child (Muddu) and played with her. Rukmani (Krishna's wife), made an image of this incident, and kept it in her personal temple at Dwarka. With the decline of Yadav dynasty, the temple fell in disrepair, buried under the soil of Dwarka and the ruins were plundered by a merchant from Mangalore.

On his return journey by boat, his ship was floundering at sea, and Madhavacharya standing on the shore, shone like a beacon, waving his angavastram, helped the merchant beach his ship at Udupi. As a gift, the merchant offered his entire cargo, but Madhavacharya took three mud covered boulders from him. Once the mud was cleaned, 3 statues from Rukmani's temple emerged, and Madhavacharya installed the Muddu Krishna statue in this temple.

The diety is seen only through the Kanakanakindi (9 square lattice window representing the Navgraha), in the wall of the temple. (We found this trend repeated in all Vishnu/Krishna temples in South India all the way to Tamil Nadu, even where you had direct Darshan of the diety - speaks volumes for the prestige and influence of this Matha).

Our guide/priest regaled us with stories of Hanuman & Garuda etc. who were the petition clerks of the temple, and forwarded the valid petitions to Muddu Krishna for his approval.

Nostalgic Memories of Woodlands

We had the option of having the prasad at Krishna Matha (which is considered a superb exposition of Udipi cooking), or drive 5 mins to the original Woodlands (of the memories of my youth in Mumbai). We chose the latter, and my word did it live up to its memory.

The green dry coconut chutney was the same delicious one, and the idli's, Vada, Rasam, kuttu, Sambar, Curd rice etc. were top class. We ended with the Gadbad icecream (layered sundae of icecream, fruit and nuts) which was simply unforgettable.

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