Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna, Sri Murudeshwar Temple, Murudeshwar, Sri Krishna Temple at Udupi, Sri Manjunatha Swamy Temple at Dharmashala TULU NADU - KARNATAKA - UTTAR KARNATAKA

 20, December 2011.
To add to my list of  Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalangal darshan I planned to go to the Tulu Nadu (Karnataka) Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam at Gokarna. This is Thirugnanasambandar Paadal petra sthalam.  When I discussed this with friends, everybody suggested adding more temples during this visit. Murudeshwar, Udupi, and Dharmasthala are the temples that were added to the list of my yatra. One of my best friends Mr C K Namdev helped me a lot and arranged for accommodation at Gokarna and Udupi. I cannot forget the hospitality extended to me by his daughter during the stay at Gokarna. I was honored that they dined along with me and they even skipped the usual non-vegetarian seafood, since I am a strict vegetarian (Now !!!).

( Second tallest man-made structure of Shiva Statue in Asia )

The yatra went like this......
After reaching Mangalore at 4.25 Hrs on 17-12-2011, boarded the Mangalore Verna Passenger train to Gokarna (225 km) starting at 06.50 Hrs. On seeing the Murudeshwar Temple Gopuram and Shiva statue from a long distance got down at Murudeshwar station and went to temple, through auto from the main road. The auto driver charged me only Rs 20, which was a surprise to me. Shiva statue is the second tallest in the world (123 feet, 1st is at Nepal) with a history of the sthalam being constructed under the statue made up of Stucco suthai. The Rajagopuram is 20 stories in height  (237.5 feet) with 2 nos of electric lifts.

After having a darshan at Murudeshwar came to the main road to catch the bus to Gokarna. Since there is no straight bus to Gokarna went through  Kumta. In Gokarna temple did pooja to Mahabaleshwar as directed by the priest and was able to touch and feel the Shiva statue of very very small size ( Kottai pakku ). The fee paid to the temple was Rs 150.00.  The temple is constructed in a unique  Kerala style with wood and Mangalore tiles without Rajagopuram.  Amman sannathi is at the back of the Shiva temple.  The Vinayagar temple is in front of the Shiva temple and one can see the mark on the statue hit by Lankan King Ravana. After the darshan went to the shore on the western side of the temple entrance. Since the day happened to be a weekend Saturday lot of school children and the public came for darshan.

After the darshan of Mahabaleshwar, left for UDUPI at about 16.45 Hrs via Kumta by bus after thanking Mr. Namdev’s daughter and his son-in-law. Arrived Udupi at 00.30 Hrs on 18-12-2011 and went to the lodge Mallika. The room was reserved by Mr Namdev’s brother-in-law  Mr Ganesh.  After having sleep of just 3 hours went to Udupi Temple. Even though there was a heavy rush I could be able to have two different alankara darshans of Sri Krishna through Kanaka Kindi (Window grills). After darshan vacated the lodge by 08.00 Hrs and proceeded to Dharmasthala.

From Udupi, there are no frequent buses. Got the bus at 09.00 Hrs and it took nearly 3 hours and 15 minutes to reach the Dharmasthala temple (110 Km through the hill route. The roads in many places are very bad. Since the day Sunday, happened to be a weekly holiday, the very heavy rush was there. It took me about  30 minutes to deposit my Chappel and back bag. Got a Rs 200 ticket and moved through a very very long QQQQQQQ and had the darshan of Sri Manjunatha Swamy and Ammavaru. After darshan came out at 13.00 Hrs and boarded the bus (Near the temple entrance) to Mangalore to catch the Chennai super fast Express Train which leaves at 16.00 Hrs. I was a little upset for not being able to spend more time seeing the Bahubali statue and other places, and importantly missed the free meals as everybody suggested. When I reached the station the time was 15.45 Hrs and announcement call to board the train.

The total distance covered in the yatra is 2500 Km in 72 hours (16th  09.00 hrs from Chennai Home and reached on 19th Dec 2011 at 09.00 Hrs) of which Darshan time in the temples was around  7 to 8 hours only.

GOKARNA AND MURUDESHWAR
(The history is taken from the Wikipedia website). The origin of the name "Murudeshwara" dates to the time of Ramayana. The Hindu gods attained immortality and invincibility by worshipping a divine Lingam called the Atma-Linga. The Lanka King Ravana wanted to attain immortality by obtaining the Atma-Linga (Soul of Shiva). Since the Atma-Linga belonged to Lord Shiva, Ravana worshipped Shiva with devotion. Pleased by his prayers, Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him what he wanted. By this time Narada had asked Lord Vishnu to change Ravana's mind. As a result of this plot, Ravana asks for Goddess Parvati, and Lord Shiva offers her to him. On his way back to Lanka Narada tells Ravana that Lord had not given him the real Parvathi and that the real Parvathi was in Pathala. So Ravana frees his companion, goes to Pathala, and marries a king's daughter, assuming her to be the real Parvathi. He then returns to Lanka, where his mother asks him for the Linga. Ravana then comes to know of the tricks played on him by Lord Vishnu. He therefore prays to Lord Shiva again, begging for his forgiveness. Lord Shiva appears and this time, Ravana requests the AtmaLinga as his boon. Lord Shiva agrees to give him the boon with the condition that it should never be placed on the ground. If the AtmaLinga was ever placed on the ground, all the powers would return to Lord Shiva again. Having obtained his boon, Ravana started back on his journey to Lanka.

Sage Narada, who came to know of this incident, realized that with the AtmaLinga, Ravana may obtain immortality and create havoc on Earth. He approached Lord Ganesh and requested him to prevent the AtmaLinga from reaching Lanka. Lord Ganesh knew that Ravana was a very devoted person who used to perform prayer rituals in the evening every day without fail. He decided to make use of this fact and came up with a plan to confiscate the AtmaLinga from Ravana.

As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Lord Vishnu blotted out the sun to give the appearance of dusk through his Sri chakra. Ravana now had to perform his evening rituals but was worried because, with the AtmaLinga in his hands, he would not be able to do his rituals. At this time, Lord Ganesh in the disguise of a Brahmin boy accosted him. Ravana requested him to hold the AtmaLinga until he performed his rituals, and asked him not to place it on the ground. Ganesh struck a deal with him saying that he would call Ravana thrice, and if Ravana did not return within that time, he would place the AtmaLinga on the ground.

267. SRI MAHABALESHWAR TEMPLE, 
GOKARNA - THIRUKOKARNAM 
Now, this place is called Gokarna. It is the 267th Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam, the only sthalam in Thuluva Nadu on the seashore. Thirugnanasambandar and Appar have sung hymns in praise of Lord Shiva, who is worshipped in this temple.

( Entrance of the temple)

Moolavar : Sri Mahabaleshwar, Sri Piranalingeswarar,
               Sri Aathma lingeswarar
Consort  : Sri Gokarneswari, Sri Thamragowri

Some of the important features of this temple are…
The temple architecture is similar to Kerala-style architecture with wood and Mangalore tiles. Moolavar is facing west and there are entrances on the south and west side. Ambal is facing east, in a separate sannadhi. Moolavar is very small and can be touched through a hole like avudayar below the ground level. Devotees can do abhishekam and pooja to the moolavar through their own hands.

Sannadhi for Thathreyar and Adi Gokarneswara, Vinayagar, and Mahisasura Marthini. The Vinayagar sannidhi is on the east side of the temple, and Ravana's hit left him with a scar on his head.

Brahma, Agasthiyar, Kamadhenu, Markandeyar, Saraswathy, Vasistar, Ravanan, and Nagarajan worshiped lord Shiva of this temple.

HOW TO REACH :
Gokarna is on the train route from Mangalore to Goa and about 5 km from the Railway station.
Buses are available from Udupi and Mangalore.

CONTACT DETAILS:
The temple website: CLICK HERE  
Contact: Administrator,
Shri Samsthana Mahabala Deva,
Post: Gokarna, U.K,Karnataka
Phone:  +91 9482331354 / 08386-257956
E-Mail: info@srigokarna.org

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLECLICK HERE

( Moolavar vimanam - View through  shades )
( Side entrance of the moolavar sanctum  )



( Vinayagar temple  on the main temple street - Marks of Ravana's hit on the head)
( Aadhi Sankara's mandapam on the sea shore )
( A small temple on the hill )
( Temple car / Chariot ) 
MURUDESHWAR

The entrance arch of the Temple is about a KM on the main road - Opposite is the Murudeshwar railway station - Built by Tamil sthapathy where the Temples name is written in Tamil- Later learned that Mr. Ganapathi Sthapathi's Son in law had done this project.

( Rajagopuram is of a unique construction - The Rajagopuram has Lifts to climb to the top )
( Moolavar Vimanam  - A Tamil Nadu type architecture / Dravida  )


( Temple complex view )
( Entrance of the Rajagopuram )
 Stucco sculptures under the basement - Ravana asks Brahmin boy (Vinayagar) to keep the Siva Lingam 
 Ravanan hit Vinayagar on head 
( Ravanan tried to lift Shiva Lingam - Shiva lingam  has become like cow's ear ( GOKARN )

SRI KRISHNA TEMPLE - UDUPI
HISTORY: One of the popular stories goes like this. The main statue of Sri Krishna at Dwaraka was completely covered by gopichandanam (holy sandalwood). A sailor from Dwaraka loaded this heavy lump in his boat as ballast, in one of his trips along the west coast. The ship was caught in a terrible storm while sailing on the western coast of Malpe. When the meditating Sri Madhvacharya sensed this by his 'aparoksha' or divine gana thirushti (knowledge), he got the ship safely to the shore by waving the end of his saffron robe and pacifying the storm. The pleased captain of the ship offered Sri Madhvacharya anything on the ship in return. Sri Madhvacharya asked for the sandalwood piece containing the statue of Sri Krishna. Later as the story goes, Sri Madhvacharya took it to the lake, purified it, and installed it in the mutt. 
( Temple complex view with Temple Tank )
(Firewood chariot )
( Temple chariot )
( Rajagopuram in front of Kanaka Kindi statue )
( Temple entrance arch )
( Temple complex view )
( 5 tier Rajagopuram ) 

SRI MANJUNATHA SWAMY TEMPLE AT DHARMASTHALA

HISTORY: Initially this place was a small village by the name of Kuduma in Mallarmadi and was situated in Belthangady. In this village resided a Jain Bunt chieftain, Birmanna Pergade, along with his wife, Ammu Ballalthi. The house they lived in was known as Nelliadi Beedu.

Legends foretell that the four guardian angels of Lord Dharma disguised themselves as human beings and visited the chieftain’s house. They were searching for a place where Dharma could be preached and it could be propagated and continued. The Pergade family received them with due respect as is shown to visitors. The Dharma Daivas were very pleased with the hospitality shown by Birmanna Pergade and appeared in his dreams that night. The guardian angels informed the chieftain of the purpose of their visit and requested the Pergade couple to vacate their house and follow the path of Dharma and also worship the Daivas. The Pergade couple vacated the house at Nelliadi Beedu and built another house for themselves. To date, the worship of the Dharma Daivas continues in this house.

Again the Dharma Daivas appeared in the dreams of the chieftain and instructed him to build separate shrines for the four Daivas. You will find that the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple has four separate shrines dedicated to the four Dharma Daivas. Pergade was also directed to choose two persons of noble descent who would act as the oracles of the Dharma Daivas. Pergade chose four worthy persons who would assist him in performing his duties as an Executive Head of the four shrines.

The Daivas promised that the Pergade family would get abundant resources in the form of charity and fame through the Kshetra. Brahman priests were invited to perform the rituals after Pergade constructed these shrines. The priests requested Pergade to also build a Shivalinga beside the Daivas. Annappa Swamy, the servant of the Daivas, was subsequently sent to Kadri, near Mangalore, to procure a Shiva Lingam. Shortly afterwards the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple was erected around Shiva Linga.

(The temple entrance is like a palace, no Rajagopuram like in Tamil Nadu ) 
--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---

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