Temples in Mangaluru

Had passed Mangalore city a number of times during my visit to Vittal for the annual Shashti festival but unfortunately never stopped by to explore Mangalore.

So, this time we decided to visit Mangalore for a day and check out the three temples that everyone talked about and of course have a seafood meal in one of the most hyped restaurants. 

Since there is enough information about the temples that we visited I will not go into much details but just give my view of the temple. In none of the temples that we visited was photography allowed hence all the photographs are from outside.

The first temple we visited was Mangladevi temple in Bolara. It was this temple that gave Mangalore, now Mangaluru, its name. 

The temple is dedicated to Shakti in the form of Godess Mangladevi.

As per one legend it was supposed to have been built by Parshurama, one of the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu and later developed by Kundavarman, of the Alupa dynasty in the ninth century.

The engravings on the pillar, the exterior walls of the temple and specially at the entrance are beautiful.

The next temple we visited was the Gokarnanatheshwara Temple, otherwise known as Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra,  which is in the Kudroli area of Mangalore. It was consecrated by Narayana Guru and is dedicated to Gokarnanatha, a form of Lord Shiva. This temple was built in 1912 by Adhyaksha HoigeBazar Koragappa.  

It is a beautiful temple complex with various temples dedicated to various Gods apart from Gokarnatha.

There was the Hanuman temple, Shirdi Saibaba temple and the Krishna temple too and some beautiful

carvings around the temple pond.

The last but not the least temple that we visited was Kadri Manjunatheshwara temple in Kadri. It is estimated to have been built in the tenth or eleventh century and converted into a stone structure in the fourteenth century. It is dedicated to Manjunatha (another name for Shiva).

There is a natural spring, at the back of the temple at an elevation, called Gomukha. The water flows out of a cow's mouth. It is believed that the water originates from the river Bhagirathi river in Kashi and hence called Kashi Bhagirathi Teertha. 

This water is then directed into nine ponds where devotees can wash their hands and feet before entering the temple. 

The annual Jathra Mahotsava, a nine day festival is held every January beginning on Makar Sankranti. People from all over come for this festival and is celebrated with great religious fervour.

When we visited the temple, the Ayappa festival was on and a lot of people who are on their pilgrimage to Sabrimalai stop by to pay their respects.

All this visiting had made us hungry and so we decided to visit the most talked about seafood restaurant 'Girimanja's' to end our short day trip.

We had fish thalis and fried fish. 

The fried fish (mackerel/bangda and Anjal/surmai/kingfish was very tasty but soaking in oil. 

The ambiance is good and the service staff very attentive and friendly apart from being efficient!