Murudeshwar

Overview

Murudeshwar is a small coastal town in Bhatkal taluk, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, built around a Shiva temple on Kanduka Hill with the Arabian Sea on three sides. A 123-foot Shiva statue and a 20-storey Raja Gopura, which has a lift to a viewing level, are its two landmarks. October to March brings cooler weather, so those months suit pilgrims, beach visitors and divers best.

The temple's name comes from a story in the Ramayana. In it, the Atmalinga that Ravana carried was flung aside, and cloth wrapped around it landed here; the presiding linga, Sri Mridesa, is held to be a fragment of that original. The statue was made by sculptors from Shivamogga and paid for by the philanthropist R. N. Shetty, and the gopura was added in 2008. Because the whole complex is compact, most people see the statue, the shrine and the tower in a morning. Going early is wise, since the tower's lift can draw queues.

Below the hill is a beach where visitors take boat rides and jet-ski rides, and where stalls sell local coastal food. Beyond it, Netrani Island lies about 19 km offshore and takes roughly an hour and a half to reach by boat from the town, depending on the weather. It is an uninhabited coral island, shaped like a heart from above, and it is the reason divers and snorkellers come. The state tourism board advises keeping to the non-monsoon months, November to May, when visibility underwater ranges from about 15 to 30 metres.

Getting here is simple for a coastal town. National Highway 66 runs through, and Murudeshwar has its own station on the Konkan Railway line between Mangaluru and Mumbai, with the town close to the tracks. Bhatkal is about 16 km away, and the Kollur Mookambika Temple is about 65 km away, so the two are often paired. Mangaluru is the nearest major airport, roughly 150 to 170 km south. Two days are enough to cover the temple, the beach and one boat trip.

Known for

Made by Shivamogga sculptors and set beside the sea