MANGALORE - UDUPI - KOLLUR - MURUDESHWAR - GOKARNA - KUKKE - DHARMASTHALA (FROM MANGALORE)

At a distance of 3 km from Mangalore Railway Station, Mangaladevi Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the Bolara locality of Mangalore. It is one of the top places to visit in Mangalore.

The temple is dedicated to Goddess Mangala Devi, from whom the city derived its name Mangalore. It is one of the must-visit places as part of Mangalore Tour Packages. The temple was built in the memory of Princess of Malabar Mangale in the 9th century.

Mangaladevi temple has a rich heritage and historical significance. The temple has a special significance for unmarried girls as it is believed that those who worship here and perform a special pooja will have their wish of finding a suitable groom fulfilled.

The Navarathri is the famous annual festival of this temple. On the ninth day (known as Mahanavami) a large number of devotees participate in the .....

At a distance of 2.5 km from Mangalore Railway Station, Kudroli Temple is a sacred Hindu temple located in the city of Mangalore. It is one of the top places to visit in Mangalore, and among the popular places of pilgrimage in Karnataka.

Kudroli Temple is dedicated to Gokarnanatheswara, another form of Lord Shiva. This is the only temple in Karnataka started by Narayana Guru, the famous social reformer from Kerala, and among the must include places in Mangalore Tour Packages.

This temple was built by a devotee called H. Koragappa in the year 1912 under the guidance of Narayana Guru. In 1991, the gopuram of the temple was renovated to Chola Gopuram style. The Shiva Linga is carved out of marble brought by Narayana Guru from Gokarna where he found .....

At a distance of 4 Kms from Mangalore Railway Station, Kadri Temple is one of the famous & beautiful temples in Mangaluru. The presiding deity of the temple is Sri Manjunatha, an incarnation of Lord Shiva. It is one of the best places to visit in Mangalore.

The original structure of the temple dates back to 10th century. However, the temple was convered to a stone structure in 14th century. The 1.6m tall statue of Lord Shiva made of bronze is placed in seated position with three faces and six arms.

There is a natural spring on the backside of the temple, called as Gomukha. The water from this spring flows into 7 ponds of different sizes. Devotees come here and wash themselves before entering the main temple. The strange feature of this temple is that the temple tanks are placed at higher ground level compared to the central sanctum itself.

The temple has separate shrines for Goddess Durga, Lord Ganesha & Lord Ayyappa. Lakshadeepotsava celebrated in Kartheekamasa (Nov/Dec) .....

At a distance of 3 Kms from Mangalore Railway Station, Bejai Museum also known as Shreemanthi Bai Museum is located at Bejai.

The Bejai Museum is the city's only museum and well known as a treasury of many ancient artifacts. The museum houses idols, paintings, metallic icons, statues, lamps and inscriptions made out of copper. One major attraction is the copper inscription containing the verses of Keladi Venkatappa Nayaka dating back to 1624 AD.

Timings: 10 AM - 5:30 PM. Closed on Monday.

At a distance of 5 Kms from Mangalore Railway Station, Sultan Battery is a watchtower built by Tipu Sultan to watch the entry of warships into the Gurpur River. Situated at Boloor, it was built in 1784.

The structure is built with black stones and looks like a mini fortress with arrangements for deploying cannons. The watch tower is beautifully made and provides panoramic view of the surroundings of Gurpur River & Arabian Sea. The structure is well adorned with equipments for shooting canons.

This tower is recently renovated by Archeological Survey of India.

At a distance of 12 km from Mangalore Railway Station, Tannirbavi Beach is located towards the southern end of Mangalore Port. The beach is the property of Mangalore port trust. This is one of the best beaches in Mangalore and among the top Mangalore tourist places.

The soft sands of the beach and breezy winds of the Arabian Sea offer a memorable experience as part of Mangalore Tour Packages. It is also a favorite spot to watch the sunset. You can see the remains of a ship which sank 15 years ago near the beach. This beach is comparatively deserted and is a great spot for safe swimming.

Due to the poor connectivity, it's important to have your own vehicle to visit this beach in Mangaluru.

Timings: 6 AM - 6 PM

Entry: Free

At a distance of 16 km from Udupi, Kaup Beach is a beautiful beach situated close to NH17 between Udupi & Mangalore. It is one of the must include places in Udupi Tour Packages, and among the best beaches near Bangalore.

Kaup Beach is one of the famous beaches in Karnataka where tourists enjoy the beauty of the environment, the long stretches of golden sands, and the cool sea breeze. The beach is covered by palm groves. There is a lighthouse here, constructed in 1901, which is open every day for an hour from 5.30 AM. The delightful view of the entire seashore and the beach from the lighthouse is every photographer's dream.

Besides the lighthouse, Kaup also has ruins of Jain Basadis that line across the stretch of sand, and these are definitely worth a visit. Kaup is also known for the temple of Goddess Mariamman. There .....

At a distance of 3 km from Udupi Railway Station, Sri Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple situated in Udupi, Karnataka. It is one of the famous pilgrimage centers in India, and among the must include places in Udupi Tour Packages.

The Krishna Temple was founded by the Vaishnavite saint Shri Madhvacharya in the 13th century CE. Among the most famous places to visit in Udupi, the Krishna Temple or the Udupi Sri Krishna Matha is one of the most auspicious temples dedicated to Lord Krishna. The unique feature of this temple is that the Lord is worshipped only through a window with nine holes called the Navagraha Kindi. The daily sevas and administration of the Mutt are managed by the Ashta Mathas. During the Paryaya festival, held every two years, the temple management is handed over to the next Matha.

This .....

At a distance of 15 km from Udupi Railway Station, 65 km from Mangalore & 100 km from Murudeshwar, St. Mary's Island is a group of small beautiful islands situated to the north of Malpe Beach near Udupi. It is one of the best places to visit as part of Udupi Packages.

A quaint island just off the coast of Udupi, St. Mary's Island is an island of white sand beaches, rock monoliths, and great wildlife making it one of the best places to visit in Udupi. It is said that Vasco da Gama first reached this Island before reaching the Kappad Beach (near Calicut) while finding a sea route to India.

This island is a group of four individual islands namely Coconut Island, North Island, South Island, and Daryabahadurgarh Island. The island has two beautiful beaches and crystallized basalt rock formations which .....

At a distance of 10 km from Udupi Railway Station, Malpe Beach is a pristine beach situated along the shores of the Arabian Sea at Malpe village near Udupi. Spread between Swarna Nandi River and Malpe Port is one of the finest beaches in Karnataka, and among the top places to visit as part of Udupi Tour Packages.

Malpe Beach is situated at the mouth of the Udyavara River, a small river that is commonly referred to as the Malpe River by the locals. Characterized by silver-white sands, and rocky islands, Malpe Beach is still quite secluded and not visited by a lot of tourists. It is one of the popular Udupi tourist places for those who want to spend some time alone at the beach.

The vast coastline of Malpe has four rocky islands. The northern-most island is the Daria-Bahadurgad, the middle one is the Daria-Gadara-Kallu, .....

At a distance of 25 km from Udupi, 86 km from Mangalore & 70 km from Murudeswar, Anegudde Vinayaka Temple is a Hindu temple located in Kumbhashi between Udupi & Karwar. It is one of the famous places of pilgrimage in the region, and among the popular places to visit as part of Udupi Tour.

Anegudde Vinayaka Temple is dedicated to Lord Ganesha. Anegudde is rewarded one of the seven 'Mukti Sthalas' of Karnataka or Parashurama kshetras, which are believed to be created by sage Parashurama. Anegudde is the combination of two words - 'Aane' meaning 'Elephant' and 'Gudde', which stands for 'hillock' as it is the abode of the elephant-headed god, Lord Vinayaka.

Anegudde is also popularly called Kumbashi. The name Kumbhashi is said to be derived from the demon Kumbhasura. According to the mythology, when drought hit this area, Sage Agasthya performed penance to appease the Rain, God. During the penance, demon Kumbhasura started troubling .....

At a distance of 60 km from Murudeshwar, 73 km from Udupi, 90 km from Jog Falls and 133 km from Mangalore, Sri Mookambika Devi Temple is a Hindu temple situated at Kollur in Udupi district of Karnataka. The temple is located in the valley of Kodachadri Mountain Peak on the banks of Souparnika River. Kollur is regarded as one of the Seven Mukti Stalas created by Parashurama and the other places are Udupi, Subrahmanya, Kumbasi, Kodeshwara, Sankaranarayana and Gokarna. It is a famous site of pilgrimage in Karnataka and one of the top places to visit near Murudeshwar.

This temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvathi. According to Legend, Goddess Parvathi killed a demon called Kamsasuran who lived here and attempted to become powerful through his penance. Devi along with the help of Veerabadra, .....

At a distance of 2 km from Murudeshwar Railway Station, Murudeshwar Temple is an ancient Hindu temple situated at Murudeshwar, Karnataka. It is one of the popular places of pilgrimage in Karnataka, and among the must include places Murudeshwar Tour Packages.

Murudeshwar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the main places to visit in Murudeshwar. The town was earlier known as 'Mrideshwara' and later renamed as Murudeshwar after the construction of the temple.

According to the legend, Ravana brought the Atma Lingam from Mount Kailash. Lord Ganesha using his trick fooled Ravana on his way to Lanka and put down the Linga on the ground at Gokarna. Angered by this, Ravana tried to uproot and destroy the Linga. The broken pieces .....

At a distance of 2 km from Murudeshwar Railway Station, the statue of Lord Shiva is the second biggest statue of Lord Shiva in the world after the statue in Nepal. The 123 feet (37m) huge towering statue of Lord Shiva is surrounded by the Arabian Sea is the major attraction of Murudeshwar town along with famous Murudeshwar Temple. It is one of the top places to visit in Murudeshwar.

The statue was built by Shivamogga's Kashinath and several other sculptors, financed by businessman Mr R.N. Shetty, at a cost of approximately 50 million rupees. It took about 2 years to build the statue. The statue carved with so much attention to detail. There are many life-size statues of Gods and Demons around the Shiva statue. The Geetopadesha, Sun chariot, the sculpture of Lord Ganesh receiving the Atma Linga from Ravana and others dot the landscape of the Kanduka hill. On .....

At a distance of 2 km from Murudeshwar Railway Station, Murudeshwar Beach is a beautiful beach situated just beside the Kanduka Giri in Murudeshwar. It is one of the prime places to visit in Murudeshwar, and among the best beaches in Karnataka.

The serene Murudeshwar Beach is located near Murudeshwar Temple. This is a splendid and clean beach surrounded by hills, the wide Arabian Sea on the west, coconut and areca groves close by, attracts tourists throughout the year as part of Murudeshwar Tour Packages.

Travellers can indulge in swimming, fishing, and sunbathing at this beach. The waters here are cool and gentle waves for swimming, but strong currents do frequent the shores during high tides. Moreover, family boat .....

At a distance of 500 m from Apsara Konda Bus Stop, 7 km from Honavar, 28 km from Kumta and 20 km from Murudeshwar, Apsara Konda Falls is a small waterfall located in the Uttara Kannada (North Canara) district of Karnataka. It is one of the scenic tourist places near Murudeshwar.

The water cascades down from a height of 10 meters into a pond below. The specialty of this pond is that it faces the sea and appears like a lagoon. People say that Angels used to come from heaven and take bath in that pond, hence the name Apsara Konda. Reaching the base of the waterfall is an easy as steps have been built to make the trail easier for the public. A unique fact about the waterfall is that the water flows down through the roots of a peepal tree while descending to the pond below. The pond is very safe for swimming and playing.

Just few mins walk from the falls is a magnificent hill which has a viewpoint. The hill and beach offer a beautiful view of sunset. Apsara Konda Hill contains many .....

At a distance of 11 km from Kumta, 22 km from Gokarna, 31 km from Honavar, 59 km from Karwar and 56 km from Murudeshwar, Mirjan Fort is a beautiful fort located in the village of Mirjan near Gokarna. It is one of the most popular heritage places to visit in Gokarna.

Located on the banks of the Aganashini River, a tributary of Sharavathi River, the Mirjan Fort is known for its architectural elegance, and is one of the must include places in Gokarna Tour Packages. Built over an area of about 10 acres, the fort is approached through a series of wide steps that lead to the interiors of the fort. It is a double-walled fort built using laterite stones and has high walls and bastions with high turrets. The fort has four entrances and is surrounded by a moat with interconnected wells.

Mirjan Fort has .....

At a distance of 6 km from Gokarna Bus Station, Om Beach is a pristine beach situated in Gokarna. Along the Arabian Sea coast, it is one of the most famous Karnataka beaches, and among the must visit Gokarna tourist places.

Om Beach is the most famous beach in Gokarna. It is shaped as two semi crescents joined together forming the shape of Om (Hindu religious symbol) hence the name Om Beach. Om Beach is further along the coast from Kudle Beach. The curve of the symbol forms a pool which can be a safe bathing area for even non-swimmers.

Blessed with tropical weather, the area has plenty of palm trees dotting its coastline. Its azure waters are ideal for an exciting dolphin spotting trip. Om Beach is the center for several water sport activities such as boating, surfing, water-skiing, parasailing, and banana boat rides, which will surely spike your adrenaline .....

At a distance of 800 meters from Gokarna Bus Station and 300 meters from Sri Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna Beach is also known as Main Beach and is also known as Indian Beach. Gokarna Beach is the closest beach to Gokarna town.

It is one of the most popular sightseeing spots in Gokarna. This beach is mainly used by Indian pilgrims because it is located right behind the Mahabaleshwar Temple. As per the religious customs, pilgrims usually visit the temple after a dip in the waters of this beach (not mandatory though).

It is a long open beach and also known for surfing. Tourists can enjoy the view of the rocky mountains on one side and Arabian Sea on the other, while reaching Gokarna Beach. The Gangavalli river meets the sea near the beach. This part of the Arabian Sea is little aggressive and swimming here is not recommended.

The beach may not look very pretty due to a lot of litter, but this beach is famous for sunset. .....

At a distance of 500 m from Gokarna Bus Station, Sri Mahabaleshwar Temple is a sacred Hindu temple situated in Gokarna, Karnataka. It is one of the important places of pilgrimage in South India, and among the must include places in Gokarna Tour Packages.

The Mahabaleshwar Temple in Gokarna enshrines the Aatmalinga or Pranalinga of Lord Shiva. This is one of the best places to visit in Gokarna. This temple is regarded second only to the Kashi Vishwanatha Temple in Varanasi and is often called the Dakshina Kashi. The temple is said to be one of the seven sacred Muktikshetras and is visited by Hindus to perform the death rites for their ancestors.

According to the legend, Ravana performed a severe penance to Lord Shiva to possess his powerful Atmalinga. Pleased by his penance, Shiva gives him the Atmalinga. .....

At a distance of 70 km from Mangalore, Dharmasthala is a sacred town in Karnataka. Situated on the banks of the Nethravathi River, it is one of the famous places of pilgrimage in Karnataka, and among the popular places to visit as part of Mangalore Packages.

The main attraction of Dharmasthala is the famous Manjunatha Temple. This place is also known as Sri Kshetra, and is one of the top places to visit near Mangalore. Dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of Manjunatha or Lokeshwara, this temple dates back to 16th Century. It is said that the Shiva Linga worshipped at this temple was procured from Kadri Temple in Mangalore. This place was known as Kuduma and was later renamed Dharmasthala in the 16th century by Vadiraja Swami of Udupi.

The shrines of four Dharma .....

At a distance of 70 Kms from Mangalore, Bahubali Temple located in Dharmasthala is situated near Manjunatha Temple (about 1 Km) on top of Rathnagiri Betta. This temple enshrines the monolithic statue of Bhagvan Bahubali (Gomatheshwara) which is 39 foot high. Sculpted by the famous Renjala Gopalkrishna Shenoi, it was completed in 1973 and installed in 1982.

Bharata and his younger brother Bahubali, both of royal birth, fought each other in a battle for supremacy. Bharata lost the battle but his life was spared. Bahubali then realized the futility of war and killing to acquire power. He handed over his kingdom to his brother and became a member of the Digambara Jain sect. He began a severe penance, standing naked until he gained enlightenment

The Maha Masthakaabhisheka festival, sacred bathing of the statue with saffron paste, milk and water, held once in every 12 years.

Temple Timings: 8 AM to 7 PM, Pooja Timings: 8-10 AM & 6-7 PM

At a distance of 100 km from Mangalore, Kukke Subrahmanya Temple is a sacred Hindu temple located at Kukke near Mangalore. It is one of the most famous temples in Karnataka and among the must-visit places as part of Mangalore holiday packages.

Dedicated to Lord Murugan, Kukke Subrahmanya Temple is one of the important temples of Lord Subrahmanya (Lord Murugan), and among the famous pilgrimage places to visit near Mangalore. This temple is famous for Sarpa Dosha. Lord Subrahmanya is worshipped as the protector of all serpents. The epics mention that the divine serpent Vasuki and other serpents found refugee under Lord Subrahmanya when attacked by Garuda.

Pilgrims visiting the temple have to cross the Kumaradhara River and take a holy dip in it before entering the temple. According to Mythology, Lord Kumaraswamy killed the demon rulers Taraka, Shoorapadmasura .....