Coasting along the Konkan – Tulu Nadu

Day 1 – Bangalore - Mangalore
Dussera holidays and son having completed his exams were reason enough to head out of Bangalore. We decided to go towards the Arabian Sea and chose the port city of Mangalore to start our 4N/5D sojourn to the Konkan Coast. We decided to take the road less traveled (literally) and go via Madikeri rather than the usual Hassan – Sakleshpur route. This decision was prompted by two considerations – a) Shiradi Ghats are nightmarish roads to drive on thanks to mining trucks and just sheer bad roads b) Kadambam – our favourite breakfast haunt is on Mysore road : -) So we left home (hubby, sonny and myself) at 6am on 09/10/2010. Up to Madikeri it was a dream run but then the nightmare started, the roads are B.A.D – the entire 130kms of it. Route taken was – Bangalore – Madikeri – Sulia – Puttur – BC Road – Mangalore. After braving it and entering Mangalore after paying a toll of Rs.10/- for a bridge maintenance (can you imagine the sheer gall!! after giving us moon craters for roads!!), the roads continued being bad. The strangest part is that every single Mangalorean will tell you with a straight face that it is due to heavy rains (it’s actually like mass hypnosis), seriously???…what’s with these guys? Haven’t they heard of Kerala, Goa, Mumbai where the downpours are legendary yet the roads are not rubble? In fact Ranga’s friends are Rotarians in Mangalore and I even suggested their club should take it up with the Government as a major project. If the apathy of the people is grating, the Government’s care-a-damn attitude is very apparent. A minister has literally spent crores on beautifying a temple but how do you approach this – don’t ask! The priorities are totally screwed up. Why am I going on about this? – well, in what was a beautiful holiday, this was the only but a very major sore point.
Mangalore hugs the Arabian Sea and its sweet water comes from the Netravati river. Mangalore has been a busy port city since the 18th century when the Haider Ali – Tipu Sultan dynasty started a ship building yard there. The entire Tulu Nadu is practically the cradle of banking and higher education, with four nationalized banks owing their birth to this region. People are good looking and are highly intelligent esp. with a penchant for numbers (it’s a given, I guess, when so many banks abound!!) But today’s Mangalore just like several other Indian cities is an amalgamation of several cultures and a pot pourrie of the old and the new. Unfortunately the progress and the twenty – first century have brought chaos and haphazard development, with the result that the city is choking on its own growth.
Thanks to the terrible roads, we reached Mangalore only by 4pm. Checked into Hotel Deepa Comforts on MG Road, which was a welcome haven after feeling every single of the 206 bones in our bodies, Entering the cool, clean, well maintained hotel and is worth every penny paid, in terms of location, comfort, food and service. There is actually no department which is lacking, but if I have to nit-pick, I would request them to be generous while refilling the coffee facility in the room. This is one hotel I will gladly recommend to anyone who wants a good stay in Mangalore. Had a refreshing bath and went with Ranga’s schoolmate and son to their home, which is a delightful old British bungalow, lovingly maintained by house proud owners and stands mute testament to the beauty of a bygone era. Rekha and Mohan’s hospitality was wonderful and we all went to a restaurant called ‘Gajalee’ which is another relic from the past lovingly maintained and graciously run. Food was excellent and the company fun – a great evening to remove the weariness of travel.
Day 2 – Mangalore
We hired a taxi from the travel desk for half a day, as driving once again in a city with hardly any proper roads and inadequate parking was daunting. First we had a look at the Milagres Church, a 325 year old edifice which has risen from the ashes after being razed by Tipu Sultan, and again in 1911 due to floods, the present building which was rebuilt then celebrates its centenary this year. Being a Sunday, we could not go in as mass was in progress. We then proceeded to the Rosario Cathedral dating back to 1568, which also faced desecration during Tipu’s rule and the present structure was rebuilt in 1813. This is one of the first churches to be built on the Kanara Coast. These beautiful old buildings breathe stories of the past. We then bumped our way for 17kms to Ullal, the erstwhile busy port, to the old Someshwara temple, dating to mid sixteenth century - built by the gutsy queen Abbakka Devi, who had the gumption to leave her husband because he accepted Portuguese domination, this paragon of feminism waged wars against her husband and the Portuguese and managed to hold her own. Moving on, we went to the St.Aloysius Church, breath taking murals cover every inch of the interior. For an oil painting, the colors are made by mixing pigments with linseed oil. The canvas is made of pure linen of strong close weave. The paintings on the ceilings in the Chapel (about 400 Square Meters) are in oil on canvas. The paintings are the work of a famous Italian painter Anthony Moschemi.
As the name suggests, the chapel is dedicated to Aloysius. He had everything that a young man of his age desires. He had wealth, power and influence. But he gave them up in order to serve others, especially the needy. The central picture above the altar depicts him helping and caring for the plague-stricken in Rome. He contracted the dreaded disease and died at the age of 23. For those who haven’t visited the Vatican City, this is the closest replica of the Sistine chapel there. From here, feeling a little dazed by so much of history, we visited the Kadri Manjunatha temple and the legendary Mangala Devi temple, the deity whose name the city bears, we had a lovely darshan and witnessed the auctioning of saris which are given by devotees to the Goddess. All these ancient and lovely monuments bring to the fore the checkered past of Indian history and its cultural and religious identities.
Came back to the hotel for lunch and relaxed with a good afternoon siesta. Rekha and her son came again in the evening by 7pm to guide us through a short cut route to the famous Gokarnatheswara temple, a golden temple, brightly lit up during all the ten days of Navarathri, it is a vision that shimmers, the images and statues are lovely and the pond with the four Shiva statues depicting the origin of the river Ganges from His matted locks is a grand tableau and a brilliant piece of art…a sight really worth seeing. Rounding off the evening with a dinner at Deepa Comforts along with friends again made the evening another beautiful one.

Day 3 – Moodabidri – Karkala - Udupi
After a relaxed breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed out to Moodabidri, which is 35kms from Mangalore. Moodabidri is occasionally referred to as the Jaina Kashi of South India. In all we can find 18 Jain temples at Moodabidri, with most of these temples being situated near the Jain Math. The lovely 1000 pillared temple is on the way to Karkala, and is a quiet spot to spend some time. Roads continue to be poor.

Then we moved on to Karkala. Karkala is a town of historical importance and a pilgrim center for Jains, and most famous for the monolithic statue of Lord Gomateswara installed in 1432 A.D.(Read about the other famous monolith at Shravanbelagola in my blog http://sunshinepurnima.blogspot.com/2010/05/serenity-in-stone.html) This statue is seen in full grandeur after driving up the hillock through the entry gate. Beautiful is just a small word - the stature of the black granite statue is resplendent.
We moved on to Udupi to the Sri Krishna Math, where we were lucky to get a darshanam in barely 5minutes which is fabulous as normally it takes about 2 hours! Seeing Krishna through the ‘Kanakana Kindi’ brings to memory the story of Kanakadas (I actually have a lot to thank Amar Chitra Katha!) This beautiful idol is seen through a small window with nine slots which also represent the Navagrahas. The Lord Himself turned around so that His ardent devotee Kanaka, could view him as Kanaka belonging to a lower caste was barred entry into the temple. Udupi also is Karnataka’s Kitchen so to speak with its cuisine popular and served across the state. The temple operates a mammoth kitchen which feeds over 5000 pilgrims free of cost everyday. The temple and the idol were fabulous and once again we were walking in the footsteps of some very pious souls who haved tread these routes over the centuries.
Then, we proceeded to the Paradise Isle Beach Resort at Malpe after a quick bite at the temple. This resort is luxuriously built and is placed in the best location possible on the Malpe beach with the white sands glistening in the sunshine, palms swaying to the gentle breeze and the waves lapping on to the beach – these are the sounds and vista that you wake up to from your room. After a relaxing nap, strolled along the corniche, came back had a drink, watched the first episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati, had a lovely buffet dinner and called it quits for the day. The service in the hotel though leaves a lot to be desired. What’s working for it is the location and the tasty food. Service is non existent, the pool a pity and the general ambience is very ordinary. However the comfortable rooms with good AC somewhat soothe the ruffled feelings.
Day 4 – Malpe - Maravanthe – Murudeswara
Braving bad roads on the 4th consecutive day, we ventured out after a sumptuous breakfast for a 60kms drive to Maravanthe from Malpe via Udupi, where the road runs along the sea like a black border for a straight stretch of 2kms, and the sight will gladden the heart of the weariest traveler. The only irritants are the small shanties which break the silence with shouts and the beggars. Many people drive out to sit on the rocks and just gaze out to sea into nothingness.
We carried on for another 50kms further to Murudeswara, which is practically run by RN Shetty with all educational institutions, car showrooms, hotels, hospitals run by his RNS group. So is it any surprise that the Shiva idol, huge and simply awesome is built by him along with a fabulous temple? The Shiva idol with the Ganges flowing from His locks is positioned to overlook the sea and looks as if He guards the land from all elements. The rattle-shake drive was well worth the effort of seeing these men made sculptures of the modern era. An exciting legend is attached to this place – here goes - 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. 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. 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, realised that with the Atma Linga, Ravana may obtain immortality and create havoc on earth. He approached the Lord Ganesha and requested him to prevent the Atma Linga from reaching Lanka. Lord Ganesha knew that Ravana was a very devoted person who used to perform prayer ritual 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. 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 ablutions before the rituals. At this time, Lord Ganesha in the disguise of a Brahmin boy accosted him.Ravana requested him to hold the Atma Linga until he performed his ablutions, 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 Atma Linga on the ground. As predicted, before Ravana could return, Ganesha had already placed the Atma Linga on the ground. Vishnu then removed his illusion and it was daylight again. Ravana, realising that he had been tricked,tried to uproot and destroy it; Due to the force exerted by Ravana, some pieces were scattered. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the Atma Linga to a place called Mrideshwara in Kanduka-Giri (Kanduka Hill). Mrideshwara has been renamed Murudeshwara.

A mere 110kms distance had taken over 4 hours and so after a quick lunch at Naveen Beach Resort, we started on our return jouney on the same miserable stretch of what can only be imaginatively described as an asphalt road (and to add insult to injury - it’s a National Highway) A diversion of about 30kms would have taken us to Kollur, despite being tempted, our bodies had reached the threshold of tolerance and we gave up and just drove straight back to Malpe to reach around 5.30pm. A quick wash, and giving the car a good wash too (poor thing – had really taken a lot of beating, but did not let us down!) we settled down on the lovely benches facing the sea, allowing the sea to quiet our minds and bodies. Reluctantly went in, had a much needed drink and dinner and called it a night as we wanted to leave early.
Day 5 – Mangalore – Shimoga - Bangalore
Having been “Shaken and Stirred” by the roads in the Konkan, we decided to return via the route – Udupi-Agumbe – Shimoga – Tarikere – Birur – Tiptur – Gubbi – Tumkur – Nelamangala – Bangalore, which is longer by nearly 60kms but hoping and praying for better roads and that is what we got, though it’s a long ghat section and the road is really bad in stretches, for the most part the route is picturesque and motor able. Having reached Peenya by 5pm, we were thrilled, but then it took us two hours to reach home thanks to the “Metro Rail” construction and the crazy traffic jam. Stumbled home at 7pm. Went to mom’s place for dinner, gave all the various prasadams and returned home barely able to keep our eyes open. Totally bushed, we crashed out.
Lovely holiday - we time traveled through at least 500years - but if at all we go back, it will be only once the roads are made fit for human travel. Can our Mangalore brethren please wake up to the fact that the Civic Agencies needs to be kicked on their backside to do their job and stop blaming the rains?
We clocked a total of 1150kms at 15kms/liter. Excellent! Given the conditions!! Viva Santro!!!