Coastal Travel

Udupi is city situated in west coast of Karnataka. Its also known as 'land of temples' . Here, I'm going to talk about the places i visited in coastal Karnataka...

Malpe

Malpe is a natural port and major fishing Harbour on the Karnataka coast Malpe is a small town about 6 kilometres to the west of Udupi . It is one of the few untouched tourist spots .Malpe is a hub of Mogaveera population . The prestine white sand of Malpe beach is stunningly beautiful. It's a small peaceful town where one can attain tranquility at its best.
The 3 important tourist attractions in Udupi are Malpe sea walk, Krishna Temple and Gokarna temple.

1 . Krishna temple

Udupi is known as Land of temples and Krishna temple (कृष्ण मठ) is one of the prominent temple built in 13th century. It's a stone temple attracting thousands of pilgrims during its peak season . The temple is beautifully lit up with oil lamps and not everyone is allowed to enter at a time. Devotees are allowed to get darshan of the idol through a small window (door) which is kept open everytime a devotee checks- in . One can feel the divine presence of the almighty all around the place . We were lucky enough to get darshan thrice with not much crowd around. Thereafter we headed towards prasadam which consisted of tasty, hot sambar rice with payasam served on traditional banana leaf . We enjoyed the simple spread to our heart's content which left us feeling happily satiated.

2. Sea walk- Malpe

Our next tourist spot was a seawalk which is Malpe sea walk. It is truly amazing which cannot be missed . It's a 1 kilometre straight walk surrounded by Malpe beach on both the sides . It gives a breathtaking 360 degree view of the entire sea walk . On the left you will see coconut trees touching the sky , on the right gigantic ocean and above you the infinite blue sky. It definitely makes for insta- worthy photos. You can easily get lost in your thoughts when no one is around. It wouldn't be wrong to call it Marine Drive of Malpe.

3 . Gokarna

गौ means cow and कर्ण means ear so gokarna means cow's ear , legends believe that lord Shiva emerged from cow's ear here at this place . Its a pilgrimage for Hindus situated in western coast of Karnataka.

The story behind gokarna is that asur king Ravana performed strenous penance to get atmalinga (shivling) from Lord shiva, impressed by his penance lord gives atmalinga as a boon to Ravana and instructs him to carry it to home by walk. On one condition that he should not put it down . Lord vishnu knew ravana being particular about his rites and rituals, devised a plan with Ganesha to trick Ravana.

Ganesha disguised as a brahmin boy agrees to look after the atmalinga as long as he can hold it . Ganesha couldn't bear the weight of linga thereby placing it down and vanishing from the place. Ravana realising he had been tricked feels infuriated , his futile attempts to lift the linga get him into more trouble as it gets embedded in the earth.

Till this date , the top most part of the atmalinga is still visible and in good condition. Every year tourists throng this place of sacred worship where there's deep history mingled excessive power leading to destruction of one's ambitions.

So on your next travel don't afford to miss these 2 prominent spots and go home with exciting fun filled memories coupled with rich culture and glorious historical importance.