That was truly lucky day for us. Yes unusual start to my blog. When we were heading towards the temple from Siddapura, the GPS was lost. The maps could not aptly locate the temple due to lack of mobile signal. On the way of our drive, we bumped into temple attendant who informed that temple is closed now and she is the one who manages the key. Wow! It is not even 11:00AM and temple was closed. Due to dearth of visitors, the temple has narrow timings except on special occasions. We requested her to open the temple for a while since it was our maiden visit. She obliged and we were enthralled. Yes the God himself ushered us to his shrine. We picked the lady in our car and when we reached, the priest was on verge of closing the gate. The temple attendant requested the priest and we also requested priest to open for a while. He gracefully accepted and the car slid to temple premises. We had satisfactory visit eventually and had pleasant view of the deity. We were the lone visitor at that time which was another plus point. The darshan was peaceful and rewarding. The temple is well maintained. Small shrines of Navagrahas, Lord Ganesh and Naga (serpent God) are located in front of temple (Don't remember exactly)
The primary attraction at Hole-Shankaranarayana is the shiva linga with nandi immersed inside the Varahi river that originates from Western Ghats. The river water is blocked by power corporation to generate electricity. When the power company releases the water to river, it is impossible to view the holy idols. During our visit, the river was dry which means the company had not let out water. We were excited and ready to spot the divine idol inside water. Initially, it was not possible to locate the shiva-linga. Later, we sought help of priest to locate the idols. We walked to middle of stream along with priest and viewed the divine shiva-linga with nandi. The nandi idol is relatively large compared to shiva-linga. The shiva-linga is difficult to spot unless someone who already knows points at it(like the priest who helped us in locating). The shiva linga is flat probably due to aging and continuous run of water over the idol (or that is original form?). We touched both idols and prayed for betterment. The path being over the stream, is rugged and slippery. Be careful of stones and slippages which could twist ankle. Being of religious importance, the devotees are not allowed with footwears to visit the linga residing in middle of stream. On auspicious occasions, people take dip in water before visiting the temple.
It was an hour of rewarding visit to Hole-Shankaranarayana mixed with luck from heaven :-). What else? There is plenty of nature to rejoice. The temple is bounded by thick forest with visible peaks of Western Ghats. The path to temple from Siddapura also quite enticing shrouded with dense canopy throughout. We thanked the priest and temple attendant for accepting our request and providing an opportunity to view the temple beyond the temple hours.
I am not aware of temple mythology. Internet provides good amount of mythological information about the temple. It is believed that sage Agasthya performed penance at this divine location. As per information from priest, the temple is connected with Shankaranarayana temple located near Kundapura.
When to visit:
Can be visited throughout the year but has limited timings due to less crowd. Peak monsoon season may not be ideal for visit due to unsolicited river flooding or overflowing stream. If you want feel the linga, winter or summer season is best. However, the sensing of river idols is also tricky since the letting out water from power plant is neither regulated nor has specific schedules. The power plant airs a loud siren before letting out water. I guess there is 30mins gap between the siren and opening of dam.
Temple timings:
On regular days: 7:30AM to 11AM and 4PM to 7PM
On Monday: 7:30AM to 1PM and 4PM to 7PM
The timings are extended on special occasions like MahaShivaratri, annual temple car festival etc..
Route:
Google maps is best but location pinned shows one km before destination. Even though there are numerous signboards along the temple road from Siddapura, the signboards as you near temple withers. Hence you tend to loose the direction just before temple. Drive for one km more from the location pinned by google maps. Perhaps, this place is dead-end since road further led to power corporation gate.
Food:
On selected days, the temple offers lunch. Otherwise, there are no food options. The temple lies in middle of thick forest and human presence is minimal. Siddapura provides extensive food options.
Amenities:
Public toilet is available is well maintained with sufficient water & cleanliness. Mobile signal was not reachable. May be only BSNL is functional here.
Here is detailed video of our temple visit. You can freely photograph throughout the temple including sanctum.
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