Shri Kshetra Karinjeshwara, Bantwal Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District

December 29, 2021

Being year end holiday rush, my cousin revealed that the Kukke Subramanya temple would not be ideal to visit now. The plan had to be shifted but where? We pondered and finally Shri Karinjeshwara Temple near Bantwal beckoned us due to its divinity and natural beauty.

Our plan was to start early and visit before noon. Plenty of reasons to support it

• The temple sanctum at Shri Karinjeshwara opens only after 6PM post lunch which is difficult time to visit. The winter Sun sets early and further management becomes difficult since our village is located farther from place. Also climbing down the trail may foresee unwelcome challenges.
• The Sun would be beating down on the open area which would make it is terrible to hike post 11AM with kids.

We consumed light breakfast at Mudabidri before resuming our journey. The route had multiple deviations due to which navigation was must. The winding roads were majorly cutting through dense forest which was soothing amidst curvy drive. Following the maps, we comfortably reached the Karinjeshwara temple where the holy pond welcomed us with its natural beauty! Devotees take holy dip in this large temple pond auspicious occasions. It is called Gadha Teertha I heard.

Since my parents were on-board, I drove till the base of Parvathi temple. That too was fascinating with dense forests, mega hills. huge boulders flanking the drive! After short uphill drive, we reached the Parvathi temple and ready to pay obeisance to Goddess.

The crowd was less being a weekday. This helped us to explore the place without hustle and hassle. The Goddess Parvathi is installed facing  East followed by her son Lord Ganapthy facing South. I have seen Ganapathy facing south at Sharavu Temple, Mangalore. Not sure if installation of Ganesh facing South has unique significance. We consumed the Teertha (sacred water) and were eager to climb the hills to have darshan of Lord Karinjeshwara.

My parents skipped the climb due to age constraints. Myself, wife and kids started our hike towards Karinjeshwara temple. The initial stretch even though has stairs is downright steep. It takes additional time to climb this stretch. The priest has to daily climb the hills via stairs to perform pooja of Lord Shiva at the summit! Alongside, intrepid monkeys are second trouble. They easily grab the offerings you carry to Lord if not cautious! Their valiancy is unmatched which force the visitors to surrender belongings

Devotees offer service to deity by taking stairs from base of temple to Karinjeshwara temple for well being. First have darshan of Goddess Parvathi and later Lord Karinjeshwara. We met many such devotees throughout our hike!

The bird's eye view of Parvathi temple looks beautiful like Goddess

The second stretch even though open, is not strenuous. It involves climbing rocky area which is mix of stairs and rugged surfaces. At this time, the Sun was radiating hard but winter ambiance was enough to mitigate the intense sun. Perhaps, summer would be arduous at this stretch.

Myself, wife and twin boys were able to clear the path in 20mins. I guess overall we consumed around 30mins in gross to climb towards Shiva's abode. It was not as strenuous as threatened by known people. Sometimes it is better to explore on own to gauge the severity of situation.

The views all along the trail was mesmerizing, with quarry mining as black spot. There has been huge uproar to kill this mining which was threatening the structure of Karinjeshwara Hill. Not sure what happened later.

After a short hike, we reached the deity's shrine around 11AM and was blessed to behold the divinity. The shrine was dimly lit which made difficult to photograph. The linga was ornate with silver armor which means abhisheka (divine shower) had concluded already. The flowering of deity was yet to begin. Since Mahapooje was at 12PM, there was plenty of time to adorn the deity with flowers. Here is picture of sanctum from mobile.

I picked up my 600mm lens and captured pictures of close-up. Being dimly lit and my camera's acceptable ISO was 800, I could not snap better than the below one.

The Karinjeshwara temple timings. Watch out for that long break from 12PM to 6PM.

Perhaps the Paravathi temple below is open for longer hours due to road connectivity. I did not note the timings of Parvathi temple.

The views of hills from Karinjeshwara temple are majestic to watch. The haze photobombed the beautiful look of nature. They will look splendid during monsoon season when hills are verdant and clouds dancing over the stage of sky!

The temple itself

Once darshan concluded, we stepped down towards Parvathi temple. We reduced the pace of down walk to enjoy the proliferating nature. It was beautiful winter day with mild weather of coast helping us to cherish the moments. The area is surrounded by1000 acres of forest. One can enjoy the majestic views of sprawling forests and chirping of vernal hanging forests. I am sure this dense abode would certainly abound with more avian beauty!

That routine lousy moment of louse extract :-)

Mythological Importance

I could not gather much information on importance of place mythologically. The honorable temple priest presented a short note on the divine place.

The Karinjeshwara has significance from multiple eras. The shiva here is udbhava linga which means self-manifested.

The place has significance from Kritayuga when sages worshipped Lord Shiva.

In Tretayuga, Lord Rama visited this place. The Seeta Pramana Stone is identifier for that. The presence of monkeys is also another importance. The temple deity is offered naivedya during Mahapooja and served to monkeys near the shrine. We did not witness this important part of ritual due to time constraints

In Dwapara yuga, Shri Krishna along with Pancha-Pandavas had visited this place. The Gadha Teertha, Janu Teertha and Ungushta Teertha created by Bheema signifies their visit.

At present times which is Kaliyuga, festivals occur during two auspicious days. One is Bheemana Amavasya (also called as Aati Amavasya) which generally falls during July-August timeframe another is undoubtedly MahaShivaratri which falls during February. The utsava murthy from the Karinjeshwara temple is carried to Parvathi temple and festival rituals are carried out. The Parvathi temple along with Lord Ganesha was installed by Shri Madhwacharya which is around 800yrs ago. Before that, there was no shrine dedicated to Goddess Parvathi here.

During Bheemana Amavasya, devotees take holy dip in Gadha Teertha and subsequently have darshan of both temples. This ritual is believed to get rid of sins and skin diseases. 

The Holy Teerthas

If you are fit, I suggest you take stairs from base of temple. You will miss Ungushta and Janu teertha if you climb from Parvathi temple. Here are remaining pictures of Gada Teertha.

The fish inside holy Gada Teertha are fed with puffed rice by visitors. The fish throng once the puffed rice is thrown into pond.

Summary of locations to visit at Karinjeshwara

• Gada Teertha, Ungushta Teertha, Janu Teertha (while climbing to Parvathi temple)
• Parvathi and Ganesha Temple
• Karinjeshwara Temple
• Sita Pramana Stone near Karinjeshwara Temple
• Naivedya feeding to Monkeys
• The nature surrounding the Karanja hill
• If time permits, sunset from summit

Miscellaneous details:

Even though slippery, monsoon season would also be best time to visit the divine location.

Photography was allowed during our visit including sanctums. This situation is bound to change. No guarantee that same rules would be applicable eternally.

It is easy to reach Karinjeshwara if you opt Bantwal-Dharmasthala highway. Since we started from Kapu, google maps was the only option. Unless you are a frequent visitor to this place, it is difficult to drive on your own. There are numerous deviations which are confusing and bound to miss.

Last but not least, this is holy place and not picnic spot. Be sensitive to religious matters and maintain sanctity of the place. Do not litter the place and carry the trash.

A short video of our visit including the narration by priest of Karinjeshwara

Year End Birding at native village (2022) - Padur Edition

Last week of 2022 was declared holiday for kids which drove us to native to escape from biting cold of Bangalore and enjoy warm weather of coast. It was indeed warm like summer. But the enjoyment plans were obstructed by illness of kids. Consequently, wandering was impossible which restricted our stays  to indoors and get my tele-lens to work. Luckily, I was aptly rewarded for my patience through birding and memories were etched. I have split them to two, one from Padur and from Hosaadu. Hope you enjoy these tiny series.

Before we begin, a flock of jungle myna was seen perched on summit of casuarina tree which cpativated me to grab a photograph. This was shot near Kottigehara while we were having breakfast.

Lets move forward to our village.

Few vernal hanging parrots are still hanging around our village. They should have cleared the territory by now. Not sure the reason of staying back, perhaps permanent residence?

The biggest disappointment was when the Malabar pied hornbill and Grey junglefowl escaped from my sight during evening of landing day. While I exuberantly caught the grey junglefowl next day, I could only hear malabar pied honrbill calls. Lets begin the series keeping aside annoyance

The commoner Oriental Magpie Robin was trying to locate source of  shutter noise. Not difficult bird to capture. Hope you enjoy!

The backyard is full of tiny birds. The tailor bird comes daily to grab its meal. I caught it while having worm in its mouth.

Many tiny birds frequently visit our backyard but my camera focusing speed cannot match their swiftness. When green warbler stayed still for a while, I could capture neat photos. The end result was utterly disappointing thanks to sensor exposure which was set to -1EV. This setting was not enough to expose bird clearly during evening. Here is record shot!

The ultimate reward during the visit were these Red Spurfowl and Grey Junglefowl. The post is written in a separate page. Do have look here! Couple of pictures of Red spurfowl and grey junglefowl respectively!

Chestnut tailed starlings are plenty in number here. Here is one shot

While shooting birds, this interesting guy showed up while having berries early morning.

Glorious nature to compliment the exciting bird walk. It was humid with occasional clouds streaming from east. I was fully wet with sweat. But the excitement of capturing bird photos heals the fatigue. Even though many of them could not be captured, I revisited most of birds through their calls. Only bird I missed was rufous woodpecker. Hopefully, its still residing nearby

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries

Grey Junglefowl and Red spurfowl in my frame

Visiting native has been infrequent nowadays owing to kids school and back to office protocols. Last week of 2022 was declared holiday for school kids and native visit was planned. Time to check the birds after long time in our village.

The first day, I missed both malabar pied hornbill and grey junglefowl. It was almost dusk and capturing them at low-light was difficult task.

The actual happiness arrived on 3rd day when my stealth, perspiration and patience of 2 years capturing junglefowl paid off. Both the grey junglefowl and red spurfowl were captured cleanly in my camera 😎.

My plan was to trace flame throated and grey headed bulbul calls which I heard throughout the day. While the flame throated hid under canopy, the grey headed bulbul was inside deep forest without trail. I was disappointed to the core when I missed golden fronted leafbird shot. Instead of returning back to home, I decided to walk to the field near canal to see if any hints of junglefowl could be seen. That was great decision indeed. I walked in stealth slowly and captured red spurfowl. The bird was quick enough to notice me and escaped into the canopy soon! Here are complete set of pictures to honor the bird's trust :-)

The grey junglefowl was behind peacock which consequently did not notice my move. I stood below a shadow camouflaging myself to deceive the bird and took some shots. They came out clean. I moved a little closer and captured few more pictures. By that time, bird noticed me and ran away towards canopy. Here are pictures with bright sunlight striking the bird

By the way, both the fowls were digging and probing the abandoned field for something. Were they laying eggs or finding food. If they were eggs, what has it got to do with male junglefowl :-).  The inquisitiveness still hangs on my mind. Meanwhile, both serendipitous spottings were the most rewarding one of the day.

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries

ಕೈ-ಫೋನ್ ಅಲ್ಲ ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಅಜ್ಜ!

ಅಜ್ಜ ಮತ್ತು ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನ ಹರಟೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಮುಟ್ಟಿದಕ್ಕೆ ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೊಡೆದಳು ಅಂತಾ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ತುಂಬಾ ಕೋಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ. ಅವನ ಸಮಾಧಾನಿಸಲು ಅಜ್ಜನ ಮಾತುಗಳು ಹೀಗೆ ಶುರುವಾದವು. 

"ಪ್ರಿಯ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನೇ! ದೊಡ್ಡವನಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿನಗೆ ನಾನು ಕೊಡಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ಮೊಬೈಲ್. ಯಾವುದು ಬೇಕು ನಿನಗೆ ಆಂಡ್ರ್ಯಾಯ್ಡ್ ಆಗಬಹುದಾ ಅಥವಾ ಬೇರೇನಾ?" ಎಂದು ಅಜ್ಜ  ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನನ್ನು ಸಮಾಧಾನಿಸಲು ಕೇಳಿದರು.

ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ಯೋಚಿಸುತ್ತಾ.. "ನನಗ್ ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಬೇಕು ಅಜ್ಜ" ಎಂದಾಗ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ. ಇವನಿಗೆ ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಯಾರು ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದು ಅಂತಾ ಅಮ್ಮನಿಗೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಯಿತು. 

"ನಿನ್ನ ಅಜ್ಜಿ ಬಳಿ ಇರುವ ಬಟನ್ ಫೋನ್ ಇನ್ನು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಪುಟ್ಟಾ" ಎಂದು ಅಜ್ಜ ಜಾರಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ನೋಡಿದರು. 

"ಬಟನ್ ಒತ್ತೋ ಕೈ-ಫೋನ್ ಅಲ್ಲಾ ಅಜ್ಜಾ, ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ಕೊಡಿಸೋದಕ್ಕೆ" ಎಂದು ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ನುಡಿದಾಗ ಮನೆಯವರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಒಮ್ಮೆಲೆ ಗೊಳ್ಳನೆ ನಕ್ಕರು.

A quick stop at Guruvayanakere Lake

While travelling towards Udupi via Charmadi Ghat, one of prime attraction/stoppage worthy location is guruvayanakere lake. The narrow road covering the periphery of lake has limited area to park car which would otherwise result in traffic congestion on busy highway. The best portion of lake to park is the area just after exit of town towards Karkala. There may be other parts of lake also where one can conveniently explore the lake which I am not aware. We parked the car at vacant space near town and took few pictures.

The lake entices me every time I cut through it. Today the sky was clear and the green lake provided fantastic tonal contrast to picture the landscape. The Sun was just behind us which means no harsh light. I captured few shots before winding up our quick stop.

My wife captured these while I momentarily stopped car with engine ON. They too came good, in fact better than mine :-)

Being fresh water lake bounded by dense vegetation, the place for sure thriving with avian creatures perhaps even western ghat endemics. Hope to explore the lake thoroughly some day.

The road past the Guruvayanakere town which was under construction is also completed and neatly executed!

ನೀರಿನ ತರ್ಕ

"ರೀ ನಾಳೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಹತ್ತೋಕೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಮೆಟ್ಲು ಇದೆ. ನೀರು ಎಷ್ಟು ಬೇಕಾಗಬಹುದು" ನಿಂಗಿ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಹಾಕಿದಳು.

"ಸುಮಾರಾಗಿದೆ ಕಣೆ. ಅಂದಾಜಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಕೋ ಅಂತಾ" ಎಂದು ಕೆಲಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ಯುಸಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದ ಗುಂಡ ಮಾರುತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದ.

"ಅಲ್ರೀ ನಾನು ಮೊದಲ ಸಲ ಹೋಗೋದು. ನಾನು ಹೇಗೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಮಾಡೋದು. ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಹಾರಿಕೆ ಉತ್ತರ ನೀಡಬೇಡಿ. ಖಚಿತವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿ" ಅಂತ ನಿಂಗಿ ತಾಕೀತು ಮಾಡಿದಳು. 

"ಸರಿ ಅಂದಾಜಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ಲೀಟರ್ ಇಟ್ಕೋ" ಅಂತ ಗುಂಡ ಹೇಳಿದನು

"ಅಷ್ಟು ಬೇಡ , ೨ಲೀಟರ್ ಸಾಕು" ಎಂದು ನಿಂಗಿ ಹೇಳಿದಾಗ ಗುಂಡನಿಗೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಯ್ತು.

"ಅಲ್ವೇ ಮೊದಲನೇ ಸಲ ಅಂತೀಯಾ! ಜೊತೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಉಲ್ಟಾ ಮಾಡ್ತಿಯಾ! ಮತ್ಯಾಕೆ ಕೇಳ್ತಿಯ ನನ್ನ?" ಅಂತಾ ಗುಂಡ ಬೇಸರ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಿದನು. 

"ಅನುಭವ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಅಂದಾಜು ಜಾಸ್ತಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಇಟ್ಕೊತಿನಿ" ಎಂದು ನಿಂಗಿ ತನ್ನ ನಿರ್ಣಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅಂಟಿಕೊಂಡಳು.

"ಸರಿ ಬಿಡು 😶" ಎಂದು ಗುಂಡ ಮೆಲ್ಲಗೆ ತಲೆ ಅಲ್ಲಾಡಿಸಿ ಆಕಾಶದತ್ತ ಮುಖ ಮಾಡಿದನು

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ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಹತ್ತಿ ಸುಸ್ತಾಗಿ ನೀರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಖಾಲಿಯಾಯಿತು. ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೂ ಬಾಯಾರಿಕೆ ತಡೆಯಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ.

"ಮೂರು ಲೀಟರ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ ಅಲ್ವೇನೆ, ನೋಡಿಗಾ ಏನಾಯ್ತು. ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಬ್ಯಾಗಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರ ಹೋರುವವನು ನಾನು ಜೊತೆಗೆ ದೂರದಿಂದ ಸಾಗಿಸೋದು ಕಾರು. ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಮೂರು ಲೀಟರ್ ತರಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಏನು ನಿಂಗೆ" ಅಂತಾ ಗುಂಡ ಗೋಗರೆದನು.

"ಸಾಕು ಸುಮ್ನಿರಿ, ೨.೫ ಲೀಟರ್ ತಂದಿದ್ದೆ ಇಬ್ರಿಗೂ ಬೇಸರ ಬೇಡಂತಾ. ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಹೇಳಿದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಜಾಸ್ತಿನೇ ತಂದಿದ್ದೀನಿ! ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಖಾಲಿ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತಾ ನನಗೇನು ಗೊತ್ತು. ನೀವು ಅಂದಾಜು ಬದಲು ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಖರ್ಚು ಆಗುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತಾ ನಿಖರವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ ಶಾರ್ಟೇಜ್ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇರ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡ್ಬೇಕಾದ್ರೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹೇಳ್ಬಾರ್ದು ಅನ್ನೋದು" ಅಂತಾ ನಿಂಗಿ ಗುಂಡನಿಗೆ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಾದ ಹೇಳಿ ಮೆಲ್ಲನೆ ಜಾರಿಕೊಂಡಳು

ಗುಂಡ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯದಿಂದ, "ಎಲಾ ಇವಳಾ! ಅಲ್ವೇ ನೀನೇ ಅಂದಾಜು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಾ! ನೀವು ಹೆಂಗಸರು ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಕಾಟಾಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಪಂಚದ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಕೇಳಿ ಕೊನೆಗೆ ನಿಮ್ದೇ ದಾರೀಲಿ ನಡೆಯೋದು ಬಿಡು" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂಗಿ ಸಿಡಿಮಿಡಿಗೊಂಡಳು.

"ಏನೀವಾಗ ನಾನು ತಪ್ಪು ಮಾಡಿದ್ನ, ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಅಂಗಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಿನರಲ್ ವಾಟರ್ ತಗೊಳ್ಳಿ. ಅಷ್ಟು ಸಾಲಲ್ಲ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ತಾಜಾ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣ ಹಾಲು ಇದೆ, ಎಳನೀರು ಇದೆ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಕಲ್ಲಂಗಡಿ ಹಣ್ಣು ಕೂಡಾ ಇದೆ. ತಗೊಂಡ್ರೆ ಪಾಪ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯವರಿಗೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ. ನಡು ಬೀದಿಲಿ ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಯಾಕೆ ರಾದ್ಧಾಂತ ಮಾಡಿ ನನಗೆ ಅವಮಾನ ಮಾಡ್ತೀರಾ" ಅಂತಾ ನಿಂಗಿ ಗುಂಡನ ಮೇಲೆ ಗೂಬೆ ಕೂರಿಸಿದಳು.

ಗುಂಡನೋ, ತೆಪ್ಪಗೆ ಅಂಗಡಿಯ ಬಳಿ ತೆರಳಿದನು. ಅವಮಾನ ಇವನಿಗೆ ಆಯಿತೋ ಅಥವಾ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಆಯಿತೋ ತಿಳಿಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ೨೦೦ ರೂಪಾಯಿ ಜೇಬಿನಿಂದ ಹರಿದು ಹೋಗಿದ್ದು ಮಾತ್ರ ನಿಜ.