There are a few important temples around Kundapura. Though these temples are popular in that part, they are not very famous outside Karnataka. As we came to know about these temples, we wanted to visit as many of them as possible. All these places are well connected to Kundapura, though the bus services are not so frequent to some of these places.
The first place we wanted to go was Kamalashile. Though, it is just 35 kms away from Kundapura, there are not many direct buses to this place. So, we boarded a bus at 8:00 AM to go to Siddapura which is on the way to Kamalashile. It took almost one hour and we reached Siddapura at 9:00 AM. As there was no bus to Kamalashile till 10:00 AM (and no taxi/auto driver was willing to come to Kamalashile), we had our breakfast in Siddapura. Finally, we boarded the bus and reached Kamalashile at 10:15 AM. The temple is just 200 meters away from the place where the bus stops.
Kamalashile
The temple in Kamalashile is dedicated to Sri Brahmi Durga Parameshwari. This Goddesses is the convergence of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. The temple is very close to the river Kubja. All male devotees have to remove their shirt/banian before entering the temple. We had the darshan of the Goddess for more than 10 minutes as the temple was not much crowded. We then bought prasadam and sat in the temple for some more time looking at the Goddess.
We came back and reached Siddapura by bus at 11:00 AM. From there, we wanted to go to Maranakatte. However, there was no direct bus to Maranakatte at that time and we should go to Neralekatte which is on the way to Maranakatte. But, the bus to go to Neralekatte had just left and the next bus was only at 1:00 PM. Someone advised us to go to Ampar (which is a junction). Though this route is longer by 10 kms, we decided to go to Ampar instead of waiting there for two hours. The bus to go to Ampar was ready, but it started only after half an hour after we boarded. We reached Ampar at 12:15 PM and the next bus to go towards Maranakatte would be at 1:00 PM. So, we had our lunch in a small hotel in Ampar.
There was no direct bus to Maranakatte from there as well. So we boarded a bus at 1:00 PM and got down in a small village called Vandse, where we had to change the bus to go to Chittoor (which is on the way to Kollur). By the time we reached Vandse, the bus to go to Chittoor was leaving. Our bus conductor stopped that bus by blowing his whistle. We thanked him and boarded that bus. (Till we boarded this bus, we spent a lot of time in waiting rather than in travelling. However, from here onwards, we didn`t have to wait at all and we got all our next vehicles immediately).
The bus reached Chittoor in 15 minutes (There is a town with the same name in Andhra Pradesh also). We boarded an auto to go to Maranakatte, which is just 2 kms away. The auto stopped in front of the temple at 1:45 PM.
Maranakatte
The temple at Maranakatte is dedicated to Sri Brahmalingeshwara, who is considered to be the son of Sri Mookambika in Kollur. This temple is surrounded by a stream which is called Brahmakund. The temple was crowded even at that time. We had to rush as someone told us that the darshan would be stopped at 2:00 PM. The main deity is in standing pose here. We had a hurried darshan as there were more than 300 people inside the temple and the darshan was about to be stopped.
We came out and had our evening coffee in a restaurant (though it was not exactly evening). Our next plan was to go to Guddattu, which should be reached from Kundapura only. I asked the owner of the restaurant about the other temples around Kundapura. He told us about Hattiangady where there is a Ganesh temple.
From Maranakatte, there are two routes to Kundapura - one is via Ampar and the other one is via Tallur. He advised us to go to Tallur as Hattiangadi is just 5 kms away from there. We came out and were looking for an auto to go back to Chittoor. Just then, one bus started to move (which was standing in front of the restaurant for a long time) and was going towards Chittoor. When I asked the conductor, he told that it would go to Tallur also. We boarded the bus and reached Tallur at around 3:45 PM.
Tallur
We got down on the main road in Tallur. We should take a left turn to go to Hattiangadi, however, after getting down from the bus, I saw one beautiful temple in a street on the right side of the main road (Had the driver stopped the bus a few steps either behind or afterwards, I wouldn`t have seen the temple as it was not visible from there due to the shops on the main road and we wouldn`t have visited it). We crossed the road and went to the temple which is just 100 meters away from the main road. It is again a Shiva temple and he is known as Mahalingeshwara there. The temple was opened at 4:00 PM and we had a very good darshan. We came back to the main road and hired an auto to go to Hattiangadi. We reached Hattiangadi in 10 minutes.
Hattiangadi
Hattiangadi is on the banks of the river Varahi. However, we could not see the river anywhere around. I was very surprised when the local people told us that Hattiangadi was once the capital of the Alupa kings. It is a very small village now. They also told us Hattiangadi was also ruled by Hoysala kings and, during that period, it was called Goshtipura as so many intellectual discussions happened there.
We reached the temple at 4:30 PM. The main deity here is Sri Siddhi Vinayaka, who is in sitting pose. There is a small temple for Shiva also in the same premises. There were not more than 10 people in the temple. The priest told us that there was a bus to go to Kundapura at 5:00 PM and it would stop exactly behind the temple. We spent 20 minutes in the temple and came out when we saw the bus coming. We went to the spot, but the driver told us the bus would leave only at 5:00 PM.
There is another temple exactly behind the temple we visited (beside the place where the bus stopped). As we still had 10 more minutes, we went in. It is Vishnu temple and the deity here is worshipped as Shankaranarayana. We were in the temple for 5 minutes only as we didn`t have much time. We boarded the bus and reached Kundapura at 5:30 PM (The distance is around 12 kms).
Guddattu
The main deity in Guddattu is worshipped as Maha Ganapati. He is called Jaladhivasa as there is water flowing under the main idol continuously. As the main idol is Swayambhu, it is not exactly in the shape of Ganesha. We spent around 15 minutes in the temple.
Somebody in the temple told us to go back to the junction as soon as possible as there was a bus to go to Kundapura at 6:30 PM and it would probably be the last bus for the day. We boarded our auto and reached the junction by 6:35 PM. The bus came at 6:45 PM and we reached Kundapura at 7:30 PM.
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