Murudeshwara Temple
ಮುರುಡೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ
Why this temple matters
On a rocky headland thrusting into the Arabian Sea, Shiva is worshipped as Murudeshwara beneath a colossal seated statue and a soaring twenty-storey gopura — one of the coast's most striking sights.
History
Murudeshwar stands on the Kanduka hill, a headland reaching into the Arabian Sea in Uttara Kannada. The shrine is bound to the legend of the Atma Linga of nearby Gokarna, and in modern times has been raised into one of the coast's grandest temple complexes.
Architecture
The temple is crowned by a Raja Gopura of some twenty storeys, among the tallest in India, and beside it rises a vast seated statue of Shiva overlooking the sea. The setting — sea on three sides, sky above — is the temple's signature.
Legends
By tradition the demon Ravana carried off the Atma Linga of Shiva, and was tricked by Ganesha into setting it down at Gokarna, where it fixed forever. The cloth that had covered the linga is said to have fallen at this place, which took the name Mrideshwara, or Murudeshwara.
Festivals
Maha Shivaratri is the great night here, drawing crowds to the sea-girt hill. Kartika and the temple's own car festival fill the year with worship beside the waves.
The Experience
Few Indian temples sit so dramatically on the sea; pilgrims come for darshan of Murudeshwara and to stand beneath the great statue with the Arabian Sea spread on every side.