History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Murudeshwar Temple, Murudeshwar, Bhatkal, Karnataka, India
Murudeshwar temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva located in sacred land of Murudeshwar is one of the major pilgrimage, one of the best Shiva temple of India and trending tourist destination of Karnataka. Murudeshwar temple has the second tallest statue of Lord Shiva in the World with height of 123 feet, the tallest statue of Lord Shiva is situated in Sanga near Kathmandu in Nepal. The interesting thing about the temple is that the temple is surrounded by Arabian Sea from the three sides. The entrance of the temple has a twenty storied Gopuram. This gopuram is called RajaGopuram and the height of the Gopuram is 237.5 feet which is second large Gopuram. The Ranganathswami temple, Srirangam has tallest Rajagopuram of 239 feet height. Elevator is available which provides you the excellent view of statue and Arabian Sea. The entire temple has detailed and intricate carvings which make it more attractive to the tourists. There are two huge elephants in the entrance to the sides of the Gopuram which are magnificently carved. Raja Gopuram was constructed during the year 2008. Earlier the temple was known as Mrideshwara, the town was renamed as Murudeshwara after the construction of the temple on the small hill called Kanduka Giri. It is believed that, Shiv linga installed here is the piece of the original Atma Linga and is about two feet below ground level. The devotees performing special sevas like Abhisheka, Rudrabhisheka, Rathotsava etc. The south window from the Gopuram has the beautiful view of the beach side of the Arabian Sea. There are several other idols placed in temple campus. Here you can see statues of Sun Chariot on side of a park, pool, statues depicting Arjuna receiving Geetopadesham from Lord Krishna, Ravana being deceived by Ganesha in disguise, Shiva's manifestation as Bhaghirnath, descending Ganga, carved around the hill.
There are several tales associated with Murudeshwar temple which present its ancient history and religious significance.
There is a Bhoo-Kailasa cave which is artificially created air-conditioned cave, depicting the Mythological story behind the temple. To fulfill the desire of his mother Kaikasi, Ravana starts strict penance to impress Lord Shiva. Narada muni seeks help from Lord Vishnu to break Ravana’s penance. Losing the penance, Ravana shaking Mount Kailash in anger. After seeing this Lord Shiva appears before Ravana with his wife Parvati. Out of illusion created by Vishnu, Ravana asks for Parvati instead a boon from Shiva. Ravana gets misguided by Narada on the way to Lanka. The Ravana gets married to Mandodari thinking that she is Parvati in real. When Ravana went back to Lanka with his wife, Kaikasi reminds Ravana of the real purpose of his penance. Then Ravana by realizing his mistake started even more stricter penance. Ravana started cutting his 10 heads one by one. Finally, Lord Shiva appears before him and grants him his Atma Linga. Narada goes to Lord Ganesha to stop Ravana. Then Ganesha appeared as a cowherd and promised to take care of Atma Linga in absence or while he takes a break. The Ganesha tricked Ravana and kept the Linga on the ground. The Ravana got angry and he bumps Ganesha on the head due to which Lord Ganesha takes dwarf shape and stays in Gokarna. The Ravana tries to pull the Linga from the ground. The effort of Ravana was in vain and at last he damages the Linga and the Linga turns into shape of the cow’s ear. Hence the place gets the name Gokarna. The Ravana was very angry after that and he throwed the pieces of the broken Linga in different directions. Each of them becomes sacred places namely Murudeshwara, Sajjaeshwar, Gunavanteshwar and Dhar Eshwar.
The history of Murudeshwar is found dated back to Ramayana time and very interesting stories are associated with the place. As per the one of the most popular legend, Demon King Ravana did rigors penance to get the Atma Linga of Lord Shiva. By his worship and devotion, Lord Shiva was pleased and gave him Atma Linga on one condition that Atma Linga should not be put down till he reaches to Lanka. If it is placed to ground then it will get fixed there and could not be pulled up or change place. Ravana accepted the Atma Linga with condition and started moving towards the Sri Lanka. Lord Vishnu and other Gods came to know about the situation and realize that if Ravana brings Atmalinga of Lord Shiva to Lanka then no one can beat him and he becomes the immortal.
To overcome this situation, Lord Ganesha was requested to help. Lord Vishnu knows that Ravana was particular in his Sandhya Puja, so Lord Vishnu marked out the sun to give the appearance of evening. Ravana was near Gokarna and he realize evening time thus he wanted to perform the evening rituals. At that time Lord Ganesh appeared in form of Brahman child, Ravana saw brahman boy and requested to hold Atma Linga till he completes the evening rituals. Also told not to put down on earth and went for rituals. While he did not came back after some time Lord Ganesha called him thrice but Ravana did not came thus Ganesh had put down the Atma Linga on earth. Then Lord Vishnu had removed his illusion and it was daylight again. While Ravana came back he realize the situation. Then he tried to lift the Atma Linga but was not able to pick thus he tried to destroy it. Ravana could not destroy Atma Linga but due to the heavy force applied by Ravana, some pieces were scattered. These pieces fallen in surrounding region and became the popular pilgrimage site of Lord Shiva. One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have fallen in present-day Surathkal. The very famous Sadashiva temple is said to be built around that piece of linga. Then Ravana decided to destroy the covering of the Atma-Linga, and threw the case covering Atma Linga which falls at place called Sajjeshwar. Then he threw the lid of the case to a place called Guneshwar and Dhareshwar. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the Atma-Linga to a place called Mrideshwar in Kanduka-Giri or Kanduka Hill.
The festivals like Mahashivratri and Kartik Purnima are celebrated every year with great enthusiasm. Best time to visit Murudeshwar temple is between October to March.
How to Reach Murudeshwar Temple and World’s Second Largest Statue of Lord Shiva, One of Major pilgrimage and tourist destination, Murudeshwar, Karnataka, India
As Murudeshwar is one of the important pilgrimage destination near Bhatkal on Uttar Kannada district in state of Karnataka and home to Murudeshwar Temple and world’s second largest statue of Lord Shiva. Thus, it is easily accessible via road, rail and air network. Murudeshwar has major railway station from where you can get train to all major station of India. You can get government and private vehicle from nearby cities to reach here by road. You can reach here via air connectivity easily as Mangalore airport is at just 150 km from Murudeshwar. Murudeshwar is located at 15 km from Bhatkal, 78 km from Gokarna, 61 km from Kollur, 156 km from Mangalore, 104 km from Udupi, 255 km from Belur, and 491 km from Bangalore.
