Kamath home stay is best place to stay in Murdeshwara
Facilities in Kamath Home Stay
- 24-hour hot/cold water
- 24/7 power supply
- TV in all rooms
- A/C in all rooms
- Kitchen with all facilities including gas and Refrigerator
- Dinning Facility
- Additional Beds available on request at extra cost
- Fire Camp
- Laundry Sevice
- Transport - Taxi on request
- Ample Car parking
- Veg and Non veg food supplied on order
- Home Assistant 24/7
- Adventure trekking – will be arranged on request
About Murdeshwara
The origin of the name "Murudeshwara" dates to the time of
Ramayana.
The Hindu gods attained immortality and invincibility by worshipping a divine
Lingam called the
Atma-Linga. The
Lanka King
Ravana wanted to attain immortality by obtaining the Atma-Linga (Soul of Shiva). Since the
Atma-Linga
belonged to Lord Shiva, Ravana worshipped Shiva with devotion. Pleased
by his prayers, Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him what he
wanted. By this time Narada had asked Lord
Vishnu to change Ravana's mind. As a result of this plot, Ravana asks for Goddess
Parvati,
and Lord Shiva offers her to him. On his way back to Lanka Narada tells
Ravana that Lord had not given him the real Parvathi and that the real
Parvathi was in Pathala. So Ravana frees his companion,goes to Pathala
and marries a king's daughter, assuming her to be the real Parvathi. He
then returns to Lanka, where his mother asks him for the Linga. Ravana
then comes to know of the tricks played on him by Lord Vishnu. He
therefore prays to Lord Shiva again, begging for his forgiveness. Lord
Shiva appears and this time, Ravana requests the
AtmaLinga as his boon. Lord Shiva agrees to give him the boon with the condition that it should never be placed on the ground. If the
AtmaLinga
was ever placed on the ground, all the powers would return to Lord
Shiva again. Having obtained his boon, Ravana started back on his
journey to Lanka.
Sage
Narada, who came to know of this incident, realised that with the
AtmaLinga, Ravana may obtain immortality and create havoc on earth. He approached the Lord
Ganesh and requested him to prevent the
AtmaLinga from reaching Lanka. Lord
Ganesh
knew that Ravana was a very devoted person who used to perform prayer
ritual in the evening every day without fail. He decided to make use of
this fact and came up with a plan to confiscate the
AtmaLinga from Ravana.
As Ravana was nearing
Gokarna,
Lord Vishnu blotted out the sun to give the appearance of dusk. Ravana
now had to perform his evening rituals but was worried because with the
AtmaLinga in his hands, he would not be able to do his rituals. At this time, Lord Ganesh in the disguise of a
Brahmin boy accosted him. Ravana requested him to hold the
AtmaLinga
until he performed his rituals, and asked him not to place it on the
ground. Ganesh struck a deal with him saying that he would call Ravana
thrice, and if Ravana did not return within that time, he would place
the
AtmaLinga on the ground.
As predicted, before Ravana could return after completing his rituals, Ganesh had already placed the
AtmaLinga
on the ground. Vishnu then removed his illusion and it was daylight
again. Ravana, realising that he had been tricked, tried to uproot and
destroy it. Due to the force exerted by Ravana, some pieces were
scattered. One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have
fallen in present day
Surathkal. The famous Sadashiva temple is said to be built around that piece of linga. Then he decided to destroy the covering of the
AtmaLinga, and threw the case covering it to a place called
Sajjeshwara, 23 miles away. Then he threw the lid of the case to a placed called
Guneshwara (now Gunavanthe) and Dhareshwara, 10–12 miles away. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the
AtmaLinga to a placed called Mrideshwara in Kanduka-Giri (
Kanduka Hill). Mrideshwara has been renamed to Murudeshwara.
Major attractions
A
HDR image of 20-storied
Gopura at Murudeshwara temple. Two life-size elephants in concrete stand guard at the steps leading to it.
- Murudeshwara Temple and Raja Gopura: This temple is built on the Kanduka Hill which is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Arabian Sea. It is dedicated to the Lord Shiva, and a 20-storied Gopura
is constructed at the temple. Two life-size elephants in concrete stand
guard at the steps leading to it. The entire temple and temple complex,
including the 237.5-feet-tall Raja Gopura, is one among the tallest,
was constructed to its present form by businessman and philanthropist R. N. Shetty.
- The temple is entirely modernized with exception of the sanctum
sanctorum which is still dark and retains its composure. The main deity
is Sri Mridesa Linga, also called Murudeswara. The linga is believed to
be a piece of the original Atma Linga and is about two feet below ground
level. The devotees performing special sevas like Abhisheka,
Rudrabhisheka, Rathotsava etc. can view the deity by standing before the
threshold of the sanctum and the Lingam is illuminated by oil lamps
held close by the priests. The Lingam is essentially a rough rock inside
a hollowed spot in the ground. Entry into the sanctum is banned for all
devotees.
- Statue of Lord Shiva: A huge towering statue of Lord Shiva,
visible from great distances, is present in the temple complex. It is
the third highest statue of Lord Shiva in the world. The Tallest Lord
shiva statue is in Nepal known as the(Kailashnath Mahadev Statue).[1][2] The statue is 123 feet (37 m) in height and took about two years to build. The statue was built by Shivamogga's
Kashinath and several other sculptors, financed by businessman and
philanthropist R.N. Shetty, at a cost of approximately 50 million Rs. The idol is designed such that it gets the sunlight directly and thus appears sparkling.[3] Originally, the statue had four arms and was adorned in gold paint. However, large wind gusts blew one arm off [4] (the one that held a small drum), and rain dissolved the paint.
