In passing....

I had to visit Vithal, about 40 km south of Mangalore, where I left to escape the chaos of the city. The process of reducing stress starts as soon as you hit the road. We always leave early in the morning to avoid the crippling congestion that Mumbai usually has. But this time, due to unavoidable circumstances, it could start at 1:30 in the afternoon. City traffic did not disappoint. It took us an hour to reach the Mumbai-Pune highway just 10 km and another hour! That's why I decided to drive through Goa on the faster NH4, which is part of the Quadrilatero d'Oro, much nicer and quieter than the NH17.

It took me 7 hours to reach Kolhapur which is 390 km away.

Since I hate driving at night, I decided to spend the night in Kolhapur and the next morning I drove to Chirali on the west coast. The drive to Ankola via Hubli and Yellapur was easy. From Ankola to Shirali was NH17 where the roads were not as wide as NH4 but they were very smooth and excellent.

Overcome this distance of 450 km in 7 hours.

Shirali is a small village located between Bhatkal and Moradeshwar. Shirali is important for Chitrapur Saraswat as it is one of the main sports routes. Masha (also spelled "mathematician", "mathematician", or "meth") is a term that refers to monastic and similar religious institutions in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. A masha is usually more formal, hierarchical, and rule-based than an ashram.

For more information on this math, visit http://www.chitrapuramath.net/our_maths/shirali.asp.

Since Murudeshwar is just 15 km away, we went there to see the world's tallest Shiva idol.

And now there is the tallest gopuram in the world! Both are awe-inspiring.

The main Shiva temple also has an amazing history.

The name "Murudeswara" has its origin in the Ramayana. Hindu deities attained immortality and invincibility through the worship of a divine lingam called Atmalinga. The king of Lanka, Ravana, wanted to attain immortality by obtaining the Atmalinga. Since the Atmalinga belonged to Lord Shiva, Ravana worshiped Shiva devotedly. Pleased with his prayer, Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him what he wanted.

Ravana asks Atmaling to be her boyfriend. Lord Shiva agreed to give him the upper hand on the condition that he would not be thrown to the ground. If so, they will build there. Having received his bride, Ravana resumed his journey to Lanka.

Sage Narada, fearing that Ravana would become invincible, appealed to Lord Vishnu to save him.

In the evening Ravana performed his rituals religiously. Lord Vishnu and Ganesha decided to imbibe his devotion. When Ravana was near Gokarna, Lord Vishnu caused the darkened sun with his beautiful chakra to appear. A Brahmin boy (Ganesha) appeals to Ravana, asking him to restrain Atmalinga so that he can perform his rituals.

Ravana returns to find the missing boy and Atmalinga lying on the ground. Lord Vishnu removed his chakra and became light again. An enraged Ravana tries to eliminate Atmalinga. He threw away everything including the lingam at a place called Mrideswara in Kanduka Gira (Kanduka Hills). Mrideswar was renamed as Murudeshwar.

All this legend is engraved in the temple Gopuram.

It was called the Mahabala Linga because he could not grow it and the Mahabaleshwar Temple was built at Gokarna. A small opening in the temple allows devotees to glimpse the top of the Atmalinga.

Murudeshwar has a stunningly beautiful beach that has been developed as a water sports resort.

RN Shetty is the man who designed this place and is responsible for putting it on the tourist map. It is impossible not to mention his name in almost every institution, in every corner of Moradeshwar!

After having a good time here it was time to head to Udupi.

The Sri Krishna temple here also has an interesting history.

When you enter the temple, there will be an image of your face. But in this temple you are supported by Sri Krishna. how is it Untouchables were not allowed to enter the temple during the construction of Saral. A pious man named Kanaka Dasa stopped at the entrance to pray but was unable to enter the temple. But he stopped. He did the next best thing. He went behind the temple and prayed there. Lord Krishna was moved by the man's devotion and confronted him. It has remained so since then.

There is a small window at the back called 'Kanak Das Window' through which the idol can be seen.

Musicians in the temple.

As we neared our brunch, we dropped into the much touted Mitra Samaj near the temple and indulged our taste buds with delicious dosas and vadasas with fragrant coffee.

We wanted to try the famous Jadwada ice cream at Diana restaurant. But unfortunately, for some reason we were told that we would have to wait at least half an hour to get a table. There were at least 6 empty tables, but they had "do not work" signs on them. So, we got rid of the "grandfathers" and moved on.

He was in a restaurant in Putthuri (10 kilometers from Vittala) which was also known for this spell.

I spent a few days in Vitthal and returned to Mumbai by the same route but stayed one night in Kolhapur.

On our way back we stopped for breakfast at Udupi for a lovely dosa and coffee at the Sunshine Restaurant on the highway.

By the time we reached Dharwad, we were ready for lunch and stopped at Rajasthani Dhaba for a greasy snack. We spent the night in Kolhapur, after breakfast 'kanda bohi' we left for Mumbai.

A burger and fries with a coke for lunch from McDonald's at Lonavala on the Pune highway in Mumbai, I arrived in Mumbai to face the chaos of the city before my next trip stress free!

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