Murudeshwar

Murudeshwar, a temple town on the Arabian Sea coast of the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, is one of the most dramatically situated pilgrimage sites in South India — a place where a colossal statue of Lord Shiva sits in serene meditation against the backdrop of the open sea.

• The town is built around the Murudeshwar Temple, which crowns the Kanduka Hill, a rocky promontory jutting into the Arabian Sea on three sides, in a setting of rare natural beauty.
• Towering over the temple is the great Shiva statue — 123 feet (37 metres) tall and long billed as the second-tallest Shiva statue in the world — seated cross-legged and gazing out over the waves, a sight visible from far out at sea and one of the most photographed images on the Karnataka coast.
• The statue, completed in the early 2000s and financed by the businessman-philanthropist R. N.
• Shetty, is matched by an extraordinary 20-storey Raja Gopura (one of the tallest temple gateway towers in India), inside which a lift carries visitors up for a sweeping view of the statue, the temple, and the coastline.
• The temple's mythology ties it to the Ramayana legend of the Atmalinga — the same story shared with nearby Gokarna — in which Ravana was tricked into setting down a divine Shiva linga on this coast.
• Beyond the temple, the Murudeshwar beach offers a quiet stretch of sand and gentle water, and the offshore Netrani (Pigeon) Island is a noted scuba-diving and snorkelling spot.
• Murudeshwar makes a natural stop on the Konkan-coast temple trail between Gokarna to the north and Udupi to the south, and the sight of the floodlit statue and gopura at dusk, with the dark sea behind, is unforgettable.
• For vegetarian travellers, Murudeshwar is easy and rewarding: as a temple town in coastal Karnataka, it offers pure-vegetarian South Indian fare — masala dosa, idli-vada with sambar and coconut chutney, Mangalorean veg meals, and filter coffee.
• The best season is October to February.