On day three we gave rest to our steeds & hired a car as Srik’s aunt & cousin accompanied us for the trip. And third day turned out to be more of a pilgrimage with visits to plenty of temples – most of them in Kasaragod district. Our first stop was Ananthapura. Few weeks before our ride plan, there was a news article about the place & its uniqueness.
Ananthapura, the place is well known for the temple of Lord Anantha Padmanabha. There are two specialities of this place – one, the idols of Lord Anantha Padmanabha, Goddesses Sridevi & Bhudevi are not made of stone/wood/metal, but are made of a mixture of more than 60 extracts from herbs/plants & other natural materials. The temple is built in the middle of a small pond & there is no external source of water to the pond except rain.
Second unique/strange thing of the place is, a crocodile lives in this pond where temple is constructed. It’s said that the crocodile is living there for years. During lunchtime when called by priest, the crocodile comes out of the water & receives the ‘prasada’ from the priest. The legend says that – In 1942, the crocodile was shot dead by a British soldier. And the very next day appeared another crocodile, which is present now. It’s said that the same crocodile is living in the temple pond since then. It was truly a ‘Believe it or not’ moment for us.
How to reach Ananthapura:
From Mangalore travel south towards Kasaragod to reach Kumbala (39KMs). Turn left & after 4 KMs you will be at Naikap. Turn right to reach the temple.
Our next stop was Madhur – temple of Srimadanantheshwara & Ganapati (siddi Vinayaka). Though the main deity here is Lord Shiva, his son Ganapati gets more importance/devotees. Our visit was brief compared to Ananthapura. From Madhur we started towards Bekal fort.
The journey so far:
Bangalore – Kunigal – Hassan – Belur – Yagachi – Chikkamagalur – Balehonnur – Jayapura – Sringeri – Agumbe – Hebri – Udupi – Malpe – Bengre – Udupi – Udyavara – Kunjarugiri – Pajaka – Kaup – Surthkal – Mangalore – Ananthapura – Madhur