Kunjarugiri
Kunjarugiri is a village in Udupi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Udupi City, near Shankarapura. The main attraction of the village is a hill, known as Durga Betta, on which stands a temple of Durga, known to locals in the Tulu language as Kunjar Amma. Parashurama is credited with erecting the temple in honour of the divine mother, Adi Shakti. It is said that when he created Kerala, he found in the depth of the sea a pearl, which he fashioned into a nose ring and decorated the idol of Kunjaru Amma with. According to legend, however, the sea always retrieves whatever is taken from it. To protect the idol for a long time, Parashurama installed the idol in the Kunjaru hill; but to this day, the sea keeps coming closer to the hill. The hill comprises nearly 250–300 stairs as a pathway leading to the beautiful Kunjarugiri temple. Thousands of school kids visit every year as a part of the school trips and spend memorable time in the midst of the spectacular sight. A lot of Foreigners also visit the beautiful place Udupi which stands proudly on the Konkan coast. During "Krishna Janmashtami"( the day lord Krishna was born), thousands of visitors are seen in the streets of Udupi.
Kunjarugiri | |
|---|---|
village | |
 | |
| Country |  |
| State | Karnataka |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Kannada |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 576120 |
| Vehicle registration | KA 20 |
Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy, used to visit the Durga temple every day during his childhood. One day, when he was in the Kunjaru temple, his mother called from Pajaka, a kilometre or two away; Madhavacharya is believed to have jumped straight to his house. To this day, his footprints can be seen on a particular rock. The rock is found in a beautiful cave and the foot-prints are worshiped by the purohits of the temple. Around the hill, there are four ponds or 'thirthas' that were visited by Sri Madhva every day. The four ponds are called Dhanus Thirtha, Gada Thirtha, Bana Thirtha and Parashu Thirtha. Hindu mythology itself is beautiful with the great books like the mighty Mahabharatha or the astounding story of the great Ramayana or the holy script "The Bhagavad Gita" and places like Kunjaru definitely gives a heart-touching experiences of the great Indian history. Moreover, Udupi, is said to be created by Parashurama himself who was a Kshatriya Bhrahmin. Hence, people here likely call themselves as "Parashurama Shrishti".