In today’s day and time finding time to for holidays is hard. Here are a few places that one can go to visit its history, culture and traditions when the time is short. Barkur is a fort town of the erstwhile Tulu Kingdom. It was established as the capital by the Alupas, who reigned in the provinces of coastal Karnataka. The Vijayanagara kings ruled it until the 17th century and then it was conquered by Haider Ali ruled by him and his successor, Tipu Sultan until he was defeated by the British. As the reigns of the kingdom changed hands, many of the monuments in Barkur were ruined. Temples and keres (stepped water tanks) are a common sight in Barkur. There were as many as 365 temples and many of them were ruined are being revamped one by one as the time passed. Choulikere is one of the major temples with a huge tank. The Barkur fort is spread across 20 acres of land. Inside the fort there are ruins of the kingdom. There are pillars used to tie horses and elephants which formed the part of the army. This fort was excavated several years ago by the archeologists in a few acres of land, which is now an excursion site. The temples here have unique artifacts and each one has an interesting story woven around it. The Kallu chappara situated in the heart of Barkur is another tourist attraction. In the past the Utsava murthys of all the temples used to be worshiped here.How to reach? The Barkur town has a railway station and is on the Mangalore-Mumbai route. It is about 16 km from Udupi and can be reached by bus. Those driving down to Barkur, take a right deviation at Brahmavara (Akashavani Circle). From there Barkur town is about three km. Fort is just half a kms from Barkur town on the Rukmini Shetty National First Grade College road. Kattale Basadi is half kilometers from Barkur on the Mandarthi road. Mangalore: Posaral Shri Mahalingeshwara Mahaganapati temple, lying on the border of dakshina kannada and udupi district is a favourite destination for many devotees.The simple, beautiful stone carvings, temple architecture and the serenity surrounding the temple attracts devotees by hordes. The antique carvings on the pillars of the Theertha Mantapa in the temple is an added attraction, reveals the priests in the temple. The temple is located on the banks of river Shambhavi. It’s history dates back to almost 1,200 years. The temple though was renovated in 2006 it has retained the basic infrastructure. The devotees have a unflinching belief in their desires and wishes being fulfilled by the main presiding deities Mahalingeshwara, Mahaganapati, Nagas and Brahma.The temple also has dedicated a shrine to Panjurli, a spirit. The locals believe that the presiding deity is often pleased with tender coconut ‘abhishekam’. Thus if wishes are realised, devotees make it a point to offer a few tender coconuts to the deity.Incidentally the temple is located in close proximity to three more temple dedicated to Lord shiva. The temples Inna-Muddanu Sri Mahalingeshwara temple, Ulepadi and Bola are also worthy of a visit.
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