Karinja Temple

Karinja, famous as karinjagiri, covered by green and cool forest and hills, has been an ideal picnic spot along with its religious importance. Situated at Kavalamudur Village in Bantwal Taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, Karinja has been the centre of attraction for the people of all religions. One has to get down at Vagga, 10 Km away from Bantwal towards Dharmasthala. The stop is also identified as Karinja Cross, where a beautiful entrance welcomes you to one of the calm and nice places of the coastal district. The road leading you to Karinja through Kodyamale Forest is also enough to keep you spellbound. It is surprising that we wont experience any fatigue even when climbing the hill, which is 1200feet high above the sea level.

The gajaradigiri, an 800feet high hill on Karinjagiri, has been considered as an ideal spot for photography. The green fields and flora at the base of the hill attracts every visitor with its beauty.

A big pond in “Gada” (Mace) shape – Gada Theertha at the bottom of the Karinja hill is 237 meter long, 55 m wide and 7m deep size looks like a mirror with crystal clear water.

On the hilltop there is a Parvathi Temple pertaining to tenth century. People arriving on a picnic can put a campfire outside the temple and spend a night there happily

Ukkadada Bagilu

When you climb about 142 steps above the Parvathi Temple you find a massive doorframe made up of a stone. It has a 0.3 cm cut mark on it, which is said to be created by the hitting of an arrow, when Arjuna tried to kill a wicked pig

When you climb another 118 steps passing through Ukkadada (Ukkada means the limitor border of a town and a turn pike or a toll gate) Bagilu, you reach Sri Karinjeshwara Temple. The “Shilamaya” Temple in such a high place has been regarded as the “Bhookailasa”. Auspicious days like Shivarathri are celebrated with great festivity and a number of devotees throng the temple to attain the Darshana of Lord Shiva.

The Shrines of Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva has been renovated in 2001. The Steps helping the devotees to reach the twin temple easily, have also been repaired retaining the originality.

A group of Monkeys (Karinja Dadda) has been the centre of attraction to devotes visiting the temples. As the bell rings, soon after the Maha Pooja, monkeys gather near a granite platform, where they are offered Mooru Saru Akki Naivedya (about 3 Kgs of Cooked Rice). They also accept coconut, banana or whatever offered by the devotees.