Murudeshwar

Murudeshwar, on the coast of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka, has grown from a small fishing–pilgrimage village into a major modern tirtha and tourist spot centred on Lord Shiva. Its history is tied to legends connected with the Atmalinga of Shiva, the same story associated with nearby Gokarna. According to tradition, when Ravana was tricked into dropping the powerful lingam on the coast, pieces of it fell at different places; one fragment is believed to have landed at Murudeshwar, making it a sacred Shaivite site for many centuries. A small coastal temple to Murudeshwara (a form of Shiva) existed here long before big highways or tourism arrived.

During the rule of local chiefs and later under Mysore and British administration, Murudeshwar remained a modest shrine visited mainly by regional devotees and supported by nearby agrarian and fishing communities. The dramatic change came in the late 20th and early 21st century, when the old temple complex was extensively rebuilt: a very tall gopuram was constructed and a gigantic seated Shiva statue was installed on the rocky hill jutting into the sea. These developments, funded by local patrons and business families, turned Murudeshwar into a visually iconic pilgrimage–tourism centre, where ancient coastal devotion meets modern monumental architecture and mass tourism on the Arabian Sea.