Sapta Kshetra Darshan: Day 2

Bangalore - Kukke Subramanya - Dharmasthala - Horanadu - Sringeri - Kollur - Murudeshwar - Udupi – Kateel - Mangalore - Bangalore

Day 2

Shrirama Mandira

We started from Dharmastala and visited ShriRama Mandira which was nearby. It is a beautiful temple with marble statutes; apart from the main god Shriram, there were statues of all the gods in the horoscopes like guru, budhan, shani etc.

We had initially planned to skip this temple but we were drawn to it when passing by and we were happy that we had stopped else we would missed the unique ambiance and the beauty of this temple.

Kalasa

We proceed to kalasa - kalashwaran / kasi viswanathan temple. It is close to horanadu. It is a very old and well maintained temple. Again I was impressed with the priests in this temple, they were chanting Rudhram, when the abishegam was being performed on the lingam and it was an experience which gives a spiritual boost to our soul. It has a lot of paintings depicting scenes of lord Shiva’s many episodes of thiruvilayadal. 

Our next stop was Annapoorneshwari temple in Horanadu. One of my friends had advised us that we should have food first and then go to worship annapoorneshwari deity, as she would not like her devotees to worship her with hunger. Not sure if this is true anyways, as soon as went people in the temple directed us towards the place where they serve food.

Golden Annapoorneshwari Temple

There were a lot of items served, hot rice, sambar, rasam, payasam, sweet, puliogere, buttermilk. The only thing we missed was a vegetable side dish for sambar and rasam rice. The food was yummy and it was really a good feeling to have this prasadam when we go to the temple after travelling though the ghat roads and having no refreshments / snacks in between.

Afterwards we had a wonderful Darshan of golden annapoorneshwari. The whole temple was decorated with so many flowers and we were allowed to go very near to the deity and pray to our hearts content. You can also book any sevas available if pressed for time and cannot wait in long queues in general darshan, for sometimes the general queues are made to wait if there is a heavy rush or a lot of people are opting for sevas.

Enroute to Horanadu

Sringeri

   

We proceeded to Sringeri, where we again got accommodation in lodges maintained by the mutt and it was a newly constructed building right opposite to the mutt. Here also the rooms were well maintained. We got hot water for bathing in the morning by asking the room boys. 

We had a Darshan of Sharadhambal and had dinner in the mutt and by far it was the most well maintained dining hall we encountered. The service was good and again the only complaint was there was no vegetable dish to go with the food.

We can get ashirvadham from acharaya at the ashram, after he performs the chandramouliswarar pooja in the night after 8.30 pm. The ashram is accessible from the temple complex, though the bridge constructed across Tunga river.