Lord Shiva at Murudeshwar

Kerala comes in many colours. The greens predominate and the hues change as you travel from the south to the north. In north Kerala there is more earthy color and the greens lose their sheen a bit.

In the last road trip spanning a good 850 kms along the west coast from Cochin to Goa, we stayed first night at Cannanore. This is in Kerala and it is an ancient town. More on Cannanore later.

Today is Shivratri and the day is celebrated for Lord Shiva. The God of Death, Destruction and Creation. So I thought it is an appropriate day to put up a picture of a Lord Shiva on the internet. The picture is a statute of Lord Shiva meditating in a sitting posture. The staute is of immense proportions and it rises sheer on a hilltop. Overlooking the deep blue waters of the western coast of India in Karnataka, this piece of cement, concrete and masonry is at a place called Murudeshwar.


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Murudeshwar is a small town on the coastal highway 17 that spans the western coast of India. It is in the state of Karnataka and about a few kilometers north of another famous Hindu town called Udipi.

Travelling North say from Mangalore to Goa, you have to veer left off the highway and in about 2-4 kms you enter the small town. The only visual that hits you with immense force is the statue of Lord Shiva as shown above. It is made of masonry and painted over and with the blue sky as the background it appears majestic. The statue is blue coloured as Shiva is supposed to be a consumer of alkaloids and poisonous mind altering substances, that you call "drugs" these days.

The construction appears to be under the munificent benevolence of the local industrialist of the area Mr Shetty with diverse interest in infra structure construction, manufacture of tiles etc.

The place has a hotel and a resort which is reasonably priced. The waiters and the support staff have all been recruited from the neighborhood, so language and finesse may be a tad lacking, but they are all willing to help and make your stay comfortable.

Other then it being a temple town with the statue of Lord Shiva, Murudeshwar has a beautiful beach which is clean and the water is wonderful at this time of the year.

More coming in the next blog specially The Girl from Murudeshwar. Whew ! some girl.