Kamalashile
Date: 25-Oct-14
This time, we celebrated Deepavali in Brahmavar. The five days vacation was jam-packed with family functions to attend. In these five busy days, one of the days’ plans was to visit the famous Brahmi Durga Parameshwari Temple at Kamalashile. The temple is around 60 km from our home at Brahmavar. It is one of the famous temples around Udupi. This was the first time I was visiting this temple. Thilak and my in-laws had been there earlier and were very impressed by the management of the temple.
Reaching Kamalashile
We started from home at 11.00 AM. It was raining from early morning and was still raining when we started. The road to Kamalashile was highly scenic. On both sides of the road, there was a dense forest. The drizzling rain had made the roads look even more beautiful. In the car, we were teasing each other and having fun. By the time, we reached the temple, it was around 12 o’clock.
The surroundings of the temple were very well maintained. The place was calm and peaceful. A river called “Kubja” was flowing by the side of the temple. The river was flowing through a narrow channel. But, my mother-in-law told me that, during the rainy season, if it rains heavily, the river will be flooded and water will come inside the temple.
Brahmi Durga Parameshwari Temple
The crowd was very less at the temple. There was a board that said, male devotees, have to remove their shirt and banyan and go inside to take Darshan. Since my in-laws knew about this, they were ready with shawls to cover. They offered one pooja and the priest conducted it very nicely for us. The Mahamangalarathi for the Goddess Brahmi Durga Parameshwari was at 12.30 PM, so we waited till then in the temple corridor. Exactly at 12.30 PM, the managing trustee of the temple, Sri Sachidananda Chatra arrived, and immediately the pooja began. Sachidananda Chatra is one of the partners in the famous bus company Durgamba Motors. He was a very simple man and had a very commanding voice. The pooja was conducted in a different way. After the main Pooja got over, the pooja was conducted for all the deities present around the main temple.
There were many other deities like Ganapathy, Veerabhadra, Naga, etc. The trustee himself was guiding everyone to go to these places as the pooja was happening. The crowd was silently following his orders and so are the purohits of the temple. This all looked highly disciplined. The Prasada is served as a feast every day here.
We had planned to have lunch here and return. After the pooja, everyone was sent to the dining hall and the food was served immediately. The lunch was simple and very tasty. After lunch, we explored the place around the temple for some time. We took some family photos and started from there at 2.30 PM.
Kattale Basadi
While returning, when we were in Barkur, we decided to visit Kattale Basadi which was on the way. There was nothing much to see. Everything was ruined. Behind Kattale Basadi, there were two small temples of Lord Shiva and Vishnu. All were in destructed condition. These temples were built in the 12th century. My mother-in-law told me that this was the market place where they were selling gold, pearl, etc. After spending some time, we decided to return at around 4 PM.
This was our first family trip together and we had an amazing time. The calm Kamalashile, the green roads, the fun while traveling, and the ruins of Barkur gave us yet another memorable trip.
- Route Travelled: Home (Brahmavar) > Barkur > Shankaranarayana > Siddapura > Kamalashile
- Total distance (To & Fro): 120 km
- Photos: None
Route Map:
Nice information dear 🙂 Can you provide pics too
http://zigzacmania.blogspot.in/
Thanks.. Unfortunately, we dint take any photos when we visited 🙁
Nice write up.Thanks for the info.
Thanks Sri Kri.. 🙂
You missed visiting the cave where the Durgi status was found. It’s about a kilometer and half from the current temple. I was there couple of months ago and unfortunately no one was there to take us inside the cave 🙁
Oh… we missed that.. 🙁 Thanks for the info.. next time, we will definitely visit the cave..