This trip started very differently. We were supposed to drive along NH-17 distributing my brother-in-law’s wedding invitations to relatives who live along that road. So we packed, prepped both kids for the half day trip and started off at 1PM sharp. As we reached Udupi, my wife discovered that our invitation package was incomplete, we couldn’t possibly distribute that way. The full package was inaccessible until 4PM.
So we turned around and started driving back home. But it would be criminal to waste all the preparation. So we started thinking about some destination. First we decided the direction, the Karkala road. But how far? Wife shot down the Gomateshwara statue at Karkala since that would involve climbing hundreds of steps in hot sun with two small kids. Then she remembered a Temple of Thousand Pillars at Moodabidri. We didn’t know how far it was, but we didn’t really care. We made a brief stop at home to pick up the camera and tripod.
The road till Hiriadka was crowded (in rural sense) since the road also leads to Shimoga via Agumbe ghats. Once we passed Hiriadka, it was a pleasure to drive. Lush green scenery and winding roads, I maintained a 80ish speed at 5th gear. It was bliss. Karkala turned out to be 40Kms from our home. The road from Karkala to Moodabidri has a Ghat section and it was even better. However, my Baleno seems to be having a power delivery problem, it was under-revving and slowing down in inclines, something to check out later. Moodabidri was 18Kms Karkala.
Once we entered Moodabidri, we kept finding temples at every stone throw, we got thoroughly confused. This town has very narrow roads, U-turns or even parking was a hassle. Once we found some place to park, we found that we had passed the 1000 pillar temple. Turns out Moodabidri has 18 Jain temples of historical significance. Gosh!
This is the entrance on the inner wall.
Once we entered the temple, we found photography was banned inside, let alone tripod. I guess they don’t want the Nuclear secrets hidden in the carving to fall into wrong hands. Stupid rules!
The inside is big and beautiful, and every pillar is supposedly different from the other. We walked around the temple. This temple has one inner wall and one outer wall. Since the photography restriction was only inside, I decided to shoot out side.
The inner wall shot from outside.
I decided to cheat and shot an inner scene from outside.
More about Moodabidri
here.
Wikimapia
view from the top.