REMEMBERING MANGALORE

Four years down the lane and the memories are still as fresh as the breeze over the sea.

My trip to Mangalore, a port city of Karnataka, was nothing short of amazing. It was my first beach holiday. Yes, this place has some of the best beaches of India, only less known. Not just beaches, it has the most beautiful temples and churches I have ever been to.

It was here that I welcomed my 2011. The weather was pleasant mostly. I stayed at NITK and the food offered in its mess was the real South Indian flavor, the one I don’t get to taste even in the best of the restaurants in Delhi. It surprises me to know that not many people count Mangalore as a tourist place. If you ask me, I’d say, it’s the most beautiful and unfortunately an underrated tourist place in India.

If you are planning to visit it someday, I can tell you about some of the places I visited and loved in this city:

Tropical Beach Paradise

NITK beach: NITK has a private beach at the shores of Arabian Sea. It is hard to explain that first sight of the vast, abysmal and boundless sea. The sound of gushing water and strong howling winds was very soothing. The beach has an old lighthouse, which gives the beach a very dramatic and filmy touch to it. There was hardly any tourist on this beach when I visited it. So those who like a little wild, deserted and virgin beaches, this is for you!

NITK Beach

Surathkal Beach: I am not sure, but I think it is just the extension of NITK beach or may be the other way round; however the waves here were very calm as compared to the NITK beach. The beach is beautiful, clean and has an amazing scenic view.

Surathkal Beach

Temples of South

The temples of south are different from what I see here in north. Everything from the architecture to the way they worship and clothes they wear, is different. I saw many of them wearing black while performing the Puja with the Lamps.

Kudroli Gokarnath temple: It is the biggest and the most beautiful temple I have ever been to. I visited it in the late evening hours and it looked nothing short of stunning with all its lighting effects. To me, it looked like a city of God or kingdom of heaven. Its architecture is magnificent and unbelievingly beautiful. You really have got to see it to believe it.

Kudroli Temple.--Image Source - www.daijiworld.com

Kadri Manjunath Temple: It is one of the oldest temples of south. Build on the highest hill of Kadri hills in Mangalore. I still remember that fresh and sweet scent of sandalwood in its premises.

I also visited the infamous Mangladevi temple. Build in honour of the Hindu deity after which this city has been named.

Outside Krishna Temple

Chapels & Churches

I was planning on to seeing St. Aloysius Chapel, Milagres Church and Rosario Church. But due to short time, could only visit Milagres Church. I remember having visited it just two days post-Christmas, so the decorations were still fresh and I could reckon the grandeur of celebrations. Build in all white, it looked amazing. I mentioned it in one of my posts before, that it was here that I first witnessed a Christian wedding. It looked surreal, like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. It was beautiful. And so was the church.

Milagres Church, Mangalore

Udipi

This city is just 60 Kms from Mangalore. I travelled by the local bus. Though the bus was not that comfortable, but the view you get to see on the way is worth the journey. Udipi is famous for its Krishna Temple and Malpe Beach.

The Shacks near Malpe Beach

Krishna temple is a divine shrine dedicated to Lord Krishna. When I was there, it was packed by hundreds of devotees. There is a tradition in this temple to worship God through a window with small holes. The complex is quite large and the architecture is spectacular. It was surely worth a visit.

The Magnificent Architecture , Krishna Temple.

Food served on Banana Leaves, inside Krishna Temple

Maple beach is the most beautiful among all the beaches I have seen so far in India. No wonder why it is called White Sand Paradise. It is unbelievably clean. The waves were not that strong so I would call it a much safer beach for kids to play in as compared to Surathkal. Flying kite on the beach was fun. There are some shacks nearby that serve good fish curry.  I tasted Tadi for the first time. It is a fruit that is used to make palm wine. The colorful huts build along the shore gives it a Fishing Village look.

White Sand Paradise- Malpe Beach, Udipi

Sunset at Maple Beach.

Near Malpe Beach

This beach with its amazing view of natural splendor and serenity around me made Mangalore trip one of my best vacations so far.



Note: All the photos in this post have been clicked by my dad, Harjeet Choudhary (unless mentioned otherwise).