Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple, Mangalore, Karnataka India

Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple is located just 3 km from heart of Mangalore city. The beautiful temple at Kudroli id dedicated to Lord Gokarnanatheshwara, an incarnation of Lord Shiva.
It is believed that this place is used to graze land for the horses during the rule of Tipu Sultan. Hence, the name 'Kudre' (horse) 'vali' which was transformed into kudroli over time.

The temple has renovated recently and the temple is becoming famous now. Dasra(Navrathri) is the festival season here. The night view of the temple is very beautiful as there will be more lights and water fountain. I could not manage 360° on the first day I went as there was 3 marriage functions in the evening and it was crowded.

Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra was started in 1912 by his holiness Narayana Guru, a social reformer and a saint. The original temple structure was constructed in the Kerala style, recently the temple was renovated in 1991 and now it is in the Chola style.

The main deity of the kshetra is Lord Sri Gokarnanatha (Lord Shiva) and other idols of the kshetra are Lord Ganapathy, Lord Subramanya, Goddess Annapoorneshwari, Lord Bhairava, the Nava Grahas and Lord Shaneshwara.

Navarathri Utsav at Kudroli is celebrated in great devotion. The Navarathri Utsav celebrated here is popularly called as Mangalore Dasara. A grand procession of Goddess Durga takes place during Navarathri, which attracts many devotees from different parts of Karnataka. The idols of Sharada Matha and Maha Ganapathi, life-size idols of Nava Durgas are installed in the temple premises in an attractive way during Navaratri.

The other festivals celebrated at Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra are Maha Shivaratri, Sri Krishnashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Nagara Panchami, Deepavali, Sri Narayana Jayanthi.