Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple

ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಥಳ ಶ್ರೀ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ

Shiva · Manjunatheshwara

Shivalinga

Dharmasthala, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka · Shaiva tradition

It is a Shaiva temple whose worship is conducted by Vaishnava priests and whose administration is held by Jain descendants, the Heggade family.

The story begins: “About eight hundred years ago, this place was called Kuduma, in the village of Mallarmadi in South Kanara.”

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Darshan hours
  • 6:30 am – 11:00 am · Morning darshan
  • 12:15 pm – 2:30 pm · Afternoon darshan
  • 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm · Evening darshan
Next aarti or puja (India time)
See the schedule below
Phones and bags
Guest house rooms are booked only through the temple's own website; the temple warns of fraudulent bookings through fake websites, phone calls and WhatsApp.
Walking and access
The Bahubali statue on Ratnagiri Hill is reached by a pathway about a kilometre from the temple. No information on wheelchair access has been found yet.
Getting there
Train: Mangaluru JunctionAir: Mangaluru International Airport (formerly Bajpe)

Not yet confirmed: dress code, entry for visitors of other faiths. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

2 accounts are recorded. Each is told separately, in the words of its own tradition — they are never merged.

Told in: The temple history published by Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala

The guests at Nelyadi Beedu

About eight hundred years ago, this place was called Kuduma, in the village of Mallarmadi in South Kanara. A Jain chieftain, Birmanna Pergade, lived there with his wife, Ammu Ballalthi, in a house called Nelyadi Beedu. The family was known for its generosity and its hospitality.

Guardian angels of Dharma came to the house in human form. They were looking for a place where Dharma was practised. The couple took them in and hosted them.

Afterwards the Dharma Daivas appeared to Birmanna in a dream. They asked him to vacate his house so that they could be worshipped in it, and to dedicate his life to spreading Dharma.

Birmanna moved to another house. Worship at Nelyadi Beedu continues today.

The Daivas then asked for separate shrines for four deities: Kalarahu, Kalarkai, Kumaraswamy and Kanyakumari. Birmanna was to serve as executive head, helped by two oracles of noble birth and four worthy assistants whom he was to appoint. In return the Daivas promised protection for his family, abundant charity, and renown for the Shri Kshetra.

The episode explains how the temple is run today. The Heggade family, whose name derives from Pergade, has carried the work forward for twenty-one generations. The temple describes the Heggade as accepted by the Dharma Daivas as a foster son, responsible for seeing that the traditional rituals are observed, and as the voice of Lord Manjunatha to anyone who comes for justice or advice. It also explains why the administration is Jain: the man who first received the Daivas was a Jain chieftain, and the temple says its administrators today are Jain descendants.

The Daivas' promise of abundant charity is echoed in how the temple frames the Heggade's work today: as four gifts — food, healthcare, education, and freedom from fear.

Where this account comes from

  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, History shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Tradition — the Heggade, the four danas, Hoyulu, Aaja and Aane shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Temple shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
Told in: The temple history published by Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala

The linga from Kadri, and a name

Brahmin priests who performed the rituals for the Dharma Daivas asked for a Shivalinga to be installed beside them. The Daivas sent their attendant Annappa Swamy to bring an image of Manjunatheshwara from Kadri, near Mangaluru, and a temple was built around it. In about the 16th century Devaraja Heggade invited Vadiraja Swami of Udupi, who would not accept food offerings until the linga was reconsecrated by Vedic rites. Pleased with the result and with Heggade's charity, he named the place Dharmasthala.

Read this account

The Dharma Daivas were native deities, and Brahmin priests performed the rituals for them. The priests asked that a Shivalinga be installed beside the Daivas.

The Daivas sent their attendant, Annappa Swamy, to bring an image of Lord Manjunatheshwara from Kadri, near Mangaluru. A temple to Manjunatha was built around it. The temple's own description adds that Annappa Swamy was also sent to procure a place where Birmanna could worship Shiva, and the hill associated with him is Annappa Swamy Betta.

In about the 16th century, Devaraja Heggade invited Vadiraja Swami of Udupi to the temple. The swami declined the food offerings, because the linga had not been consecrated by Vedic rites.

Heggade asked him to consecrate it again, and he did.

The swami was pleased by the Vedic observance and by Heggade's charity. He named the place Dharmasthala, the abode of religion and charity. That is the name the town carries today.

The episode accounts for the temple's unusual shape. The god is Shiva, worshipped as a linga, and the temple calls itself Shaiva. Its worship is conducted by Vaishnava priests. Its administration is held by the Jain descendants of Birmanna Pergade. The Daivas who asked for the linga keep their own place in the calendar: during the nine-day Annual Jathre in April, the Dharma Nemothsava is held for the Dharmadaivas and for Annappa Swamy.

The temple's history page says only 'Brahmin priests' for the earliest worship. The temple does not say which Vaishnava sampradaya the present priests follow.

Where this account comes from

In one minute

Why Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. It is a Shaiva temple whose worship is conducted by Vaishnava priests and whose administration is held by Jain descendants, the Heggade family.

    2 sources for: It is a Shaiva temple whose worship is conducted by Vaishnava priests and whose

  2. Free meals are served at the Annapoorna Choultry from a kitchen the temple says is built to serve roughly 30,000 to 70,000 pilgrims a day.

    Source for: Free meals are served at the Annapoorna Choultry from a kitchen the temple says
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Annaprasadam shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09

  3. The Heggade is regarded as the voice of Lord Manjunatha and settles civil disputes brought by people of any creed, a practice called Hoyulu.

    Source for: The Heggade is regarded as the voice of Lord Manjunatha and settles civil disput
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Tradition — the Heggade, the four danas, Hoyulu, Aaja and Aane shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09

  4. The Heggade's charity is framed as four gifts, the Chaturdanas: food, healthcare, education and freedom from fear.

    2 sources for: The Heggade's charity is framed as four gifts, the Chaturdanas: food, healthcare
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Tradition — the Heggade, the four danas, Hoyulu, Aaja and Aane shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, home page — office hours, Chaturdanas, notices shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Kerala

The temple describes its own architecture as Kerala style: a square plan with a steep pyramidal wooden roof covered in gold-plated copper plates against the Western Ghats monsoon, on a base of granite and laterite. It records a planned renovation that renewed the wood carvings, without a date.

  • Tower over the sanctum

    Gold-plated roof

    The steep, needle-like wooden roof over the square shrine, covered with gold-plated copper plates.

  • Detail

    Granite and laterite base

    The stone base on which the timber superstructure stands.

  • Detail

    Chandranatha Swamy Basadi

    A centuries-old Jain shrine in Dharmasthala, which the temple presents as a sign of the confluence of faiths here. The Samavasarana puja of Chandranatha Swamy is part of Laksha Deepotsava.

  • Sculpture

    Bahubali statue

    The statue of Bahubali on Ratnagiri Hill, about a kilometre from the Manjunatha temple, reached by a pathway.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

Shrine gates open4:00 am
Morning darshanCloses briefly for major pujas.6:30 am – 11:00 am
Shatharudra Abhisheka and PujaDarshan continues.8:30 am – 10:30 am
Maha Naivedya11:30 am
MahapujaDarshan closed around this time; Nithyabali at 12:10.12:00 pm
Afternoon darshanUntil the queue ends or 14:30, whichever comes first.12:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Evening darshan5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Evening MahapujaNithyabali at 20:45; darshan blocked.8:30 pm
Annaprasadam, Tuesday to Saturday, day11:00 am – 2:45 pm
Annaprasadam, Sunday and Monday, day10:30 am – 4:00 pm
Annaprasadam, night7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Confirm on the day. Times change on festival days and without notice.

Before you go

  • Guest house rooms are booked only through the temple's own website; the temple warns of fraudulent bookings through fake websites, phone calls and WhatsApp.

Walking, steps and access

The Bahubali statue on Ratnagiri Hill is reached by a pathway about a kilometre from the temple. No information on wheelchair access has been found yet.

Getting there

  • By air: Mangaluru International Airport (formerly Bajpe) · about 65 kmPer the temple's site.
  • By train: Mangaluru Junction · about 74 kmTaxi, cab or bus onward, per the temple's site.
  • By road: Dharmasthala, by KSRTC busKSRTC and private buses from across the state, per the temple's site.

PIN 574216 (not yet checked with India Post)

Sevas

Prices as published by the temple when we checked. They change; the temple’s booking site is final.

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

  • Laksha Deepotsava

    Nov–Dec · Kartika · 5 days

    A festival of lights over the last five days of Kartika, with the Sarva Dharma and Sahitya Sammelanas, seminars on world religions and on the arts, and the Samavasarana puja of Chandranatha Swamy.

  • Shivaratri

    Feb–Mar

    A car festival, then overnight bhajans and special pujas for Manjunatha Swamy.

  • Annual Jathre

    April · 9 days

    Nine days of special pujas for the grama devata, with the Dharma Nemothsava for the Dharmadaivas and Annappa Swamy.

  • Navaratri

    Sep–Oct

    Special puja at the Ammanavaru shrine, followed by nine days of music, folk dance, harikatha and bhajans.

Customs you will see here

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

No events in this register have been sourced.

In the historical record

  1. c. 1200–1299

    Birmanna Pergade receives the Dharma Daivas

    The temple dates the founding episode to about 800 years ago; the century is an approximation of that phrase, not a dated event.

    Source for: Birmanna Pergade receives the Dharma Daivas

  2. c. 1500–1599

    Vadiraja Swami reconsecrates the linga and names Dharmasthala

    Invited by Devaraja Heggade in about the 16th century, Vadiraja Swami of Udupi has the linga consecrated by Vedic rites and names the place Dharmasthala.

    Source for: Vadiraja Swami reconsecrates the linga and names Dharmasthala

  3. Manjunatha linga brought from Kadri; temple built

    Annappa Swamy brings the linga from Kadri at the Daivas' direction and a temple is built around it. No date is given.

    Source for: Manjunatha linga brought from Kadri; temple built

  4. D. Veerendra Heggade becomes Dharmadhikari

    The present Dharmadhikari, D. Veerendra Heggade, took on the role at the age of 20. The temple's site marks his 54th Pattabhisheka anniversary; it does not give the year of accession.

    2 sources for: D. Veerendra Heggade becomes Dharmadhikari
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Shri Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
    • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, home page — office hours, Chaturdanas, notices shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Place

    Bahubali statue, Ratnagiri Hill

    About a kilometre from the temple.

  • Temple

    Chandranatha Swamy Basadi

    A centuries-old Jain shrine at Dharmasthala.

  • Temple

    Kukke Subramanya

    Another major Dakshina Kannada pilgrimage temple, commonly combined with Dharmasthala.

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, History shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Tradition — the Heggade, the four danas, Hoyulu, Aaja and Aane shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Temple shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Temple Routine shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Annaprasadam shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, How to Reach shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Festivals shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Architecture shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, home page — office hours, Chaturdanas, notices shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09
  • Temple administration: Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Shri Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade shridharmasthala.org · seen 2026-10-09

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/dharmasthala-manjunatha (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence