Part IV. Karnataka State.
Karnataka is a state in southwestern India, bordering Goa to the southeast. It is quite large, ranking 9th in the country by population and 8th by area. The state is home to many interesting attractions in India. Despite the considerable distances, excursions to some fascinating places in Karnataka are organized from Goa.
Murudeshwara
A typical Indian village.
Vendors.
Festival chariot.
Lots of people here.
It’s lively here. People are entertained in every possible way.
There’s the sea here. But Murudeshwara is not famous for that.
The tallest statue of Lord Shiva, standing 37 meters high, was built here. The statue is located on a hill by the Arabian Sea. Shiva is depicted sitting in the lotus position with his back to the sea and, as per tradition, with four arms. The construction of the statue took about 2 years and was completed in 2002.
The hill offers a beautiful view of the Arabian Sea.
There is also a Hindu temple complex dedicated to Lord Shiva. From the hill, you can clearly see the tallest gopura (gateway to the temple complex), standing 75 meters high. It is considered the tallest of its kind.
The temple complex itself.
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Gokarna
The village of Gokarna is an important pilgrimage site in Hinduism and a popular tourist destination. In Sanskrit, Gokarna means "cow’s ear." According to legend, Lord Shiva emerged from the ear of Prithvi, who took the form of a cow, at this place.
Here are the ones to whom the village owes its name.
The village is impressive.
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Barbershop.
Sacred sites all around.
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Small sacred ponds.
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Kotitirtha Pond is a major pilgrimage site in Gokarna. Numerous small temples are located around this pond.
Near Gokarna is Om Beach, where you can visit and swim.
Hubli
Hubli is a large city located in the northern part of Karnataka. It has a population of about 13.5 million people (2011) and is the second-largest city in the state after Bangalore. In some areas, Hubli looks like a fairly developed city. But the essence of India is felt everywhere.
A large shopping mall is being built here. At the very least, you can eat well there, with more than enough food options. Purchases are made using special coupons exchanged for rupees. There’s also a fairly large supermarket (similar to our Varus).
Here you can have tea.
It’s like a café, but essentially a regular canteen. The food is good, but for regular people, choosing something here is quite tricky because not everything is easy to eat. Without washing it down with watermelon juice, even normal vegetable pancakes are hard to eat.
Stalls.
You can get a haircut here.
Girls heading to school.
Hampi
Hampi is a village in the northern part of Karnataka. It is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, amidst the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. There are numerous ancient architectural structures here, dating back about 400-500 years. Hampi is home to several important Hindu temples, still active today, attracting many pilgrims. This will be covered in detail in the next section. For now, let’s talk about the interesting stuff. There’s not much of it here.
This is roughly how it looks at night from above.
A hotel where you can spend the night.
A road sign. Judging by it, there’s a school here, and there should be schoolchildren.
But pigs hang out here.
The school itself.
Here come the schoolchildren. They swarm white tourists like flies. It’s hard to shake them off afterward.
In general, schoolchildren come here from all over India. There are tons of them, all in uniforms.
Read more: Part V. Hampi.