I am now at Kudroli Gokarnath temple ,a sweet spot of divine experience.Although I have been living in Karnataka for more than sixteen years for the propagation of Gurudharma, today I got the golden oppurtunity to visit this great temple for the first time. Quite unexpectedly, the situation of coming to Mangalore was favourable and thus I reached the holy shrine of Gokarna Nath.
In 1908, Gurudevan came to Mangalore when the natives invited him there. He went around and saw 12 places for the construction of the temple, but Gurudevan finally chose Kudroli, a place that was not very populated, which was also described as bad. In 1912, Gokarnanath was consecrated in February.If poor devotees of the Avarna caste entered Gokarneswaram, an upper caste temple, the temple was cleaned inorder to remove the impurity spread around.Gurudev performed pratishtha here after considering the pleas and prayers of the avarna caste.This is Gurudevan’s last Shiva Pratishta and the only one outside Kerala. It was also granted with the permission to worship sub-gods.
At present,Kudyoli Gokarnanath Temple is one of the most famous temple, rich in the terms of wealth as well as beauty. After crowning Gurudevan with the Navratnan kiridam, a special pooja is performed on Sundays.In order to reminisce the moment when the mute boy spoke after having coffee as prasad,coffee is still given as prasad to this day as Guru Puja Prasad.Another miracle seen here is the sweet water obtained from the Tirtha well dug by Gurudev,because being a coastal area, only salty water is available from all other wells.
We should also emulate the devotion shown by the Arya Edika Billavas of Karnataka towards Gurudevan.
The devotion shown by Sri Janardhana Poojari, who was the Union Minister, was also very helpful in the glorifying this temple. The politicians in Kerala who are devotees of Gurudevan should visit this temple at least once.Incredible development has been taking place here in the last few years.
Today,it is the 25th anniversary of the temple renovation.On this glorious occassion,I was fortunate enough to participate in the entire pooja from Ganapati Homam along with the temple headman and Melshanti .As you pass the temple gopuram and come forward, you will see the Hanuman Mandir,which was consecrated in 2008.Right after that you can see Shirdishai kovil which was consecrated in 2012.Inside the nalambalam of the temple, there is a shrine of Gurudevan on the right, Navagrahas on the left and Shaneswaran as well.Behind the srikovil,there are shrines of Ganesha, Subrahmanya on the left and Annapurneshwari and Kalabhairavan on the right.Outside the nalambalam,there is a Sri Krishna temple and behind it is the Arayal Mandapam.17 priests including two priestesses perform the puja here.Lakshmanan Shanti,who is the melshanti is a native of Haripad.
This is definitely one of my best days, so let me share these experiences with you.