"Subramanya used to be called as Kukke Pattana in the past. In the ''Shankara Vijaya'' Anandagiri observes that Sri Shankaracharya camped here for a few days during his religious expedition (Digvijaya).
Shankaracharya referred to this place as ''Bhaje Kukke Lingam'' in his ''Subrahmanya Bhujangaprayata Stotram''. U see temple entrance. To visit temple site click here
Temple is very well organised. Observed that temples in Dakshin Kannada do not have gopurams but slanting thatches roofs this temple is no different. I reached Subramanya from Belur, was a
lovely drive thru the ghats/tea estates/Western Ghats. The temple is surrounded by rivers, forests and mountains. The town is bout a 105 KM from Mangalore. U see entrance to temple.
This is the entrance to the sanctum. A elephant stands outside this entrance. When I went in the morning he rang the ghanta first that see in bottom of the picture. In
"Lord Subrahmanya is the main deity of Subrahmanya. The main entrance of the temple lies to the east. The devotees will enter from west through main Gopuram and enters the inner quadrangle
from the east. There is a pedestal in the centre of the sanctum. On the upper Dias there is the idol of Shree Subrahmanya and then the idol of Vasuki and little lower the idol of Shesha".
Devotees patiently standing in a line. The walls are very clean. There is a granite platform where devotees can sit also but guess prefer to stand when the line is moving.
Temple darshan opens at 5am. As I said opposite entry to sanctum devotees take elephants blessings. U need to place some money in his trunk to get the blessing. U see the elephant.
The elephant blessing a devotee. Male devotees expected to remove shirts and banyans before entering the temple inner sanctum.
Some devotees seek blessings for their children. However the really young ones get scared as u can see in this picture. To know list of places to see
click here
The elephant blessing a devotee.
Opposite the temple is a Naga Prathista. Large number of devotees outside the temple. For relief from Kaalasarpadosha and such other problems related to Puthrasanthana, performed on all
day except ekadashi and fstiong days like shivarathri,Gokulashtami etc.
A close up of the image of Naga Devataa. Given the huge crowd in front I just about managed to click this pic. A lot people in the West and some Indians are unable to understand how Hindus can
worship a snake. Out bhavna (feeling) and thoughts are different.
Subrahmanya is the brother of Ganesha. Another name for him is Karthikeyan. U see a small chariot inside the temple. Taken narrations from the temple official web site.
Like other temples that I visited this one too has a large dining hall which serves meals. Rice, sambar etc. At times over 30,000 devotees have a meal a day. U see pic of Dining hall.