Murdeshwar is a small but beautiful coastal (surrounded by hills in the east) town in Northern Karnataka. It is a famous for it Shiva temple and Beach. I stayed at R.N.Shetty inn which i found to be expensive for the services it provided (or did not provide). However, the view from the room is breath taking. Visit date : 3rd Feb 2005.

This sea shore temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and contains one of the few naturally formed linga's (atma linga). Legend has it this atma linga is subset of the Gokarna atma linga. As it on the sea shore you have a great view from the temple.

The temple complex is filled with massive statues which can be seen from miles away. Top Left: A massive statue of Shiva sitting. Top Right : Shiva standing along with Parvathi. Bottom Left: Arjuna and Krishna on his chariot. Bottom Right: A long distance view of the temple. You can see the new 20 storied high Gopuram that is in construction. Looks like they want to dwarf this non-descript temple further by building massive things around it.

The beach is what I call an extremely safe beach. The sand is white and becomes hard when wet (like Malpe bach - Udipi). So, you ae on very firm footing when you go into the water. The waves are also very mild. You need to go 50 feet into sea to get to knee deep water. Very unexciting. But, the beach itself is quite clean.

As, Murdeshwar is on the West coast, the sunsets are phenomenal. Here is snap of the sunset taken from the beach.

I thought I heard one more, one more. Here is another picture of the temple complex silhoutted by the Sun as it disappears into the sea.