— — the door that has not closed in eight centuries.
“A Shaiva temple on the Netravati River in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. Lord Manjunatha is enshrined in the inner sanctum, and the Heggade family, who are Jain by faith, have administered the temple for roughly eight hundred years. The annokshetra serves a free meal to every pilgrim who arrives, regardless of caste or creed, every day. Hindu and Jain practice share the same compound here.
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Dharmasthala sits on the south bank of the Netravati River in the Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, about 75 kilometres east of Mangaluru. The main shrine is dedicated to Lord Manjunatha, a form of Shiva, and the temple is governed by a Jain hereditary administrator known as the Dharmadhikari. The current incumbent, D. Veerendra Heggade, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. The Bahubali monolith at Ratnagiri Hill above the town stands 12 metres tall.
Pilgrims arrive throughout the year. Temple darshan runs from early morning, broken by midday and evening pooja windows; the anna-prasada hall serves free meals to every visitor regardless of caste or religion. The dress code is enforced: men wear a dhoti or pants without a shirt for darshan, women a saree or salwar. The Manjusha Museum on the grounds holds the Heggade family's collection of palm-leaf manuscripts and antique vehicles.
The Lakshadeepotsava lamp festival is the largest annual event, held over five days each November or early December and lit with more than 100,000 oil lamps. The annual Sarva Dharma Sammelana, a religious harmony conference, has been convened on the same days since 1933. Mangaluru International Airport, 75 kilometres west, is the closest gateway; trains run to Bantwal and Subrahmanya Road. Accommodation in the temple guesthouses is allotted on arrival.