Ganesha Temple, Idagunji

The Shree Vinayaka Devaru is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ganesha, located on the West Coast of India in the Idagunji town in Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka state, India. The temple's popularity as a religious place is recorded by about 1 million devotees visiting it annually.It is one of the six famous Ganesha temples on the west Coast of India, which is also popularly called the "Ganesha Coast".GeographyIdagunji where the temple is located is small village on the west coast of India close to the Sharvathi River which joins the Arabian Sea. It is close to Manki, Mavinakatte and is about 14 km from Honavar, 28 km from Navilgaon, 65 km from Gokarna, and 7 km from a road which branches from the National Highway 17 (India), towards the west coast. Honnavara, the capital of the taluk in which Idagunji lies, is also the nearest railway station.LegendThe importance of the temple is attributed to a legend, occurring at the end of the Dwapara Yuga (the third Hindu epoch or era) before the onset of Kali Yuga (the present epoch or era). Every one feared the advent of Kali Yuga, as the god Krishna was about to leave earth for his divine abode at the end of Dwapara Yuga. Sages started performing austerities and prayers seeking Krishna’s help to overcome all impediments of Kali Yuga. Sages led by Valakhilya started rituals in Kunjavana, a forest area on the banks of the Sharavati River in Karnataka which joins the Arabian Sea. During this period, he encountered many obstacles in performing the sacrifice and was very disturbed. He, therefore, sought the advice of the divine sage Narada, seeking suitable ways to tackle the problem. Narada advised Valakhilya to seek the blessings of Ganesha - the remover of obstacles - before restarting his sacrifice.