History:
Kadri was a center of Buddhist in the early 10th century.
Later when Buddhism declined the Natha
Pantha (a new religious belief) came into existence here. Natha Prantha was
believed to be a modified form of religious beliefs obtained from the Vajrayana from the Mahayana section of
Buddhism. Later the Natha Pantha was
more of worshiping Lord Shiva as the deity. The followers were called Jogi and the monasteries were called jogimutt by the localities.
The earliest settlements in Kadri were the Buddhists and the
people of Natha Prantha. In the
earliest epigraphs found in these places, Kadri was called Kadrika Vihara and Mangalore as Mangalapura. In some inscriptions
in the stone epigraphs, around 12-13th centuries, a King who ruled then
declared to give away the land for the construction of the temple is mentioned
in Kannada and Malayalam languages.
Location:
Kadri Manjunatheshwara Temple is located in Mangalore. It is
the spectacular temple of Lord Manjunatha or Lord Shiva on the Kadri hills.
The temple is a complete depiction of early Vijayanagara
architecture dating back to 10th and 11th century AD.
The location of the temple is overwhelming with the
presence of the deity of the temple, and the marvelous hillocks of the Kadri
hills, which has many caves cut into the hills. The caves contain many
pre-historic pieces of evidence too which adds to the impeccable holy spirit of
the valley. The overall location is extremely spiritual and calm. The
temple belongs to the category of Tulunadu temples in the Dakshina Kannada
region. The Kadri hill also has the biggest Natha
Pantha (idolization) in the south of India.
Name Derived From:
The name Kadri was derived from Kadari which meant plantain and Kadri is filled with plantain trees all over. In Buddhism, the word Kadarika meant a ridge-side pasture land. The Kadri mountain has been mentioned in the earlier epigraphs which are dated back to A.D.968 on the pedestal of the Lokeshwara picture installed in the Kadrika Vihara which was installed by the King Kundravarma of Alupa dynasty. Hence the inscriptions confirmed the former name of the Kadri hills was Kadrika.
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