Moodabidri

Moodabidri Mūḍubidire; also called Mudbidri, Moodbidre and Bedra), is a town and taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. It lies 34 km northeast of the district headquarters, Mangalore, in Karnataka, India. Because of widely grown bamboo in ancient days, this place was named as Moodabidri. Moodabidri comes from two Tulu words, mūḍu "east" and bidiru "bamboo". Its average elevation is . India census, Moodabidri had a population of 25,710. Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%. Moodabidri has an average literacy rate of 88.57%, Male literacy is 93.13%, and female literacy is 84.13%. Moodabidri basically contains two villages: Pranthya and Marnad. Moodabidri is also called as "Jaina Kashi of the South". Moodabidri is on National Highway 169 (old NH 13). It is accessible from Mangalore city (34 km away) by road. Mangalore International Airport is 23 km away from Moodabidri. It is 54 km from Udupi and 18 km from Karkala. Other nearby places are Venur (20 km), Belthangady (37 km), Kudremukh (66 km), Agumbe (68 km), Puttur (54 km) Siddakatte (12 km) and Mijar (5 km) Saavira Kambada Basadi and Guru Basadi Jainism was and still is strongly practised in Moodabidri. The Thousand Pillars Temple (Saavira Kambada Basadi) is a holy shrine for Jains across the country. It also has Guru Basadi which houses the treasured Dhavala text. There are other Basadis: Ammanvara Basadi and Leppada Basadi. There are several Jain temples in Moodbidri. There are a number of Hindu temples in Moodbidri as well. Hanuman temple of Moodbidri is one of the area's Hanuman temples . Here the devotees offer tender coconut as offering to the God. On Saturdays an average of about four to five thousand tender coconuts are offered to Lord Hanuman. Shri Venkataramana temple is a rock built temple and is known for the celebration of Karthika Deepotsava, holy Keredeepotsava, Sharada Mahotsava, and other functions. There are carved Dashavatar statues in the other veranda. A sizable number practice Roman Catholicism in Moodbidri.