Shirali is a village in Bhatkal taluk of Uttara Kannada district in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. Shirali is home to two prominent temples: the

Chitrapur Math Shri Chitrapur Math is the central ''math'' (community temple) for the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin sect. It has been located at Shirali in the Bhatkal Taluk in the North Kanara district of Karnataka since 1757. The other ''maths'' of the commu ...

and the

Maha Ganapathi Mahammaya Temple The Shirali Maha Ganapathi Mahammaya Temple is the Kuladevata Temple (family temple) of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community. The temple deity is a Kuladev of the Kamaths, Bhats, Puraniks, Prabhus, Joishys, Mallyas, Kudvas and Nayak families from ...

. The

is the holiest temple of the

Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin Chitrapur Saraswats are a small Konkani-speaking community of Hindu Brahmins in India. They are traditionally found along the Kanara coast and call themselves ''Bhanaps'' in the Konkani language. This is a small community from India spread th ...

community, and the

Maha Ganapathi Mahammaya temple The Shirali Maha Ganapathi Mahammaya Temple is the Kuladevata Temple (family temple) of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community. The temple deity is a Kuladev of the Kamaths, Bhats, Puraniks, Prabhus, Joishys, Mallyas, Kudvas and Nayak families from ...

is the Kuladev to the Kamaths, Bhats, Puraniks, Prabhus, Joishys, Mallyas, Kudvas and Nayak families from the

Goud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community of the north. The Konkani speaking Gaud Saraswat of Goa and southern India claim to be descendents of these Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of the north that migrated to K ...

community.

Etymology

The name ''Shirali'' is derived from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''Shrivalli'', which means ''wealthy''. The shrine of Goddess Shrivalli Bhuvaneshwari inside the premises of

signifies the origin of the name '' Shirali''.

Geography

Shirali is located at .Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Shirali
/ref> It has an average elevation of 12 meters (42 ft). Nearest towns- On the South is Bhatkal and Baindur. On the North is another temple town,

Murudeshwar Murdeshwar is a town in Uttara Kannada district in the state of Karnataka, India, It is famous for the world's second tallest Shiva statue, the town lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea and is also famous for the Murudeshwara Temple. The town h ...

Transportation

Road

Shirali is on the National Highway No. 66 (the highway that runs from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

). A large number of Karnataka State Transport buses pass through Shirali. Private transport buses using NH17 also provide facility to reach Shirali. From the main road (highway) of Shirali, Shri

and the Maha Ganapathi Temple are about 2 km in the interior, for which auto-rickshaws are available. Distances to Shirali from some of the major cities are: *

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

506 km *

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

156 km *

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

(Panaji) 225 km *

952 km *

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

780 km * Bhatkal 03 km

Rail

On the

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

line, the nearest railway stations are

Chitrapur Chitrapur is a village in Bhatkal Taluka, Uttar Kannada District, Karnataka, India. The religious headquarters of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, is in this town. The town, initially a small village was improved upon under the guidance of the S ...

and Bhatkal (both about 6 km from Shirali to the north and south respectively). Autorickshaws, buses and other modes of road transport are available to reach Shirali from either of the railway stations. The

- Verna stops at Chitrapur station at 9.39 a.m.and Verna-Mangalore trains stops at 17:03 p.m.

Air

The nearest airport is

(156 km) and the next closest is Dabolim Airport in Goa (200 km).

Climate

References

{{Reflist

External links

Chitrapur Math
Villages in Uttara Kannada district