Kundapur, also called Kundapura, is a coastal town situated in the

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi or Odipu in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara coastal region, there are seven talu ...

of the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

, India. This town was known as Coondapoor while it was part of the erstwhile

South Canara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas ...

district (1862–1947) of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Present-day Kundapur is administered by the Kundapur Town Municipal Council and serves as the headquarters of the Kundapur Taluk of Udupi district.

History

The name Kundapura can be traced to the Kundeshwara Temple built by Kundavarma of the

Alupa dynasty The Alupa dynasty (ಅಳುಪೆರ್, ಆಳ್ವೆರ್) (circa 2nd century C.E to 15th century C.E) was an ancient ruling dynasty of India. The kingdom they ruled was known as ''Alvakheda Arusasira'' and its territory spanned the coa ...

who ruled the region in the 10th - 11th century, in the vicinity of the

Panchagangavalli River Panchagangavalli River is a river flowing through Kundapur and Gangolli in western India. The five rivers namely Souparnika River, Varahi River, Kedaka River, Chakra River and Kubja River join and merge into Arabian sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, ...

. In Kundagannada language, the word "Kunda" also refers to the flower Jasmine.Where the Majority people of Kundapura grow flower Jasmine in this region which came to be called as kundapura(Land of Jasmine). Kundapura is surrounded by water from three sides. To the north lies the

. To the east lies the Kalaghar river. To the west lie the Kodi backwaters sea walk and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

, leaving the south side as the main connecting land mass. All connecting roads to Kundapura enter the city from the southern direction. North side of the town is vast backwaters of Panchagangavali river and a bridge has been constructed across it.

Language

Kundagannada dialect Kundagannada or Kundaapra Kannada or Kundapura Kannada is a dialect of Kannada spoken in Kundapura, Byndoor, Brahmavar,Hebri taluks of Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi or Odipu in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in ...

is spoken by 85% of the population, followed by

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

, and Konkani.

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, * Kundapur has a population of 30,444. * Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. * Literate population was 25,191, with a

Literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%.

Transport

Kundapur is connected to other parts of the country by NH66. SH52 is a

State Highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

that connects to Shimoga District. This Highway connects cities and towns of different states. Kundapur is also connected to 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 ...

, which 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 secon ...

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– ...

. The railway station is about from the town. The nearest airport is

Mangalore International Airport Mangalore International Airport , is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of the only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalo ...

, at Bajpe around from Kundapur. Kundapura railway station, along the

, is used by

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

pilgrims who visit Kolluru Mookambika Temple Kundapur is located at a distance of from

Udupi Udupi (alternate spelling Udipi; also known as Odipu) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Udupi is situated about north of the educational, commercial and industrial hub of Mangalore and about west of state capital Bangalore by road. ...

, from Manipal, from

Byndoor Byndoor is an Coastal Town and the Headquarters of Byndoor Taluk in the Udupi District of Karnataka state, India. It is situated at a distance of about from the state capital Bengaluru and at about from the Udupi district headquarters, area ...

Bhatkal Bhatkal, is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway s ...

, from

and from

Karwar Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...

, which are the other major cities/towns in Coastal Karnataka. There are private local buses and some out of town is serviced by government owned buses. Buses can be found for Udupi and Mangalore, and there are multiple bus stands. The main bus stand where the buses to Udupi and Mangalore are available is called "New bus stand", is near the police station. Another frequently used mode of transportation is auto rikshaw.

Notable people

Ravi Basrur Ravi Basrur is an Indian music composer, sound designer, lyricist and director who made his debut in the Kannada film industry in 2014. Career He debuted by scoring music for the film ''Ugramm''. Following his debut, Basrur composed music ...

* Siddharth Basrur *

K. Shivaram Karanth Kota Shivaram Karanth (10 October 1902 – 9 December 1997), also abbreviated as K. Shivaram Karanth, was an Indian polymath, who was a novelist in Kannada language, playwright and an ecological conservationist. Ramachandra Guha called him th ...

Kota Srinivas Poojary Shri Kota Shrinivas Poojari is an Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician hailing from Kota, Karnataka. He is currently serving as the Minister of Social Welfare Department and Backward Classes Welfare Department of Karnataka. He is also the L ...

* Rishab Shetty *

Kashinath (actor) Kashinatha Hathwara (8 May 1951 – 18 January 2018) was an Indian actor and filmmaker who primarily worked in Kannada films. He worked on Hindi and Malayalam movies. With a career spanning over three decades, Kashinath worked in over 40 films ...

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

* Mogeri Gopalakrishna Adiga *

Vaidehi Vaidehi may refer to: *Of, from or related to the ancient Indian kingdom of Videha **Vaidehi, another name for the goddess Sita **Queen Vaidehi, mother of king Ajatashatru * ''Vaidehi'' (2006 TV series), also known as ''Vaidehi – Ek Aur Agni Pa ...

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Udupi district