Kundapra, officially Kundapura, is a town in the

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi () in Kannada 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 old north Malabar c ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

state in India. This town was known as Coondapoor when it was part of the erstwhile

South Canara South Canara (South Kannada) was a district of the Madras Presidency of British Raj, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the administration at Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the mos ...

district (1862–1947) of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Present-day Kundapur is administered by the Kundapur Town Municipal Council and serves as the headquarters of eponymous Kundapur taluk in 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) was an India, Indian Hindu dynasty that ruled from 200 to 1444 A.D. in Southern India. The kingdom they ruled was known as ''Alvakheda Arusasira'' and its territory spanned the T ...

who ruled the region in the 10th - 11th century, in the vicinity of the Panchagangavalli River. 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).

Geography

Kundapura town is surrounded by water from three sides. To the north lies the Panchagangavalli River. To the east lies the Kalaghar river. To the west lie the

Kodi Kodi may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * KODI, a radio station in Cody, Wyoming, USA * Kodi (film), ''Kodi'' (film), India, 2016 * Kodi, a dog in the 2004 film ''Balto III: Wings of Change'' Other uses * Kodi (software), an open sour ...

backwaters sea walk and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, 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. Kundapur Taluk is bounded on the west by the Arabian Sea, on the south by Brahmavara Taluk, on the north by Byndoor Taluk, and the east by the Western Ghats.

Rivers

Kundapur taluk has several rivers and experiences heavy rainfall. The main rivers are the Chakra, Souparnika, Varahi, Kubja, and Kheta. In fact, there are seven rivers or rivulets between Kundapur and Byndoor, a short distance of 36 km. They are Halady River, Kollur River, Chakra River, Rajadi, Nujadi, Yadamavina Hole and Uppunda Hole.River Disputes in India: Kerala Rivers Under Siege By S. N. Sadasivan, Mittal Publications.(2003) Page:80., 978817099913

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Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, * Kundapur Town has a population of 30,444. * Kundapur Taluk has a population of 398,471 * Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. * Literate population was 25,191, with a

Literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 82%, higher than the national average of 74.04%.

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 Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

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 Konkan Railway line from Roha to Thokur is operated and maintained by Konkan Railway co ...

, which runs from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Mangaluru Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the stat ...

. The railway station is about from the town. The nearest airport is Mangaluru International Airport, at Bajpe around from Kundapur. Kundapura railway station, along the

, is used by

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

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

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

, from

Manipal 300px, The house of T. M. A. Pai located in Manipal; it has since been converted to a museum. Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi C ...

, from

Byndoor Byndoor is a taluk and Town Panchayat in Udupi, Karnataka, India. Byndoor is located on NH-66 which is between Panvel and Kochi and is one of the main stations along the Konkan Railway line after Udupi and Mangalore. Railway station Byndoor ...

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 ...

, from

and from

Karwar Karwar is a coastal City and the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district, formerly part of the Bombay Presidency, located at the mouth of the Kali River (Karnataka), Kali river along the Konkan Coast in the present-day state of Ka ...

, 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 Mangaluru, and there are multiple bus stands. The main bus stand where the buses to Udupi and Mangaluru are available is called "New bus stand", is near the police station. Another frequently used mode of transportation is auto rikshaw.

Notable people

Guru Dutt Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964; also known as Gurudatta Padukone) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998 ...

* Ravi Basrur * Siddharth Basrur * K. Shivaram Karanth * Kota Srinivas Poojary *

Rishab Shetty Prashanth Shetty (born 7 July 1983), known professionally as Rishab Shetty, is an Indian actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter who works in Kannada cinema . He is known for his critical and commercial blockbuster, '' Kantara'', ...

* Kashinath (actor) *

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 * Sanchita Padukone * Satish Acharya

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Udupi district