Sri Narayana Guru (A social reformer and a saint) consecrated the Shivalinga in this temple in 1912. This temple is situated at Kudroli, which is about 3 Km away from the main city area of Hampankatta in Mangalore. The original temple structure was in Kerala style, which was replaced, by Chola style during recent renovation in 1991. The main deity of the temple is Lord Shree Gokarnanatha ( Lord Shiva). Navarathri Utsava (Dasara festival) is very famous and is one of the main tourist events in this temple.
The Billawa Community was being traditionally suppressed by the upper caste treating them as 'untouchables'. It is in such a scenario that the community found a messiah in Sri Narayana Guru. Sri Narayana Guru who hailed from Kerala has been regarded as the uplifter of the downtrodden and a visionary social servant. Learning about the work undertaken by Sri Narayana Guru in establishing social equality through his temple in Shivagiri, Kerala, a prominent Billawa leader from Mangalore, Sahukar Koragappa visited the Guru along with the leaders of the community in 1908. The delegation appraised Sri Narayana Guru about the problems faced by the Billawas in admission of the community into the temple at Mangalore.
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