Most Mangaloreans are unaware of a Basavanagudi that exists in the heart of Mangalore city.
A small mutt with a temple dedicated to Basava/Nandi which was built during Keladi’s reign.
The undivided Canara districts (Dakshina Kannada & Udupi), a Few parts of Uttara Kannada, and Kasaragod served as a strong fortification for sea trade ports to the Keladi kingdom.
The Keladi kings were Veerashaiva in faith and religious tolerance to others, in fact, these kings largely welcomed the Konkani community from Goa due to Goan persecution by the Portuguese.
During keladi reign , they glorified the Veerashaiva faith in this region by constructing many mutts among them the Basvanagudi mutt.
Presently the temple comes under Ujjini peeta (In Veerashaiva tradition there are five peetha’s- Rambahapuri, Ujjini, Srishaila, Kashi, and Kedara).
Since the Keladi kings were adherent devotees to Ujjini Peeta so the current mutts built during Keladi mostly affiliated with Ujjini Peeta.
Inside the sanctum of the temple a beautiful small granite idol facing east direction, the worship of Nandi, which is the vehicle of Lord Shiva has been traced back to the Indus valley of civilization.
Where Lord Shiva depicted as Pashupathi and several seals of bulls have been discovered.
the exquisite wooden carvings on the door of the Inner sanctum depicting the Keladi architecture.
This mutt lost its royalty due to many reasons -financial aid, political acquisition, and many other reasons.
It’s sad state that many locals were not aware of this ancient Basavanagudi temple and few drivers were confused with Basavanagudi of Bangalore!!