Shri Moodu Mahaganapathi Temple, Karkala

This temple situated in Bandimatt area in Karkala houses idols of Lord Ganapathi and is well known for bestowing the blessing of having a progeny for those seeking one.

The story starts with a Shrimati Sridevi Shenoy. After the loss of her youngest son, Ganapathi Shenoy to a deadly disease, she turned to intense devotion to Lord Ganapathi and expressed her deep sorrow in her prayers. Once in her dream, the Lord appeared and assured her that her son was destined to live for a short time. In the same dream, she was indicated to look for an idol in the garden of her house. After a thorough search, she did find a porcelain idol of Lord Ganapathi that she brought home for worship. Her family then shifted to Badimatt in Karkala where her family ran a hotel.

Exactly how the locals came to hold a such deep reverence for this deity housed at Sridevi Shenoy's family home we do not know. But it seems that the number of devotees approaching to seek the Lord's blessings increased hugely making it logistically difficult. As they consulted a famous astrologer Devadas Sharma to shift the idol to any temple, he conveyed that God wishes to remain in the same place. So the Shenoy family sold whatever property they owned and with the help of the generous locals built a temple. This temple houses a new huge stone idol of Lord Ganapathi that was consecrated in 1999 along with the small porcelain form that Sridevi found.