DharmasthaLa

[Balaji Hebbar]

DharmasthaLa  is  located  in  the  Western  Ghats.  It  is  on  the
banks  of  the  NetrAvatI  river  which  eventually  works  its  way
down  the  Ghats  and  empties  out  into  the  Arabian  Sea  at
Mangalore.  It  is  main  source  of  water  supply  for  that  city.

The  kShetra  came  to  be  called  DharmasthaLa  only  after  the
consecration  of  Man.junAtheshvara  by  VAdirAja  TIrtha  (1480-1600)
the  20th  Pontiff  of  the  Sode  MaTha  of  UDupi.  When  DevarAja
HeggaDe,  the  then  pALegAra  of  KuDuma,  invited  the  Madhvite
abbott,  he  refused  to  come  on  account  of  bhUta  activities  in
the  area.  Later  after  much  persuasion,  it  is  said  that
VADirAja  TIrtha  through  his  mantra  shaktis  converted  the  chief
goblin  of  the  are  "ANNappa"  into  a  benign  genie  and  asked  him
to  fetch  a  linga  from  Kadri  (a  suburb  of  Mangalore).  This  the
genie  did.  Then  after  placing  a  Narasimha  sAligrAma,  VAdirAja
TIrtha  consecrated  the  ManjunAtheshvara  linga  and  put  in  charge
MAdhva  priests  to  conduct  the  worship  services.  He  named
DevarAja  HeggaDe,  the  "DharmAdhikArI"  for  the  kShetra.  Ever
since,  the  HeggaDe  family  has  been  in  charge  of  the  kShetra.
The  current  DharmAdhikArI  is  one  VIrendra  HeggaDE.

BhUta  "worship"  is  common  to  many  places  in  the  West  Coast,
especially  Kerala  and  Coastal  Karnataka.

Regards,
B.N.Hebbar