Anantheshwara Temple

The Anantheshwara Temple at Udupi, in Tulu Nadu on the south-western coast, is dedicated to Parashurama, the axe-wielding avatar of Vishnu, worshipped here as a linga on a silver seat.

Legends tell how Parashurama is said to have reclaimed the land from the sea and King Ramabhoja venerated him here; Sanskrit texts call the town Rajata Pitha, the silver seat. The shrine was founded around the 700s under the Alupa dynasty and was among the oldest temples of Tulu Nadu.

Madhvacharya (traditionally 1238-1317), founder of the Dvaita school of Vedanta, composed many of his Tattvavada works in the temple and taught his disciples here. The temple later came under the Puttige Matha, one of the eight monastic orders of Udupi, whose Madhva Brahmins conducted its rituals according to Madhvacharya's ordinances.