Vinayaka, Uttara Kannada

The Mahaganapati Vinayaka temple at Idagunji in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, 50 kilometres from Honnavar — one of the Pancha Ganesha Kshetras of coastal Karnataka (the five Ganesha pilgrimage sites of the Konkan-Kanara coast), with 1,500 years of continuous worship. The temple is a Vijayanagara-era 16-century foundation on an older 6-century Chalukya-period shrine. The temple's distinctive feature is its daily afternoon annadanam (free meal) tradition, serving 5,000-10,000 pilgrims daily — one of the largest free-meal operations at a Karnataka temple. The deity Mahaganapati is a seated Ganesha in a distinctive four-armed form with his consort Siddhi beside him. The annual Ganesha Chaturthi festival each August-September draws over 100,000 pilgrims from across the Kanara coast. The temple is managed by the Idagunji Devasthan Trust.