Kasargode

Kaniyara is one of the most important Temples of the taluk. This Temple is familiarly called as Kanipura or Kanwapura. This Temples is situated at Kumble town which is about 11 Kilometers away towards North from Kasargod town. This Temple has got very ancient history. It is said that, the royal Seat of raja of Kumble Seeme was originally situated at this place and subsequently it was shifted to Mayppady. The pratishta of the holy Deity – Shri Bala Gopala Krishna in this Temple was done by Shri Kanwa Maharshi from whom the name of this place Kanwapura, Kanipura, Kaniyara was derived.

It is stated that this Temple has got the sanctity of over three Yugas of Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yug. The legendary Stala-purana of this Temple reveals that, Prabhu Shri Rama, the Yuvraja of Ayodhya during his Vanavasa period had come to the place where Maharshi Kanwa was doing Dhyana, and Kanwa had treated him well, fully knowing that Shri Rama is one of the Avatara of Lord Maha Vishnu. Thereafter, when Kanwa put forward his desire to perform Abishekam to Shri Rama, later had rejected the prayer by saying that he would accept if he come in that way while returning to Ayodhya, after smashing the Rakkasa vamsha at Lanka. Kanwa had preserved the Abisheka jala (holy water) in a Kumbha (pot) which was intended to perform Abishekam to Shri Rama. Thereafter, the Rakkasas were smashed by Shri Rama and to save the life of his brother Bharatha; Shri Rama returns to Ayodhya in Pushpaka Vimana (a helicopter of those days which was preserved by Ravana) and could not approach Kanwa Maharshi. Thereafter Treta yuga was passed over and Dwapara Yuga was started and when, at the end of Dwapara Yuga all the tapaswis started to get the Darshana of Lord Shri Krishna at Dwaraka and along with them Kanwa Maharshi also visited Dwaraka, and had the occasion to recollect the memory of Lord Krishna about his earlier Avatara and prayed that, since he lost the opportunity of performing Abisheka to Shri Rama, he wish to perform it to Shri Krishna who is the Avatara of Lord Maha Vishnu. But, by rejecting once again the prayer of Kanwa Maharshi, Shri Krishna told that, he would give his own statue of Bala Krishna to him which was earlier handed over by him to his foster mother Yashoda Devi long ago, at the time when he was being shifted his stay from Nanda-Gokula to Mathura. Shri Krishna ordered Kanwa Maharshi to install the Bala Krishna statue at the most eminent place of the Bhumandala. Lord Krishna gave reason for his order by stating that, as the power of Dharma (Justice) would be diminished in the future due to Kali Yuga mahime, Shri Krishna could not make further Avatara as before, and therefore, he would stay inside the Bala Krishna statue, and will protect the Dharma.