Situated 75 kms from Mangalore, the temple village Dharmastala on the banks of the Nethravathi River in the Belthangadi taluk, is an attractive site surrounded by forested hills, paddy fields and river Netravati on all sides. The temple of Lord Manjunatha (Lord Shiva) with a gold linga is the famous pilgrim centre at Dharmastala as well as a perfect place of religious amity. The temple is administrated by the Jains while the rituals are performed by the Hindu priests. As the name suggests, Dharmasthala is a place of truth, faith, solace, peace, communal harmony and spiritual experience and everyone an enjoy the generous hospitality irrespective of caste, creed and religion. 

There is a monolithic statue of Bahubali measuring a height of 39 feet (12 m) and weighing more than 210 tons, which was installed by D. Veerendra Heggade. This naked (digambara) form of Bahubali represents the complete victory over earthly desires and needs that hamper spiritual ascent towards divinity. Carved out of a single rock, its construction work has been done in Karkala and was brought to the site in the year 1982. The statue is among the four giant monoliths of the same God found in Karnataka (the others being at Shravanabelagola, Karkala and Venur). A small museum named Manjusha Museum is located opposite to the temple with an exclusive collection of heritage objects as well as the artifacts. There is also car museum which has a rare collection of vintage cars.

The unique feature of Dharmasthala is the Annadana (free food) at the famous Annapurna dining hall which is offered on everyday to thousands of devotees. The temple authorities also provides free boarding and lodging facilities for the visitors and several charity services like Abhayadana (assurance of protection), Aushadhadana (free medicine) and Vidyadana (promotion of educational facilities). 

The annual temple festival Lakshadeepotsava- the festival of lights which is celebrated for five days in the month of Kartika (November - December). Several cultural activities like sahithya sammelana, sarva dharma etc. and special seminars are conducted during the festival. The 13 days long Nadavali festival us held at Dharmasthala once in twelve years. An annual carnival called Pattanajae Jatre is held in April every year before the onset of monsoons. Ganesh Chaturti, Navaratri, Shivarathri and Deepavali are also celebrated here with grandeur at Dharmasthala.

Contact :
Shri Manjunathaswamy Temple
Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Belthangady Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District, Pin - 574 216