Basrur / Basroor is a village in Kundapura ''

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

'' in

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

district of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. Historically Basrur was also called Barcelor, Barcelore, Barcalor, Basnur, Bares, Abu-Sarur and Barsellor.

History

Basrur, once called Vasupura, is a historic

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

town on the banks of the Varahi River on the

Kanara Kanara or Canara, also known as Karāvali, is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern Konkan coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The subregion comprises thr ...

coast in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. For much of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century, it was the

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

port ''par excellence'' on that coast. The port was used by traders of several foreign countries mainly to cater for the needs of Keladi Samsthana, which was near Shimoga. The town had several streets, each specifically housing communities like traders, artisans, dancers, weavers etc. It was also famous for communities who were experts in singing and dancing, which art is forgotten and no longer exists. The town has become a small obscure village and the trade no longer exists. In his travel account Moroccan Traveller

Ibn Batuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebis, Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his ...

(Abu Abdullah Mohammed (1304–1358)) who visited Canara on his way to Malabar from Honavar says, "The first town in the land of Mulaybar (Malabara) that we entered as the town of Abu-Sarur (Basrur), a small place on a large inlet and abounding in coco palms" British Major of Engineers James Rennel has concluded with due analysis that the Bares of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's Map is the Barcelor or Basrur.

Towards the end of the 16th century, Basrur came under Portuguese control, who built a church there and a fort called ''Santa Luzia''. The town was called 'Barcelor' by the Portuguese. On 13 February 1665, the Maratha ruler

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

conducted a naval raid on the Portuguese at Basrur, and gained a large booty which enabled him to strengthen the base of his new kingdom by building a strong navy and forts. Basrur is famous for its old temples, the main one being the
Shree Mahatobar Mahalingeshwara Temple
. The annual chariot festival (ratha or teru in Kannada) is held every April on ''Chitra Pournima - Hanuman Jayanti'' (in the

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, also called Panchangam, Panchanga (), is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes ...

) day. Out of 24 Temples of Basrur, The Nakhareshwara Temple is of historical importance. A 12th Century Inscription is the earliest inscription which mentions this temple.South Indian Inscriptions, Volume IX: Archaeological Survey of India The Temple which is today called as Mahalingeshwara Temple was built by the mediaeval South Indian Merchant guild Nakhara. The deity of this temple was called Mahadeva in the mediaeval inscriptions of Basrur. The town is a spiritual centre for the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community with 'Sri Mahalasa Narayani temple' at the center. The centuries-old temple is visited by the Swamijis of all Maths including Kashi Math Samsthana and Gokarna Parthagali Math. The legend is that the spirit for the Mahalasa temple was derived from its Moolasthana, i.e. Sri Mahalasa at Mardoli in Goa. Noted Kannada novelist Dr. K. Shivarama Karanth has written a novel based on the life of Basrur people, mainly detailing song and dance community and the picture of early twentieth century of Basrur village is vividly described in this novel. The name of the novel is ''Mai Managala Suliyalli'' (1970) and this novel is one of the better novels of Dr. Karanth and is distributed by Sapna Book House, Bangalor

Demographics

According t
Census (2001)

Languages

Kundagannada a dialect of

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

spoken by majority of people in the region.

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

used by Roman Catholic Christians and Goud Saraswat Brahmins. Beary, Urdu & Navayati used by Muslim communities. Quite a few Basel Mission a Christian missionary society speaks Tulu.

Transportation

This place is less than 2 km from Kundapura Railway Station on the Konkan railway route. Public transport is operated by private bus services and autorickshaws. Small time water transport facility is also there with wooden boats managed by local fishermen. This mode of transportation was predominant up to first half of 20th century.

Local areas

"Basrur" is connected to other sub-villages (''koodu-grama)'' like Hattikudru, Anagalli, Margoli, Merdy, Japthi, Kalanje, Othinane (Panakada-katte), Kolkere, Ulloor, Kandavara Balkur and gulwady with new bridge to form a larger area.

Notable people

* Ravi Basrur an Indian film music composer, sound designer, lyricist and director

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Udupi district Portuguese Empire