Name & Etymology

Why Kundapura is called Kundapura.

The name Kundapura — also written Kundapur, and historically Coondapoor — has more than one traditional explanation, but all of them root the town firmly in its temples and its land.

Temple town

The Kundeshwara tradition

The most widely accepted explanation derives the name from the Kundeshwara temple, an old shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva around which the historic town grew. In this reading, Kunda-pura simply means "the town (pura) of Kundeshwara". The temple remains a landmark of the old town.

The jasmine explanation

A second, folk explanation connects kunda to a variety of jasmine flower (kunda in Sanskrit) once cultivated in the area, giving the sense of "the place of jasmine". While picturesque, this account is generally considered secondary to the temple derivation.

Coondapoor and colonial spellings

Under British administration the port appears in records as Coondapoor, an anglicised spelling that persisted into the early twentieth century on maps, customs ledgers and railway documents. The modern official spelling is Kundapura, though Kundapur remains common in everyday use.

Basrur-Kundapura

Because the medieval port of Basrur and the town of Kundapura were so closely linked, older sources sometimes treat them as a single trading centre, occasionally hyphenated as Basrur-Kundapura.

References & notes

1. Place-name studies of coastal Karnataka.
2. South Canara District Gazetteer (historical).