Subramanya is a village located in Kadaba Taluk in Dakshina Kannada, India. The Kukke Subrahmanya Temple is located here. It is about from Mangalore, connected by train and road. It was originally named "Kukke Pattana".
Pilgrim centre
The village is an approach and resting point for pilgrims visiting the Kukke Subrahmanya Temple in Subrahmanya. The village is surrounded by the Kumaradhara River. The Darpana Theertha, a tributary of the Kumaradhara, flows just behind the temple.
The belief is that Vasuki and other snakes took refuge under the god Subrahmanya in the caves at Subramanya. Here Subrahmanya is worshipped as a snake.
Legend
According to one myth, after killing the demon rulers, Tharaka and Shura Padmasura, and their followers in a war, Lord Shanmukha reached Kumara parvatha with his brother Ganesha and others. He was received by Indra and his followers. Indra, being very happy, prayed for Lord Kumara swamy to accept and marry his daughter Devasena, to which the Lord readily agreed. The divine marriage took place on Margashira shudha shashti at Kumara parvatha. Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and many other deities assembled for the marriage and coronation ceremony of Shanmukha, for which waters of several holy rivers were brought. With these, waters of Mahabhisheka fell down to form a river which was later known by the popular name Kumaradhara.
The Shiva Bhakta and serpent king Vasuki were performing tapas for years in the Biladwara Caves of Kukke Subrahmanya to avoid the attack of Garuda. Following Lord Shiva's assurance, Shanmukha gave darshan to Vasuki and blessed him that he would stay with his parama bhakta in this place forever. Hence the poojas offered to Vasuki or Nagaraja are nothing but the poojas to Lord Subrahmanya.
Madhvacharya has also visited this place, and founded one mutt there. The speciality of Kukke Subrahmanya Matha lies in the fact that the powerful Samputa is present here. When Jagadguru Sri Madhwacharya had gone to the Himalayas to write commentaries on the Hindu Scripture under the guidance of the great Sri Ved Vyas, Ved Vyas had given him 8 Vyasa Mushti Saligrams. Sri Madhwacharya took 5 of these along with 144 Lakshmi Narayana Saligrams and 1 Lakshmi Narasimha Saligram and put them inside a Samputa. It is this Samputa that eventually became known as the Narasimha Samputa. It is said that Sri Madhwacharya adored this Samputa so much so that the scriptures called this Samputa as Sri Madhwacharya's heart. When Sri Aniruddha Theertharu was serving as the first pontiff of this Matha, the then king (of the local area) Ballalraaya tried to break open the Samputa by placing it under an elephant's feet. Instead of the Samputa breaking open, the elephant died on the spot. The apologetic and regretful King realized his mistake and donated his monetary possessions to the Matha. Sri Madhwacharya gave Sanyasa Initiation to Sri Vishnu Theertharu (his brother) and made him the head of the Matha. Sri Vishnu Theertharu left behind the Samputa Narasimha, Vyaasa Mushti, Vithala and Rukmini and Satyabhama, and a smiling Lakshmi Narasimha to the Matha. Many people believe that Sri Vishnu Theertharu is still performing prayers and penance in the Siddha Parvatha since no one has been successful in finding his brindavana. It is also said that initially, Sri Vishnu Theertharu had carried the Samputa with him, but ended up sending it back to the Matha via the Kumara Dhaara River at the request of Sri Aniruddha Theertharu.