Sri Mukambika temple is situated in Kollur of Karnataka. It is placed at the foot of the banks of the Sauparnika River. The temple is 147 kms away from Mangalore via Coondapur in Dakshina Kannada district.

Sri Mukambika temple is regarded as one of the seven great pilgrim centres of Karnataka. The others are Udupi, Subramanya, Anegudde or Kumbakshi, Kotesvara or Dhvajeshvara, Kroda or Sankaranarayana and Gokarna. The Sauparnika flows near the temple. The names of the goddess of the temple and of the village are explained in terms of Puranic legends. According to the Skanda Purana, the village was originally called Maharanyapura. It was the dwelling place of many sages including Kola. It is said that Kola was advised by Lord Siva to worship Parasakthi here. In due course, a linga emerged there of its own accord. Lord Siva asked him to worship it and also added that in good time, Parasakthi would appear there as Mahalakshmi. The village got its present name Kollur from Kolpura, which itself displaced Maharanyapura.

There is an ancient story related to this Sri Mukambika temple here in Karnataka. It is said that once there was a demon named Kamha who gathered great powers by means of asceticism and worship of Parasakthi. Thus he began to terrorise the world through his evil powers. So, to get rid of him, the celestial beings came to Kollur and with Kola worshipped Parasakthi and pleaded her to destroy Kamha. He was then cursed by the goddess to become mute or muka. So, he was named Mukasura but still he continued his destruction and then the Devi killed him. She merged herself in the self-created linga in this temple. It is believed that Sri Sankara worshipped in Kollur and that the Goddess came to give him `darshana`. It is also said that he installed the image of the goddess in the temple. Thr room near the sanctum, where he had darshana of the Devi is known as `Sri Sankara Simhasanam`. He is said to have entered the temple through the western gate of the temple for the first time. So, this gate is not opened except on special occasions. There is spacious prakara or circumambulatory passage in front of the eastern gate, which contains a number of shrines.

Pilgrims and devotees visiting the Sri Mukambika temple offer prayers at the Virabhadra shrine before going to that of the Goddess. The self-created linga can be seen in front of the image of the Goddess. This linga is divided into two equal parts by a golden line, which is visible in sunlight deflected from a mirror. The divisions had a mystic significance.