10 Places of interest 'inside' Manipal Town!

Manipal is not projected as a tourist attraction. Manipal is an education town, ultimate hospital care in the region and has other business institutions including HQ of Syndicate Bank. Manipal also has several places of interest for a tourist. This post is an attempt to list all of them. Note that this list is of places to visit inside Manipal town, not "near" Manipal.  If you can extend the radius by 15-20+ kms then there're many more places that qualify for a separate post.

Here's top 10 places to visit inside Manipal town. There're 3 museums, 2 parks, 1 lake, 1 river, 1 waterfall and 2 religious places to chose from.

1. Smriti Bhavan: Residence of Dr TMA Pai, credited with establishing various institutions of Manipal, now converted into a museum. Located right inside town, walkable from Tiger Circle/KMC Hospital. Artifacts used by Dr Pai are shown here. A detailed separate post on Smriti Bhavan is available here.

2. Salumarada Timmakka Tree Park

Salumarada Timmakka Tree park was opened recently. Located about 5 kms from city centre- totally worth a visit due to several exhibits and natural campus. Detailed post about tree Park is available here.

3. Arbi falls: A small stream, not really a waterfall. Vertical drop is minimum- probably few meters over a length of several meters. But then who gets such a stream within city limits? So yes, no harm calling it as falls and project it as a tourist attraction. Arbi falls is on the way to Salumarada Thimmakka Tree Park. Can be accessed via steps or by road. There are few temples nearby as well.

4. Mannapalla Lake: Scenic lake with walking track all around. Post monsoon boating will be available and probability of spotting birds increases, as per input given by Vishal Bhat, of Manipalblog.com

5. End Point Park: Manipal's most popular spot- was an open area earlier, now gated. Currently closed due to Covid, reopening date not known.

6. Museum of Anatomy and Pathology: 

Note: Currently closed due to Covid. Reopening date not known. MAP has excellent collection of specimens and a must visit for all biology students and those interested in knowing life sciences.

7. Hastha Shilpa Heritage Village: Hastha Shilpa is a unique museum where old traditional houses are preserved. With permission from owners, these houses were carefully dismantled, transported and reassembled in Hastha Shilpa. Currently closed due to monsoon/covid. Not sure when it will reopen. Entry fee of 300 INR + applies. Worth visiting if you are interested in taking close look at traditional coastal Karnataka homes.

8. Our lady of Fatima Church: Has an eye catching design. There're more churches in Manipal but this one caught my attention because of interesting exteriors.

9. Venugopal Temple: Probably the most popular temple in Manipal.

10. Baba Point- About 4 kms from Manipal city centre, on the banks of Suvarna river. Close to End point park but different, parallel access route

Made an easy to use map for you. All these can be visited in a single day or few places a day if you have time only in the evening. All attractions are within 5-7 kms radius from Manipal city centre (tiger circle).

Online map link here if you wish to copy and customize for your needs.

Other nearby attractions: Udupi Srikrishna temple, Malpe beach, Kapu lighthouse, Kodi Bengre