Vishnu worship in different forms

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 Temples dedicated to Vishnu, have normally   his Avatara forms with Narasimha, Rama, Krishna.. statues consecrated ; rarely we find Varaha/ Kurma  as in Srimushnam, Kurma elsewhere. we even have temple of Parashurama in Kolar, Karnataka, on Bengaluru- Chennai road. Atyarla in Andhra Pradesh, Gokarna, Karnataka. Maharshtra, Uttaranchal, UP also have shrines dedicated to Parashurama. 

  Sri Ananteshvara temple, Udupi is another form of Parashurama, in Linga or shapeless form. A couple of Parashu Rama temples are in Northern India) . Some of them are statues with Axe holding, as in Tiruvallam, Kerala , Gokarna, Kunjaru and Kolar. Places where Parashurama has saved land by pushing back the Sea, are called Parashurama Kshetras, ranging from Mangaluru- Goa. 

Going by history recorded, it was built around 800 CE, and earlier another Shiva temple worshipped as Chandra Moulishvara existed   in Udupi. We find several such temples of Shiva in Mangalore and Udupi districts in Karnataka. Some are old, some built during early and later Vijayanagar time. Tulu dynasties of Taulava, Alupa and other chieftains  ruled in the area  reporting to the King. Some of them served as warriors in the army even earlier. 

Srimadananteshvara temple, near Sri Krishna shrine has a Linga form, worshipped as Parashurama, avatara of Vishnu. It is worshipped as per Vaishnava Agama.  A certain ruler Rama Bhoja is said to have given land grants, now controlled by Krishna Matha. 

Sri Vadirajatirtha,  noted Madhva saint of Udupi writes in his travelogue Tirtha Prabandha: 

  शिवान्तर्यमिताम् स्वीयां प्रियान् प्रति निबोधयन् |

दया वारिधिनिधिः शैवीं शिलामाश्रित्य शोभते ||

Sri Vishnu, as if reminding his Antaryami ( indweller )  in Shiva, is present here in form of Shiva linga. 

This is the philosophical sense of the Form of God, worshipped there. However, we can find such linga forms elsewhere in Coastal Karnataka, worshipped as Vishnu. Paranti is one among such places, where 5 Lingas are worshipped as forms of Vishnu. It is not easy to understand the historical reason of such places of worship, that they still stand as places of  worship, justifies absence of any other form of Puja. Even in coastal Kerala we have such temples, but Parashurama statue with weapons exist in Kunjaru and elsewhere. 

Parashurama Temple, Kunajurugiri, near Udupi, and Kolar ( Karnataka towards Mulbagal ) and also similar temples in Chiplun, Tryambakeshvar ( Mh), and UP, Jharkhand, HP elsewhere..    Temples in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka are:  Ananteshvar, Udupi, Bantwal. sanyasi Katte  and Udyavara. North India  has Parashuram Kund, a  pilgrim center in Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh,  dedicated to Parashurama.