St. Mary’s Islands

Columnar Basaltic Lava, Coconut Island (St. Mary’s Islands) in Karnataka’s Udupi District

India’s southwestern coastal state Karnataka has some great geological locations including the country’s highest waterfall but nothing comes close to the Columnar Basaltic Lava in Coconut Island or St. Mary’s Islands in Udupi District. The Columnar Basaltic Lava formation displays a majestic array of lava columns which are multi-faced and were developed in the basalts of Deccan Trap. These marvellous lava structures are know as Columnar Joints in geological terminology and look like stunning handiwork of the nature. The Basaltic Lava’s columns form a geometrical pattern of rock mosaic which resembles work of some expert sculptor.


The Deccan Trap was formed due to outpouring of hot molten basaltic lava. This event, in the western part of India, took place during the Cretaceous’ Eocene time which was about 60 million years ago. It can now be seen as flat topped hills and step like terraces.

St. Mary’s Islands, are a tiny group of 4 beautiful and picturesque islands near Malpe which is a small hamlet situated about 6 km west of Udupi. The Udupi town is close to Mangalore, about 60 km west north west. Mangalore airport is the closest airport and Udupi is also linked to Mumbai, Goa and Thiruvananthapuram via the West Coast Railways or Konkan Railways.