Udupi Shri Krishna Temple
Also known as ‘The Mathura of Southern India’.
Me and Swati (my friend) went to ‘Coorg’ in 2017, a district in the state of Karnataka, on the slopes of the Western ghats. Coorg is known as the Scotland of India. For nature lovers, this place is just mesmerising.
During our return to Mumbai, we stayed for one day in Mangalore. We visited Udupi which is around 60 km north of Mangalore.
The Shri Krishna Matha, dedicated to Lord Krishna, is located in the town of Udupi. The temple is considered as one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in Southern India. This is also known as Mathura of Southern India.
In this temple, the way to worship is different.
No one gets a close, wholesome view of the idol of Lord Krishna since it is a tradition in the temple to worship the Lord through an exquisitely carved, silver-plated inner window with nine holes depicting the ten incarnations of Vishnu.
Unlike the usual norm of placing the idol of Lord Vishnu facing East, Lord Krishna’s idol at the temple as well as the eight maths around it is placed facing West.
The reason for Idol facing West:
Kanakadasa, a devotee of Lord Krishna was meditating to Lord Krishna outside the temple as the Brahmin priests would not let him enter the temple as he was from a ‘low caste.
He meditated there for weeks together by singing his poems/kirtanas which he had composed in praise of his Lord Krishna.
Miraculously, the statue of Lord Krishna turned around to face west. Through a crack in the outer walls of the temple, Kanakadasa the ardent devotee of Sri Krishna was able to see his Lord.
And that is how we see HIM, through the window, which is called, appropriately enough, the Kanakanakindi (Kanaka’s window), after the devotee whom the Lord himself wanted to see!
That is why it is always said that ‘No prayer goes waste’
During this lockdown period, as usual, we siblings were discussing our past memorable visits on Whatsapp group where this Udupi temple story came up.
One of my brothers, who is a vivid book reader and has vast experience in history and heritage narrated the mythology associated with this temple.
According to Mythology
During Dwapar Yug, Rukmini wanted to worship Krishna as Bal Krishna. So she asked Krishna for an idol. Krishna commissioned Viswakarma to make one idol, which Viswakarma made in due course from Saligram. Rukmini worshipped it with all her devotion and in due course the idol was covered with sandalwood paste.
At the end of the Dwapar Yug when the Yadav’s killed themselves at Prabash kshetra and Dwarka got submerged in seawater, this idol went floating in the sea and was washed ashore on an island in the Arabian sea. By then this idol was more like a log of Gopi Chandan. A long time later a sailor found it and took it in his ship and started using it as a balancing weight- the weights used to balance the tilt of the ship. This ship used to trade between the different ports of the Western Indian ports in the Arabian sea.
Once while traveling this ship faced a severe storm near Udupi (Malpe beach).
Saint Madhavacharya sensing the danger while meditating on the shore, by his power, stopped the storm and signaled the ship to come ashore.
The captain of the ship out of gratitude offered everything in the ship to Madhavacharya, but the latter only took the weighing log.
He then removed the idol from this Gopi Chandan and this idol is found in the temple at Udupi.
Wishing you all a ‘Happy Janmashtami’.
May Lord Krishna steal all our negative thoughts on this auspicious day and give us peace and happiness.
Take care & be COVID safe always.
