Udupi is synonymous with the Shree Krishna Temple, located at the famous Car Street. Known as a temple town, Udupi has been described in traditional religious literature as Rajathapeetha.
Udupi is deemed to be one of the seven holy places of Tulu Nadu. The other holy places being Subrahmanya, Kumbhasi, Koteshwara,Kolluru, Sankarnarayana and Gokarna. Udupi is also the seat of Dvaita philosophy, propagated by Sri Madhwacharya in the 13th century. He was the exponent of this new school of philosophy called Dvaita Vedanta or Tatva Vada.
Legend
Interesting legends abound on this famous Shree Krishna temple in Udupi revolving around the installation of the idol and the Kanakana Kindi. The idol, carved out of Shaligrama Shila, known as benne Krishna (butter Krishna) represents Lord Krishna in his childhood, carrying the traditional churning rod in his right hand and the churning rope in his left hand both of which he is supposed to have snatched from his mother Devaki when she was busy churning milk.
A popular legend has it that the idol was being worshipped at Dwaraka by none other than Krishna’s divine consort, Rukmini. When Krishna disappeared from the world, Arjuna is said to have deposited this idol in a spot called Rukmini Vana. The idol which lay buried unknown in gopichandan (sandalwood) was mistaken for a lump of sandalwood and loaded into a ship, by an innocent sailor on to his ship as ballast. Sailing with merchandise from Dwaraka along the West Coast, the ship got caught in a terrible storm and Madhwacharya with his divine powers is said to have sensed that the ship was in distress. According to legend, he is said to have waved his saffron robe and steered the ship safely ashore near a place in Malpe. A grateful captain asked Madhwacharya to pick anything he chose from his ship. Madhwacharya chose the sandalwood lump,purified it and installed it in his muth at Udupi.
Interesting feature about the Krishna temple is the Kanakana Kindi. It is said that Kanakadasa, an ardent devotee of Krishna, came to Udupi to pay obeisance to the Lord. But being a low caste, he was denied entry into the temple. A dejected Kanakadasa sat down near the temple and sang the devotional songs he had composed in his Lord’s name. It is said that Krishna, pleased with his devotee’s faith, turned himself and created a hole in the back wall of the temple to face Kanakadasa, who could now have a clear view of his Lord. This small hole has come to be known as Kanakana Kindi.
Another legend has it that the ship crashed and sank. Days later Madhwacharya was in Udupi to spread his Dvaita philosophy. On a particular day, while deep in meditation, Madhwacharya woke up and traveled with his disciples to Malpe and recovered the statue from the sunken ship site and took it to Udupi. There he immersed it in a pond near the muth. On Sankranthi Day, he took it out, cleaned it and installed it in the sanctum sanctorum of the muth. The pond where the statue was purified has come to be known as Madhwa Sarovar.
Festivals
Makara Sankranti in the month of Makara (January 15) when the sun transits to the zodiac sign of Capricorn, a grand chariot festival is celebrated – carrying images of Krishna, Chandamouleeswara and Ananteshwara in procession. This seven day festival involves a float festival, and another chariot festival the Bhramma Rathotsavam is celebrated on the 7th day, when the Aaraattu is carried out in the Madhva Sarovar tank. Krishna Janmashtami is also celebrated with great splendour here.
Ashtha Muth and Paryaya
The Shree Krishna Temple is associated with the eight muths, the Astha Muth. All these muth are situated around Car street. These muths, by rotation, conduct worship at the Krishna Temple for two years each. The swamiji in charge of the muth for the muth are situated around Car street. These muths, by rotation, conduct worship at the Krishna Temple for two years each. The swamiji in charge of the muth for the two years is called the Paryaya swamiji and his muth is called the Paryaya Muth. The transfer of this privilege every two years is celebrated as a grand festival called the Paryaya. When a muth takes over the temple for the two year period, it chalks out its own developmental programmes for that period. The Ashtha Muths are Palimar Muth, Admar Muth, Puttige Muth, Krishnapura Muth, Sode Muth, Kaniyuru Muth, Pejavara Muth and Shiruru Muth.
The deity at the Krishna temple is worshipped fourteen times a day led by the Paryaya swamiji. An elaborate code of conduct governs this ritual worship. The pattern of worship is said to have been conceived and worked out in the 16th century by Sri Vadiraja Swami, an illustrious seer of the Sode Muth. He is said to have replaced the tenure of the Paryaya from two months to two years.
The Krishna Muth has been instrumental in the development of Car street. The place is the centre point of business houses in Udupi. The temple has also taken up several welfare measures. It provides free boarding and lodging to aged people and free lunch is provided every day for the devotees in the huge temple dining hall. The goshala at Krishna Muth provides shelter for stray cattle.
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