Udupi

The Krishna temple at Udupi was founded by the thirteenth-century philosopher Madhvacharya, and it has a peculiarity: the image is not viewed directly through a door but through two windows, the inner Navagraha Kindi, silver-plated with nine holes, and the outer Kanakana Kindi, named after the saint Kanakadasa, for whom, the story goes, the image turned to face west. Eight mathas around the temple take the administration in rotation, each for two years, in a ceremony called Paryaya. The temple kitchen and its feeding tradition produced Udupi cuisine, the vegetarian style that spread through South Indian restaurants across India and abroad.

History

The name may come from the Sanskrit udupa, "moon", or from the Tulu odipu, "elevated land". In the 13th century the Vaishnava saint Madhvacharya founded the Sri Krishna Temple and set up eight mathas, the Ashta Mathas, to spread the Dvaita Vedanta philosophy, and a vibrant temple culture took root around them (Wikipedia, Udupi).

Highlights

• The two windows - the outer Kanakana Kindi and the inner, nine-holed Navagraha Kindi.
• The eight mathas - the monasteries taking the temple in rotation.
• The temple kitchen - the feeding tradition behind Udupi cooking.
• The town restaurants - dosa, idli and the cuisine at its source.

When to go

October to February for dry weather; the Paryaya handover happens in January every two years and is the largest event. The coastal monsoon from June to September is very heavy.

Things to know

Dress codes at the temple are enforced, with men often required to remove shirts. Photography inside is prohibited. The town is small with limited to see beyond the temple complex.

Nearby

St Mary's Islands lie offshore at Malpe; Murudeshwar is north.