SREE KRISHNA TEMPLE, UDUPI 

On 02 04 22, we were fortunate to be at Udupi Krishna Temple, as the Ratha was pulled through the four small streets around the temple late evening.   We were at Udupi in the evening just before 6 PM and it was arthi time at Chandramouleeswarar temple.   First we had darshan at Anantheswara temple, then at Chandramouleeswara and then at Krishna's.  As the evening pooja had started at Krishna temple and the Urchava murthy was to be placed in the Ratha, there was a lull in the movement of the Queue for about 30 min and still we had darshan at 7 PM.  The ratha yathra started then and our family members had the wonderful experience of drawing the ratha for a few minutes.

Lord Vishnu, in his sixth incarnation as Parashurama, after assaults on Kings who had deviated from the path of Dharma, performed a great yajna. Having donated all the land he won, he was left with no land for Himself. Reluctant to stay in the land already gifted, he reclaimed a strip of land from the Arabian Sea. This coastal strip of land, from Gokarna to Kanyakumari is known as Parashurama Kshetra.

Ramabhoja, a great devotee of Lord Parashurama was proclaimed the King of Parashurama Kshetra.  lntending to perform a maha yajna, he got the site for the sacrificial fire ploughed up. A serpent got into the plough and got killed. Although the serpent was a demon in disguise, the king was worried, as it was a sin to kill a serpent. To atone this sin, he was directed by Lord Parasurama to build a big silver pedestal with the image of a serpent at each of its four corners and to worship Him who would be seated in spirit on the pedestal and also to distribute gold equal to his own weight (Tulabhara) to deserving persons.   Rambhoja did likewise and performed the Ashwamedha Yajna successfully. At its conclusion, Lord Parasurama appeared and declared that he was pleased with the Yajna and that henceforth the sacrificial land 'Rajatha Peetha' (silver pedestal) would become a famous centre of pilgrimage. This land is also known as 'Thoulava' land because Rambhoja performed 'Tulabhara'.

ANANTHESWARA

This temple is adjacent to the Sree Krishna Temple at Udupi.  It was built during the reign of the Alupas in the 8th century C.E. and is considered among the oldest in the Tulu Nadu region. In an inscription dated 1357 C.E. the temples deity is referred to as Mahadeva of Udupi. The temple is known for its association with Hindu philosopher Madhvacharya who taught his disciples within its complex.  In the temple complex, a small room can be seen through a window, from where Sree Madhwacharya disappeared while doing his discourse on Aitareya Upanishad, when he was 78 years old.  Sree Achutya Prajna who was an ascetic and who initiated Sree Madhwacharya in to ascetic order was also an ardent devotee of this deity.
Parents of Sree Madhwacharya had prayed here for progeny.

In the Rajatha Peeda, Lord Shiva appeared in the form of Linga and occupied the silver pedestal . It was on the request of Lord Shiva that Lord Parashurama also enshrined within the Linga – the form of Lord Anantha  also and hence the name Anantheshwara was given to this unique Linga.   The king Ramabhoja also built four Durgalayas(Durga temple) and Nagalayas (Subramanya temple) one each in each direction.

It is also said that Parasuram, an avatar of Vishnu merged with this Linga. However, the idol taken in processions during the festivals is that of Lord Ananthapadmanabha.  The temple sanctuary that bears the shape of the back of the elephant (Gajaprashta).   It is customary to pray at this temple before proceeding to have darshan at Sree Krishna Temple.

CHANDRESHWARA

To the east of the Ananteshvara temple and opposite to Sree Krishna temple stands a smaller temple wherein presides Shiva, known as Chandramouleeshwara.

We read in the Madhva Vijaya that the temple was originally known as muuDu devaalaya (mahendra digaalaya). Since it was on the Eastern side of the chief temple Ananteshvara, it came to be referred to as the Eastern temple, moodu meaning east.

Chandreshwara temple was built in the spot where Chandra (the moon) performed a

penance, to get rid of the curse of Daksha Prajapathi.

KRISHNA

Sree Krishna Temple, Udupi has its importance being the Vigraha installed by Sree Madhwacharya himself. As the legend has it that Sree Madhwacharya helped in safe arrival of the ship to the port from a storm and the captain of the ship who had come from Dwaraka wanted to give sree Madhavacharya whatever he asked for. But the saint asked only the log used for ballast and which turned out to be vigrahas covered with sandalwood paste. Later Sri Madhvacharya took it to the lake, purified it and installed it in the mutt. Sree Krishna vigraha was installed in udupi and Sree Balarama at temple near Malpe Beach.

The pond where the statue was bathed came to be known as the famous Madhva Sarovar and the sanctum where the statue was installed became famous as the Krishna temple. There are sources telling Sri Madhvacharya installed the Vighragha in the later part of 13th century.

The unique feature of Shree Krishna temple Udupi  is that the Lord is worshipped only through a window with nine holes called the Navagraha Kitiki. The window is exquisitely carved and silver - plated. It has been a traditionin this temple to worship the Lord only through this window.

In the 16th century, Kanakadasa, an ardent believer of God, came to Udupi to worship Lord Krishna. He was not allowed inside the temple since he was from a lower caste. Sri Krishna, pleased by the worship of Kanakadasa created a small hole in the back wall of the temple and turned to face the hole so that Kanakadasa could see him. This hole came to be known as Kanakana Kindi.

We went in the evening and the Swamigal entered the temple to bring the Urchava Murthy to be placed in the Ther (Temple car-Ratha) and thus we got stuck up in the Queue for 30 Min, but were fortunate to see the Urchava Murthy taken to the Ratha and also some of the family members could draw the rope of the ratha for some distance. Male devotees should not wear shirts and vests. Female devotees to dress traditional ethnic wear.

Lunch is usually served at noon from 11.30 am to 2:30 pm while the evening timings are from 8.00 pm to 9.30 pm. The number of devotees rise to nearly 30,000 during important religious events like the Paraya festival. A special delicacy served during lunch is called ‘Gojju’, which is prepared using pineapple, brinjal, and bitter gourd. The expenses of the entire Udupi Krishna Matha are borne by the voluntary contributions of the devotees and by the Ashta Mathas that manage the Sri Krishna Matha. 
The Udupi Shri Krishna Temple has a rich and illustrious history, aptly reflected in the culture and tradition which has been preserved to date and a must visit destination to experience the Divine grace of the Lord.
Temple Timings: Vishwaroopa Darshan: 05.30 AM to 06.00 AM 06.00 AM to 08.30 PM

 

 VADABHANDESHWAR SREE BALARAMAR TEMPLE NEAR MALPE BEACH, UDUPI

After having darshan at Kateel, we proceeded to Malpe Beach and stayed at a hotel in Malpe and in the evening first went to Vadabhandeshwar Sree Balaramar temple.  Malpe is at a distance of 7 kms from Udupi.   

Vadabhandeshwar literally means God who came out of a broken rock.  We had darshan of Balaramar in the  evening and also Lord Subramnya in the temple.   ISKON followers were doing a bhajan here.  A pond is adjacent to the temple.

 

It is believed that the deity of Sri Krishna, installed in Udupi was got made by Bhagawan Sri Krishna himself by Viswakarma out of Saligrama stone. Towards the end of Dwapara yuga, Devaki Devi felt a keen desire to see once again Krishna's bala leelas. These leelas which were enacted by Krishna for the benefit of his mother were also witnessed incognito by his wife Rukmini, who falling in love with this balaroopa requested him to get her a similar image for her daily worship. There upon Sri Krishna asked Viswakarma to make such a deity of Balakrishna with a churn in its right hand and a cord in the other and Balaram holding butter . The deities were daily worshipped by Rukmini. After Bhagawan Sri Krishna's Swargaroohan from this world, the deity fell into the hands of Arjuna, who hid it in Rukmini's garden. By lapse of time the deity got completely covered by Gopichandana (sandalwood).  A sailor from Dwarka loaded this heavy sandalwood lump in his boat as ballast, in one of his trips along the west coast. In the middle of the journey, the ship was caught in a storm on the western coast of Malpe. Madhwacharya, the great saint with his divine power over controlling the course of wind calmed down the storm in the sea and coasted the ship to safety. The captain of the ship landed on the coast and offered Madhwacharya anything from the ship. Madhwa being an ascetic did not want anything else but two sacks of Gopichandan.   Inside the sacks were the two deities of Krishna and Balarama.   He carried the deity to Udupi, a distance of four miles, singing the praise of Lord Narayana in ecstasy.   Madhwacharaya consecrated Krishna in Udupi and Balarama in Vadabandeshwara .

Temple Timings:

6 AM – 8 PM

SREE DURGAPARAMESWARI TEMPLE, KATEEL

On 02 04 22, with family, I went to Kateel after having darshan at Sringeri and Naravi.  Large number of Devotees were at the Durga Parameswari temple but still we could have darshan after a wait of 40 min in the Queue.

Naravi to Kateel by road is 40 kms and we reached in 45 min time.  Kateel is in Dakshina Karnataka district of Karnataka and on the banks of river Nandini.  It is at a distance of 347 kms from Bangalore, 29 Kms from Mangalore and around 45 Kms from Udupi.

The Durga Parameswari temple is connected with the legend of Sage Jabali requesting Nandini, daughter of Kamadhenu to overcome drought in the area and Arunasura, the demon, who was killed by Divine Mother assuming the form of a Giant Bee.  The unprecedented drought in the area in the first quarter of the 28th recurrence of the Yuga of the Vaiwasvatha Manvanthara, resulted in people suffering for food and Sage Jabali who was on a tapas in the area and woke up to the reality of the peoples' suffering and he decided to do a yagna to overcome the problem.   As he wanted materials for the same, he went to Indra  and asked for Kamadhenu's presence on earth where he contemplated to do the Yagna.  Indra said to the Sage, that Kamadhenu has gone for a sacrifice in Varuna Loga, he would send the daughter of Kamadhenu, Nandini instead.  The Sage went to Nandhini and she refused to accompany him telling that the earth is full of wrong doers and  she was not willing to be at Earth.  When Jabali tried to persuade with soothing words and requested again and again, Nandini never relented.  Jabali in his anger cursed Nandhini to flow as a River on the very same earth where drought is being experienced.  Nandhini requested Sage Jabali to tell her a way to come out of curse and the gentle Sage told that she would undertake penance in the mountainous region of Kanakachala on the Divine Mother to overcome the curse.  Thus Nandini had to come to earth to Kanakachala and do penance on Divine Mother.  Pleased with the penance of Nandhini the Divine Mother appeared and told her she would come out of the curse when the Divine Mother herself appeared in that place.  Thus Nandhini started to be River in that place.

When Demons Shumba and Nishumba were in control of the three worlds, they had a Minister called Arunasura.   When Devi killed Shumba and Nishumba for their activities, Arunasura had escaped.   By virtue of his penance, Arunasura had attained longevity given by the boon of Brahma as per which no god, no man, no woman, no animal with two or four legs, kinnaras and by any weapon could kill him.  Saraswati too who had accompanied Brahma had given the boon that no force can kill him as along as he recited Gayatri Mantra without fail.  He had made Ekaveeradri as his capital and was in control of the three worlds assisted by Chanda and Prachanda.  Having assured of no death, Arunasura got emboldened and gave problems to Deavas too.  As all complained to Brahama, he went to Lord Shiva who in turn too them to Lord Narayana.  He told all would do penance on Divine Mother and she would destroy the demon.  Divine Mother appeared to them and told as long as Gayatri Mantra is recited by him, he cannot be destroyed.  She would destroy him when he stopped reciting the Mantra.
Brahma in the guise of a Brahmin went to Arunasura and with great difficulty made him to stop reciting the Mantra.  Divine Mother appeared as a damsel and in the gardens of Ekaveeradri, and on seeing her, the two assistants of Arunasura rushed to his master and told him about the beauty of the woman in the garden.  Arunasura came and spoke to the woman to marry him and she told she had come to destroy him.   When his entire army including Chanda and Prachanda were killed by the woman, in a rage, Arunasura came to fight and the Divine Mother took the form of a big bee emerging from a rock and stung him all over his body and Arunasura was killed.

                                                Nandini River and bridge inside the temple

Sage Jabali rushed to the Divine Mother and asker to stay there itself and in a milder form.  He got tender coconut water from the Kalpakavruksha with the help of Indra and the abhisheka was performed with that to the large bee, the Divine Mother.  As initially assured, the Mother took the form a Linga splitting River Nandini in the middle thus making the water to wash her feet always and fulfilled Sage Jabali's prayer to stay in the earth.

A huge rock can be seen just before entering the bridge.   This is the Raktheshwari form of the Goddess from where she came out as a Bee to kill the demon Arunasura. The rock is worshiped  by devotees  and they offer tender coconuts to the rock.

Champaka with its great fragrance is not liked by the bee and this flower is not being used in this temple.  People offer tender coconuts to the mother as was done to reduce her ferocity.  As the mother appeared in the garden as a dancing damsel, Yakshagana is performed in the temple.

Traditional dress should be followed by female devotees.
Men should remove their shirt and Banians.  Dothi preferred.
Female devotees should not enter the temple for the first 5 days of their menstruation period.
Female devotees should not enter the temple when pregnant after six month
No one drinks Tender Coconut inside the temple premises.

Any material made of animal skin is not allowed inside the temple premises.

Temple Timings:
05.30 AM to 09.30 PM

SREE SHARADAMBAL TEMPLE, SRINGERI

After having darshan at Horanadu Annapoorneswari the previous evening, we left by road, in the morning (02 04 22) to Sringeri from Horanadu.   Sringeri is at a distance of 43 Kms and takes a good one and a half hours, being a hilly terrain.   It forms part of the Chikkamagalur dist of Karnataka.   Sringeri temple is at the banks of River Tunga.  We reached the temple at 8.00 AM and had darshan without any Queue.  The crowd was minimal on that day and we had divya darisanam of the Goddess. 

Adisankara meditated here and on the banks of River Tunga saw a snake spread its hood over a pregnant frog protecting it from hot Sun.  Depicting the same, there is a sculpture on the banks of the river.  The peetam he established here is known as the Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetam.   The Goddess here is Sharadambal who is an incarnation of Goddess Saraswati and also worshipped as Ubhya Bharati.  It is believed that by worshipping Udaya Bharathi one can get the blessing of the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.  It is said that the Goddess was made of  Sandalwood and was in a standing posture as installed by Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada.  In the 14thCentury when Vijayanagara Kingdom ruled this place, they replaced the above with a golden Vighraha of Shardambal in a sitting posture.  

The temple complex has around 40 sannidhis including that of Stambha Ganapathi, Sri Vidyashankara temple, Janardhan temple, Harihara temple and Kalabhairava temple to the East.   The Vidyashankara temple has zodiac pillars inside.  The Mahamandapam has huge stone pillars exquisitely carved with deities like Durga, Raja Rajeshwari, Dwarapalakas and Devis which are all sculpted according to the Shilpa Sastras practised in Tamilnadu.

Temple Timings:
6:00 AM to 2:00 PM
5:00 PM to 9.00 PM

Annadhanam is available at Sringeri and following are the timings:
12:00 NOON – 2:00 PM
07:30 PM – 8:30 PM

The Mutt has the Chandramouleeswara crystal vigragha given by Lord Shiva to Adi Shankara.  Special pooja is performed to Chandramouleeswara by the Acharaya every evening.

CHANDRAMOULISHWARA PUJA (BY JAGADGURU)
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM (Normal Days)
8:30 PM – 10:00 PM (Fridays)

There is a book stall in which religious texts in various languages are available.

SREE ANNAPOORNESWARI TEMPLE, HORANADU

Though the distance between Dharmathsthala and Horanadu is only 88 kms, the time for the 
drive was 2 Hrs 40 Min via Khalasa.   Starting at 2 PM, we reached by road only at 4.40 PM.  After taking rest for about 2 hours in the Hotel, we went to the temple, which was 4 kms from the Hotel.  The evening darshan was without any hassles and we were the only people and were very near to the Deity.  There were few devotees waiting for the Kunkuma Archana scheduled at 7 PM.  
River Bhadra passes through this town, which is part of Mudigere Taluk of Chikkamagaluru dist.  Horanadu is at a distance of 95 Kms from Chikkamagaluru and 125 Kms from Mangalore.  

The temple is at a location with serene atmosphere.  The temple is at an elevated place with around 30 steps to be climbed.  Adequate shops are around the temple which sell the pooja items. 

The temple is also known as Adhisakthyathmaka Annapoorneswari.  It is believed that 
Sage Agasthya installed the Goddess Vigraha here. 

When Lord Shiva declared everything in the world including food to be Maya or illusion, Goddess Parvathi said Food is not an illusion and thus there was an argument.  To prove that Parvathi Devi disappeared and everything became standstill.  Neither Climates changed nor plants grew resulting in severe draught.  Taking pity on the people, the Goddess appeared and distributed food to all.   Since then she is known as Devi Annapoorneswari.   

The second legend is based on the beheading of Lord Brahma's head by Lord Shiva and
the skull of Brahma stuck on the hand of Shiva.  He was also cursed that only when food
or grains are full in the skull, it would come out of his hands.  Lord Shiva begged for alms 
from so many but none could make the skull full.  He arrived here and Devi Annapoorani 
filled his skull and thus he came out of the curse.

The temple has Hereditary Dharmakarthas since 400 years and the expansion of the
temple was done by the fifth Dharmakartharu.    

The Goddess is in a standing posture with four hands, holding Shanku, Chakra,  one hand
with Abhya Muthra and the other Karuna Muthra.  Akshaya Trithiyai is celebrated in this temple as well as 5 day Ratha yatra,  Navarathri and Deepothsava.  Beautiful carvings are found in the ceilings of the temple.

There is dress code for the temple.  Men should remove their shirts and banians and dothi is preferable.  Women with sarees or salwar/kameez.

Temple Timings
06.30 AM to 9.00 PM

SREE MANJUNATHA TEMPLE, DHARMATHSTHALA

Dharmathsthala is at a distance of 310 Kms from Bangalore and 75 Kms from Mangalore.
It forms part of Belthangady taluk of South Kanara of Karnataka.    River Netravati flows through the town.

I had darshan at the Sree Manjunatha Swamy Temple of Dharmathsthala on 01 04 22.   
It was a family tour in our car from Bangalore and during our first leg, we were in Dharmathsthala and reached there around 12 Noon.  Our travel was quite comfortable
upto Hassan and later on the mountainous road it was difficult to maintain speed. 
We had taken a special darshan ticket as we wanted to save time and to reach Hornadu
the same evening. We were in the Queue for 40 Minutes and had darshan of Sree
Manjunatha  without the Mukha shield and in the linga form.

Legend has it that 800 years ago, Dharmasthala was known as Kuduma in Mallarmadi,
a then village in South Kanara. Here lived the Jain Chieftain Birmanna Pergade and
his wife Ammu Ballalthi in a house called Nelyadi Beedu. Simple, pious and affectionate people, the Pergade family was known for its generosity and hospitality to all.

According to legend, the guardian angels of Dharma assumed human forms and
arrived at Birmanna Pergade’s abode in search of a place where Dharma was being
practiced and could be continued and propagated.  The couple Pergade and Ammu
Ballalthi, though they were following Jainism at that time, treated the guests well.   
Pleased by the generosity and sincerity of the couple, the Dharma Devatas appeared
in the dreams of  Birmanna Pergade and let known the purpose of their visit to him
and instructed him to allow them to stay there itself.  They also said for worship of
them and to dedicate the couple’s life in the propagation of Dharma.   Asking no
questions, Pergade built himself another house and began worshipping the Devatas
at Nelyadi Beedu.  

The Devatas again appeared in his dream and asked for building a temple for them
and to get help of two noble persons to act as Oracles of the Devatas and also four
worthy persons to help Pergade in the administration of the temple.  Later when the
temple was to be consecrated, the Brahmins advised Pergade to have Lord Shiva too
in the temple.  Thus SreeManjunatha became the main deity and with sannidhis
for the four Dharma Devatas - 
namely Kalarahu, Kalarkai, Kumaraswamy and Kanyakumari.  When the temple
came into being, Pergade was the Executive Head and the Devatas in return assured
of the abundance of charity and the place also was renowned as “Shri Kshetra”.   The
hereditary control of the temple was followed since then and those running them were
called Heggades. 

Thus, the roots of charity and religious tolerance established by the Pergades 800
years ago have been nurtured and strengthened by twenty one generations of the
Heggade family, (Heggade being a derivative from Pergade). Today’s Dharmasthala
blossoms with the fruit of this selfless dedication.

 

Every one of the thousands of pilgrims, who enter the portals of
Dharmasthala to seek the blessings of Lord Manjunatha, is offered
free food and known as Anna Prasadham.  Annapoorna kitchen is
equipped with modern, hygienic, automated Kitchen to feed around
30000 to 40,000 people a day. 

 

The temple which has a square layout has a pyramidal vimana and the 
steep roof is made up of wood and covered with gold plated copper
sheets which help to withstand the monsoon seasons of the Western
Ghats.

Ugadi, Annual Jathre (Car festival in April), Ganesh Chathurthi, Navarathri, Deepavali
and Mahasivarathri are celebrated with large number devotees attending them.

Temple Timings:
05.00 AM - 01.30 PM
03.30 PM - 09.30 PM 

 

 HINDU FESTIVITIES

My blog posting on Hindu festivities over a period of time, has been given with links here with date to easily go through them in my blog sarayutoayodhay.blogspot.com.  Out of 250 blog postings on varied topics, only those pertaining to festivities are listed here. As new postings are made in the blog, it will be updated with their links here.

1        16 10 12     Karadaiyan Nonbu
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/karadaiyan-nonbu-2012-karadaiyan-nonbu.html

2        16 10 12    Sri Rama Navami
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/sri-rama-navami-sri-rama-navami-sri.html

3        16 10 12    Ugadi and Tamil New Year
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/ugadi-2012-and-tamil-new-year-2012-wish.html

4       16 10 12     Thula Snanam and Cauvery
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/thula-snanam-and-river-cauvery.html

5        16 10 12    Significance of Navaratri
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/significance-of-navaratri-navratri-nine.html

6        16 10 12    Ugadi and Tamil New Year
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/ugadi-2012-and-tamil-new-year-2012-wish.html

7        16 10 12    Mahasivaratri
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/mahashivaratri-2012-maha-sivarathri.html

8        16 10 12    Rath Sapthami, importance and slokas
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/ratha-sapthami-2012-ratha-sapthami-2012.html

9        16 10 12    Karadaiyan Nonbu Significance and Detials
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/karadaiyan-nonbu-2012-karadaiyan-nonbu_16.html

10       16 10 12    Thula Snanam
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/thula-snanam-cauvery-at-mayiladuthurai_16.html

11       16 10 12    Significance of Navaratri
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/significance-of-navaratri-navratri-nine_16.html

12        25 10 12    Eco Friendly Ganesha
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/10/blog-post_4933.html

13        27 11 12    Karthigai Deepam
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2012/11/karthigai-deepam.html

14        17 12 13    Thiruvadirai Arudra Darisanam
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2013/12/thiruvadhirai-arudhra-darisanam.html

15        08 07 14    Sayana Ekadasi
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2014/07/sayana-ekadasi-08-07-2014.html

16        19 04 19    Chithra Pournami
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/04/chithra-pournami.html

 Will be updated.