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UDUPI
When the time comes to go on a pilgrimage to the places of intense interest for Maadhva-s, Udupi is
the place to use as home base. There are seven famous centres of pilgrimage in the North and South
Kanara districts known as Tulunad.

roupyapiitham kumaaraadrih kumbhaasii cha dhvajeshvarah

kruudagokarnamuukaambaah saptaitaa mokshadaayikaah

raupya piitha (Udupi), kumaaraadri (Subrahmanya), kumbhaasi (Kumbhasi), dhvajeshvara

(Koteswar), kruuda (Shankaranarayana), gokarna (Gokarna) and muukaambaa (Kollur) are the seven
givers-of-mukti (holy places).

From Gokarna in the north of Tulunad to Subrahmanya in the south is a distance of some 200 miles.
Gokarna is in North Kanara while Udupi, Subrahmanya, Kumbhasi, Koteswar, Shankaranarayana and
Kollur are in South Kanara. Gokarna is in the region of one hundred miles to the north of Udupi and
Subrahmanya approximately one hundred miles to the south. The meaning and origin of the word
`Udupi': Udupi is known as oDipu in the Tulu language. Narayana Panditacharya in his notes called
Bhaava Prakasha on the Sumadhva Vijaya records thus:

rajatapiithapurasya odipu ityapabhrashhta samgyaa

The modern name Udupi must have developed from this ancient folk name. A different etymology is
provided by certain other scholars, but there is not too much credence given to it. According to them
the original Sanskrit name is derived from udupa (udu 'star' + pa 'lord') -- lord of the stars, namely, the
moon. Udupi then refers to Shiva, who bears the moon on his head. Since there is the ancient temple
of Chandramaulishwara in Udupi, the place may have been known by the name Udupi, after its
ancient deity. It is quite evident that this idea developed very recently. The author of the Sumadhva
Vijaya opines that the word is of Tulu origin. The word `Udupi' also does not seem to have been
associated with Shiva anywhere else in the Sanskrit literature. Even if the word is to be considered to
be originating from a Sanskrit root, one can provide a better explanation and etymology. `Udupi' also
means boat or raft in Sanskrit:

udupam tu plavah kolah

The word `Udupi' can then mean a place to which Lord Krishna came (from Dwaarakaa) by boat. The
Tulu word oDipu can also be associated with a more or less similar meaning. There is a temple at
Malpe which is known as Odabhaandiishvara. There appears to be some kind of relationship between
the words odabhaanda and odipu. Its Kannada version is `Udupa'. The root element of all these words
is oDepu, meaning "cracking," or "breaking." Until the secret of this word is cracked, the origin of the
modern word Udupi will remain shrouded in mystery. This temple at Malpe is well worth a visit and
appears to be of great vintage. It is only a short distance to the beach from the temple and so it is
possible to walk to where Sri Madhva saved the ship carrying the icon of Sri Krishna from being
wrecked during a storm. The beach itself is quite pleasant to walk along. At one time cargo ships that
had been decommissioned were drawn up on the beach and cut up for scrap. This was some distance
to the south but was very interesting to watch. Shivaruupya - Shivalli The original name of the village
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of Udupi is Shivalli. Later on an attempt was made to Sanskritize this name into Shivaruupya because
Shiva dwelt there. The author of the (Su)Madhva Vijaya refers to this name:

vedaadrisad.h rajatapiithapureshvaraabhyaam.h
graamo vibhuushitatarah shivaruupyanaamaa (Su. Vi. II-10)

"The village stretching up to Indrali Hills in the East (presentday Manipal) and presided over by Lord
Ananteshwara is known as Shivaruupya." There is a popular legend which tells us how this ancient
village became Shiva's village in ancient times: King Raamabhoja decided to perform a sacrifice and
so began to plough the land in preparation. A serpent was hit by the plough and died on the spot. To
atone for this sin the king constructed four shrines in the four corners of the village. The four serpent
shrines are known as muchchilkoDu, maangoDu, arikodu and taangodu. Actually these are Skanda
shrines. About two miles to the South-East on the way to Alevoor is the muchchilkoDu shrine near
Kukkikate. This shrine which is under the jurisdiction of Sri Pejawar Mutt has been renovated
beautifully and the area looks like a peaceful hermitage. Another Skanda shrine is located at
maangoDu about three miles to the South West of Udupi. This is also renovated nicely. About three
miles to the North-East of Udupi by the side of Puttur temple on the National Highway is the arikoDu
shrine. This is in very bad condition as the walls have collapsed. Also, there is no approach road. The
place known as taangoDu which is supposed to be in the North-East corner of the village has not yet
been located. It needs to be identified and renovated. In the middle of the village King Raamabhoja
worshipped Lord Parashuraama in the form of a Shivalinga on a silver seat. This temple is now known
to us as Ananteshwara. Ananteshwara: When Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of Parashuraama on
this Earth he was "trained" by Shiva in the art of archery. To commemorate this student-teacher
drama, Lord Vishnu wanted to get himself identified with the linga so that both the teacher and the
student were worshipped simultaneously by the devotees. Sriman Narayana, reclining on a serpent,
came down to this temple and stayed in the linga. This is a rather unusual incident and the concept of
Ananteshwara came to vogue as a result of this. Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha, in his masterpiece Tiirtha
Prabandha extols Ananteshwara in this way:

ivaantaryaamitaam sviiyaam priyaan.h prati nibodhayanh

dayaavaarinidhih shaiviim shilaamaashritya shobhate
iisasyaahiisapadaviim bhaasayanniva bhaaviniim.h
adhyaaste sheshashayanah snigdhaam lingashilaam.h
(Tii Pra. I.14-15)

'The Almighty Lord got himself merged in this Shivalinga to proclaim to the devotees that he rests in
the soul of Shiva also. To prove this cosmic truth Vishnu rests in this Shivalinga.' Before the birth of
Sri Madhva, his father, Nadillaaya (a.k.a. Madhya-geha Bhatta), had worshipped this Deity to beget a
male child. It is believed that he used to pray to Lord Bhujangashayana enshrined in this idol.
Narayana Pandita makes a reference to this in his commentary Bhaava Prakaashika on the Sumadhva
Vijaya:

svadarshanoruvratine nishiite
praaptaaya bhogiindragato harih prabhuh
svam darshayitvaa khalu kujnjamaadhava
dvijaaya tadvat.h pratimaam vyadhaapayat.h
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Even now the deity is known as Ananteshwara, Anantaasana and Anantapadmanaabha. `Ananta'
means the serpent Shesha. Hence Ananteshwara means the Lord Narayana reclining on a serpent.
Ananta is also another name of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu enshrined in the Sivalinga came to be
designated as Ananteshwara. Ananteshwara was a famous temple and pilgrim centre of this region. It
was also a centre of Vedantic philosophy and formed a suitable background for the advent of Sriman
Madhvacharya. It was because of this temple that the place was ranked as foremost among the seven
centres of pilgrimage. One should not forget that the Nadillaya couple could beget an illustrious son
who was destined to be the great Achaarya only because of their twelve years of worship at the foot of
this deity Bhujangashayana ("the one who reclines on a serpent"). Hence this temple has great historic
significance. Sri Madhva used to sit in the Ananteshwara temple and teach his disciples. Even today
the place where he used to sit is considered to be a holy shrine. The plank where he used to sit is still
there but there is no icon of Sri Madhva. At one time a beautiful icon had been prepared to be installed
here, but when the time of installation came around, Sri Madhva appeared in a dream and ordered,
'Please do not put any stone on me,' thus indicating that he was always and already present there. To
this day the stone icon is kept outside and the devotees offer worship to the seat itself. This shrine is
very difficult for the devotee to see. One is not allowed to enter inside the temple itself, and the only
way to see this place is through a small window on the southern side of the outer enclosure of the
temple. The Ananteshwara temple is an amazing place. As one enters from the street, one can see the
huge linga which is deep inside the temple and lit by oil lamps. Inside the temple, but closer to the
front, there is a small icon of Ganapati.
To come here and pay respects to Lord Ananteshwara is a very calming experience and it is very easy
for the hours to simply slip by without one noticing it. When you step back and take in the view at the
temple you can only marvel at the huge slabs of granite which make up the roof. It is the largest
temple in this region in both its shape and its historic significance. In the South-West corner of the
compound there is a small shrine of Ayyappa. Each year the worshippers of Ayyappa come here in
their thousands while on pilgrimage. (Note: This deity is not worshipped by Maadhvas.) The Ayyappa
shrine in the Ananteshwara temple is quite famous. Each year, during the month of January,
thousands of Ayyappa devotees pour into Udupi each day and take darshana here while on their
pilgrimage to Sabarimala. It is an amazing sight to see this huge mass of people, all wearing black
cloth, in the one place at the one time. This is a very small shrine indeed and it is hard to believe that
so many people make such an effort to come here. Not only do all these pilgrims visit the Ayyappa
shrine but they all take bath in the Madhva-Sarovara and have darshana of Sri Krishna.
The Ayyappa shrine is situated in the South-West corner of the Ananteshwara temple compound and
there is a small gateway here. Everyone, including Maadhva-s, who enters or leaves the compound by
this route stop and pay their respects. "Ayyappa" is not worshipped by Ayyappa's name by Maadhva-s
but it is said that the "Ayyappa" in Sabarimalai is none other than Sri Veda Vyaasa (Sriman
Madhvacharya's Guru in Badarikaashrama and incarnation of the Lord Vishnu Himself). In his
narration of Srimad Achaarya's meeting with Sri Veda Vyaasa in the 7th chapter of the great epic
Sumadhva Vijaya, Sri Narayana Panditacharya describes the Lord as "achalAsana yogapaTTikA
varakaxyA sakR^idAptamishhTadam.h" which means that Sri Veda Vyaasa was sitting under a tree
with the paTTikaa tied around his knees and in deep penance. If one notices the stature of "Ayyappa,"
one finds it is the same as the one just described. Chandramaulishvara To the east of the
Ananteshwara temple stands a smaller temple wherein presides Shiva, known as Chandramaulishvara.
Because the temple is a very ancient one, precious little is known about its history.
This temple of Chandramaulishvara is smaller than that of Ananteshwara. To enter this temple one has
to descend steps. It appears that originally there must have been a tank in that place which was later
filled up with mud and a temple built on top of the fill. 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
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the Chief temple Ananteshwara, it came to be referred to as the Eastern temple. There is a special
tradition the devotees participate in before entering the shrine of Lord Krishna. First they must visit
Chandramauleshvara and then they go on to Ananteshwara. From there they proceed to Sri Krishna
Mutt. Sri Vishvapati Tiirtha in his commentary on the Madhva Vijaya records this custom:

rajatapiithapure amaraalayadvayam vartate

tatra puurvaalayasthah prathamato namyah
pashchimaalayasthah pashchaannamya iti sampradaaya niyamah
II.14

'There are two temples, the Eastern one and the Western one. One must first salute Lord Shiva at the
Eastern temple and then go to Lord Ananteshwara in the Western temple. This is the custom followed
here.' Even now the Udupi ashhta-matha Swamiji-s visit the temple in this order before they
ceremoniously take charge of the management of Sri Krishna Mutt during the paryaaya festival.
This section is due to Raymond Crawford, with some additional notes by Chetan S. Bhargiri. Much of
the material comes from a book published for the 1984 paryaaya of H.H. Sri Vishwesha Tiirtha
Swamiji, by Bannanje Govindacharya, U.P. Upadhyaya, and Muralidhar Upadhyaya.

Udupi temple

History

About 60 Kms from Mangalore is a fairly large and upcoming town that was sanctum of
Madhvacharya, the great Sanskrit Philosopher. The famous temple here, has a fascinating idol of Lord
Krishna that is richly adorned with jewels.
The main attraction of this temple is the 'Kanakana Kindi' -a small window through which Krishna is
believed to have given darshan to his ardent devotee, Kanakadasa.

Sri Krishna Mutt, Udupi.

Lord Narayana, in his incarnation as Parasurama, after making twenty one assaults on the Kshatriyas
and destroying them, performed a great yajna. In this yajna, he gave away all the land as gift to
Brahmins. Finding that he was not left with any land for himself and reluctant to stay in the land
already given away as gift, he reclaimed from the Arabian sea a strip of land from Gokarna to cape
Comorin. This coastal strip of land, obtained by Parasurama from Varuna the Sea God, is known as
Parasurama Kshetra or Parasurama's land. Ramaboja, a great devotee of Parasurama, was proclaimed
king of this land.

Intending to perform Ashwamedha yajna or horse sacrifice, Ramabhoja got the site for sacrificial fire
ploughed up. While ploughing, a serpent got killed by the ploughshare. Although this serpent was
nothing but a demon in disguise, Ramabhoja was greatly 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 to deserving persons. Ramabhoja did likewise and
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performed the Aswamedha yajna successfully. At its conclusion, Lord Parasurama appeared and
declared that he was pleased with the yajna and that henceforth the sacrificial land 'Roopya Peetha'
(silver pedestal) would become a famous pilgrimage. This land is also known as 'Thoulava' land and
because Ramabhoja performed 'Tulabhara'. This in brief is the ancient history or the legend, of this
land.

This Roopya Peetha land is now known as Udupi. The name has been derived from the Moon. The
moon was once cursed by Daksha Prajapati. To ward off his curse, the moon performed penance in
propitiation of God Iswara in this forest land. Iswara was pleased, appeared before the moon and
removed the evil effects of the curse. This place has since been known as Chandramuleeswar and there
is an ancient temple of this name in this place. The actual spot where the moon performed penance is
known as Abjaranya. There is a sacred tank Chandra-Pushkarani by its side. In Sanskrit, 'Udu' means
stars; 'pa' means lord of. Hence 'Udupa' means lord of the stars, that is, moon. The place where the
moon performed penance and obtained grace is known as Udupi.

UDUPI SRI KRISHNA

It is believed that the idol of Sri Krishna, installed in Udupi by Sri Madhvacharya, was got made by Sri
Krishna himself by Viswakarma out of Saligrama stone. Towards the end of Dwapara yuga, Devaki
felt a keen desire to see once again Krishna's balaleelas. 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. Thereupon Sri
Krishna asked Viswakarma to make such an idol of Balakrishna with a churn in its right hand and a
cord in the other. This idol was daily worshipped by Rukmini. After Sri Krishna's disappearance from
this world, the idol fell into the hands of Arjuna, who hid it in Rukmini's garden. By lapse of time the
idol got completely covered by gopichandanam. A sailor from Dwaraka loaded this heavy lump in his
boat as ballast, in one of his trips along the west coast.

Lord Sri Krishna, Udupi.

Sri Madhvacharya, sensing this by his 'Aparoksha' or divine gnana, awaited the arrival of this precious
ballast at Vadabhandeswar, a seashore spot near Udupi. When the boat approached that place it was
caught by severe storm and was about to sink.

The captain of the boat, seeing a holy man on the sea shore entreated him to save him from disaster.
Sri Madhvacharya waved his upper cloth and quieted the storm. The grateful captain offered all the
riches in his boat to the Acharaya but he accepted from out of the lot only the lump of 'gopichandana'
which was used as ballast. On breaking this, Sri Acharya found the beautiful and perfect idol of Sri
Krishna. He carried the idol to Udupi, a distance of four miles, singing the praise of Lord Narayana in
ecstasy. These hymns under twelve chapters are called " Dwadasa Stotra". He washed the idol of Sri
Krishna in Madhwa Sarovara and installed it in the temple nearby and started worshipping it. These
poojas have been going on since then even to this day in unbroken continuity. Since Sri
Madhwacharya's time, these poojas are being conducted by his disciples who are all 'balasanayasis'.
The right of touching and worshipping this idol rests with the pontiff of these eight mutts only who are
the spiritual descendants of Sri Madhvacharya. No one else is permitted to touch the idol.

SRI KRISHNA MUTT

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Udupi is famous for its Sri Krishna Mutt which though small is quite beautiful. There is no front door
for this mutt. Instead there is a small window through which one could always get the darshana of the
idol from outside the mutt. In front of the window there is a small 'gopuram'. The main entrance to the
mutt is on the southern side. As on enters, on the right side is a tank called Madhwa Pushkarani. This
tank has stone steps all round and a mantapam in the center.