Udupi

A friend of mine called me this morning and asked me about my trip to Udupi. I said I loved Udupi! He asked me if there was any place I didn't like. I always LOVE every place I visit, each place is so unique!

Udupi is a small town with the famous Krishna temple. The story goes like this - Kanakadasa was a poet and a singer, a non-Brahmin. As a result, the priests in the temple didnot let Kanakadasa inside the temple. Kanakadasa was sad and started singing, Krishna was very touched and the Krishna idol turned to the side where Kanakadasa was standing, making a hole in the side wall, thus giving darshan to his Bhakta. So even now, the devotees can see Krishna only through the "Kanakana Kindi" (kindi=gap). Its like a small window, through which we peep and see get the darshan of Udupi Krishna.

Kanakana Kindi Entrance

One of our friends was getting married in Udupi, and hence the trip. 12 of us boarded the vrl bus to Udupi on a Monday night at 8.30. We were traveling by bus after a long time. Its always fun to travel in a group. The bus stops mid way for 10min around 1.30. During the early morning hours we go via the ghat section. Am sure a drive during the day will be very scenic to Udupi. We were in Mangalore by 5.30am and in Udupi by 7. Took auto rickshaws from the bus stop to our hotel - Summer Park. It is a very good hotel, comfortable with AC (a must, because of the heat) and 5min away from the temple.

We all had breakfast, coffee and after freshening up, headed out for a visit to the temple. The walk to the temple itself was so nice, small roads, with houses and small shops on the side :) I loved the area around the temple as well, with small shops selling flowers, brass items, pooja items, 2 rathas in front, cows roaming around :) - a typical old-time temple scene :D

Ratha in front of the temple

We had a great Darshan, as there were very few people [exam time and off-season :)]. We spent sometime inside the temple admiring the premises. We got to see the mangalarathi too. There are 2 more temples very close to the Krishna temple, one of which was built by the Pandavas and the other was Chandramouleeshwara temple. We sat on the katte of the this temple for a long time chatting, as it was cooler here. The men had to change to panche and wear janwaras to be able to eat in the Krishna temple. 

Chandramouleeshwara temple

                                                                   

We had heard lot of great reviews about the food served in the temple and so we HAD to eat here. We went inside the Krishna temple around 11.30. One guy took us inside the dining hall and after prayers and chanting of mantras, we were served food. We ate more than what our stomachs could handle, as the quantity and quality was too high!

We got back to the hotel and had to take a nap. After a quick nap and tea, we headed to V's house. They have a beautiful place in Udupi. We spent sometime here and got back to the hotel.  

The weather was pleasant in the evening, and we didn't have to get ready till 7.30pm for the get-together/reception. So we stepped out for a walk towards the temple area. We roamed around for sometime, and had tender coconut in front of the temple. I bought a small Krishna idol.

Front of the Krishna temple

Shops

The street

We had a good time with friends and their family that night.

We got up around 6.30am the next morning, had coffee and got ready quickly so that we get sometime to explore outside before heading to the wedding hall. As expected the morning sight in Udupi was beautiful :) We visited the temple and had a great Darshan of Krishna again. Felt very good :)

The wedding was at Kathyayini Kalyana Mantapa which is adjoining to their family temple - Mahishamardeeni Devi. The wedding hall was huge. We visited the temple as well. There was a well inside the temple, which gave the temple a very "traditional-old-type" temple look. I loved the well :) We sat inside on the katte for sometime. Wedding went very well, everyone was very happy :) Lunch was "Udupi food" which was very good.

 

Got back to the hotel to rest for sometime. We hired a cab to goto Malpe beach, which was just 7km from our hotel. Took us around 15minutes to reach, the road leading to the beach was good with coconut trees, small houses all alongside the road. We walked barefoot on the beach. It was clean and there were not too many people, so it was fun. We flew a kite on the beach, while walking on the beach which was cool :) Weather was good as the temperature had come down in the evening. The whole gang had a great time at the beach - walking, chatting, watching the sunset, jumping and taking crazy pictures!

Malpe Beach

Birds going home

Kite flying

Kite+Birds

Returned to the hotel for a quick dinner and headed to the bus stand for our return journey to Bangalore. Left at 9.30 and reached Bangalore at 5.30 am.

Happy Married Life A and V.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful company and an enjoyable stay in Udupi. Thanks to V and A's families for making our stay comfortable :)