Uduppi kshethram

  Uduppi kshethram

 Gopyadhadhe thvayi kruthagasi dhama thavadh

Ya they dhasasru kalilanchana sambhramaksham

Vakthram nineeya bhaya bhavanaya sthithasya

Saa maam vimohayathi bheerapi yadh bhibhedhi.

                              (Shrimad Bhagavatham)

           Radhekrishna! Krishna is very naughty. Yasoda became very upset when He broke the curd pot. To teach Him a lesson Yasoda decides to keep Him tied with a rope. As she came near Him with a knotted rope Krishna pretends fear and looks at Yasoda with a begging expression. Yasoda matha is overwhelmed with love her little Krishna and wants to hug Him. Sri Shuka depicts this bala leela of Bhagavan in Shrimad Bhagavatham beautifully.
       The gopis of Brindavan used to spread the Bala leelas of Little Krishna wherever they went. Rukmini was very much fascinated by these leelas and begged Bhagavan to show her His bala bhavam. Bhagavan appeared before her as a two year old cute child holding a churning rod in one hand. Rukmini lost herself in the beauty. On her request Bhagavan took the idol form to be worshipped by her. In the course of time Dwaraka was plunged into the sea and the everybody forgot about the deity. 

        It was Sri Madhvacharya who recovered the deity embedded in gopichandan from a ship, in Kaliyuga. He installed the deity in proper way in Udupi and we are all fortunate to see the same deity worshiped by Rukmini in Dwaparayuga. Bhagavan is a chubby cute toddler holding a churning rod in one hand and wears an extremely fascinating look. The Udupi temple is under the control of 8 Madhva Matadhipathis. They take turns in the running of the temple affairs.

          Udupi is situated near Manipal, a city of international educational hub, in Karnataka. The place is well connected by road and railway. The nearest airport is at Mangalore which is about 60 kms away. Accommodation is available in plenty in Manipal and Udupi. The temple opens at 5 a.m. followed by abhisheka alankaram. Darsan is mostly uninterrupted throughout the day here. Prasada lunch and dinner is served for the thousands of pilgrims who throng here. 

 

      Numerous bhakthas popularly known as dasas have sung many songs and slokas on Udupi Krishna. Kanakadasa, disciple of Sri Vadiraja was a great devotee, for whose sake the Lord turned around and put 9 holes in the wall through which only now we can see the Lord. Kanakadasa was of a lower caste and not allowed to enter the temple in those days. He used to stand outside the back wall of the temple and sing about the Lord. His heart ached for a darsan of the lord. His pangs of separation flowed out as songs which melted the Lord. Unable to bear the bhaktha's plea for darsan anymore, Bhagavan turned Himself around and with the help of the churning rod in His hand put 9 holes in the wall to give darsan to this great bhaktha. He remains the same way to this day and we can see the Lord through the 9 holes. The entrance through which Kanakadasa had the Lord's darsan is called 'Kanakana Kindi'. 

           On important days car festivals or Rathothsavams are conducted here which is a sight to see. The uthsava moorthy is taken out in a ratha or car in procession around the temple. Devotees pull the chariot with loud cries of 'Govinda! Gopala!' On the night we arrived we were unexpectedly blessed to attend a rathothsavam. 

 

    Afterward we had dinner at the temple and darsan after the dinner.  Morning at 5 a.m. we joined the small queue for darsan. The queue keeps moving and we have to keep circling the sanctum so that all can have repeated darsans. We could see the abhisheka and alankara very well.  We received theertha prasada and left the temple only halfheartedly  for our breakfast. After breakfast we left Udupi for Sringeri. Radhekrishna!

Mookambika kshethra

Mookambika kshethra

         Mookambika temple is situated above sea level surrounded by hills. The  climate is very pleasant. River Sauparnika flows through the village. We reached Mookambika temple by around 7-15. We hurriedly checked into our rooms which we had booked earlier. 

Bhagirthi Tourist Home
Gopalakrishna Temple Road
Kollur - 576220 U.D.
Ph: 08254 - 258290 , 09449269420
e-mail : bhagirthitouristhome@yahoo.com

      The lodge is situated very near to the temple. We freshened up immediately and rushed to the temple. We joined the que that was moving. Within 5mts we moved to the sanctum. We had a wonderful darsan of Mookambika matha. As there was somebody known to us we were allowed to break into the que again and have a second darsan. The darsan was heart filling. The mother was looking at her children with love. We got out, went around the temple and we were taken into the dining hall. We had our prasada meals there and came out.  Sri Parameshwara Adiga was waiting for us at the prasada counter. He gave us Kashaya - the medicinal decoction offered to the deity at night and distributed to every devotees who have gathered at the temple. We felt blessed indeed to receive the mother's grace. The climate was cold and we walked back to our rooms. The location of the room is very attractive. We had a balcony which opened to a small stream which was flowing outside our balcony. We could see the ranges of mountains circling the place. Altogether the view was breathtaking. 
        We were tired due the travel throughout the day and so retired to our comfortable beds early itself. Morning we got up early, got ready and were at the temple door by 5 a.m.  We were blessed to have the Nirmalya darsan. After offering puja etc, and collecting the prasadams we reached our lodge. They have a convenient canteen in the lodge itself. All of us had our  breakfast of idlis and doasas and started for Udupi. 
      On the way we got down at river Sowparnika took bath and spent some time there. The driver took us to  Siddhivinayaka temple in Anegudde, and Mahaganapathy temple in Hathiyangadi. After having our darsan in those temples we reached Udupi by 1p.m.

Murudeshvara

Murudeshvara

         We reached Murudeshvara by 4pm. Murudeshvara is a coastal village near Bhakthakal. The world's second largest statue of Lord Shiva is seen here. The Gopuram is also very huge. They are providing lift facility for visitors to go to the top most floor of the gopuram and see around. The temple is on the sea shore and commands a beautiful view. This place is more of a tourist centre. By 5 pm we started for our next destiny.

Gokarna kshethra

Gokarna kshethra

I

        Recently we had an opportunity to visit South Karnataka. We started from Gokarna. Gokarna is a village situated on the sea shore. It is well known as a pilgrimage centre as well as a tourist spot. The temple is dedicated to lord Mahabaleshwara a form of lord Shiva. According to legends in this place, Lord Shiva emerged out of the ear of Mother earth who took the form of a cow.
       It is also said that Lord Parasurama who came from the north reclaimed from the sea the land starting from Gokarna upto Kerala. It is also said that Ravana got the Atma linga from Lord Shiva. The devas who feared Ravana sent Lord Ganesa in the form of a boy to Ravana. Ravana who wanted to do his evening oblations handed over the linga to the boy and instructed him not to keep the linga down. The boy in turn warned Ravana that if the weight of the linga became unbearable for him he would call out to him 3 times for Ravana and if he didnt turn up by then he would keep it down. When Ravana was away Lord Ganesha promptly called out to Ravana 3 times and kept the linga down. The linga immediately rooted there itself. Ravana disappointed went away.
      We can reach Gokarna by bus, train and cabs from Mangalore easily. We took a cab from Manipal and started for Gokarna at 6-30 am. The road is not good at all. We reached Gokarna by 11am. We went inside took tickets for abhisheka and did abhisheka for the lingam with milk and water. The lingam cannot be seen outside. It keeps hidden inside a small hole in the middle of a big square Saligrama peetam. The peetam they say keeps the rock in the shape of a cow's ear. The hole in the cow's ear which is covered with a small linga is supposed to be the one through which Lord Shiva emerged outside. We can put our hands inside the hole in the peeta and feel the linga.
       After receiving prasada we came out and learnt that lunch is being served inside the temple for the devotees. So stood in the que and had our prasada lunch. We visited the beach and then proceeded towards Murudeshwara.