Two Krishna Temples in South India attract a large number of pilgrims. Both are in the West Coast, a region traditionally known as Parasurama Kshetra. One is at Udupi in Karnataka and the other at Guruvayur in Kerala. Udupi has a long historical background and represent the unique blending of Indian religious and cultural traditions. It is at present the centre of Dvaitha Philosophy of Shri Madhwacharya, the propounder of the Dvaitha School with its emphasis on Bhakti. He was born in 1238 A.D. near Udupi. Shri Madhwacharya, a seer and saint, had the Darshan of Sri Krishna. While meditating on the sea shore of Malpe, he saw a ship sinking and brought it to safety. When the ship-owner offered anything to the swamiji for this help, Sri Madhwacharya wanted nothing but the three maunds of Gopichandra brought from Dwaraka from where the ship started its Jounery. The maunds were kept in the ship for custody. The first maund contained the image of Balarama while the second contained the image of Dwaraka Krishna. Sri Madhwacharya composed twelve sacred hymns on Sri Krishna known as ‘Dwadasa Stotram’. These slokas contained the philosophy of Bhakti cult. Sri Madhwacharya installed the murti at Udupi facing East in the shrine in the 13th Century A.D. After about 400 Years, Kanakadasa, the shepherd saint of Karnataka, appealed to the Lord to give him Darsan through the Western window of the temple. The Lord was attracted by the pure devotion, the idol turned from east to west to give Darshan to Kanakadasa and from then on is facing West. Shri Madhwacharya established eight Mutts around the Shri Krishna Temple here, initiated and appointed eight monks to worship Lord Shri Krishna and propogate the bhakti cult. Each monk became the head of a mutt and each of them used to worship Shri Krishna for one and a half month in turn, the rotation being called Paraya. From the time of Shri Vadiraja Swami, the period of worship has been extended to two years Parayam for each Mutt, which is being continued even today. Car festivals including Golden-Car festivals on important occasions, Lakshadeepotsava etc. help devotees to develop their faith and understand the importance of Bhakti cult.The famous Hindu saint, Raghavendra Swami, was a leading figure in the Dvaita tradition. SriKrishnaparnamastu
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 01:25:44 +0000
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