Krishna Temple in Udupi

FULL UDUPI PHOTO ALBUM
The Krishna Temple in Udupi was absolutely amazing.  It is so impressive that this temple can handle the massive amount of Hindu followers that travel to this site everyday.  Every visitor to the temple is also fed a lunch or dinner which just goes to show the amount of organization that goes into running this site.
These chariots are used during special celebrations.






There are small worship sites through out the entire complex.






This is the area where visitors wash their feet prior to coming into the temple.




This is the seat that Shri Madhvacharya himself used.


As you can see there are several different levels to this complex.


This elephant is special and blesses visitors.


These rooms are new to the site and will be used to serve meals.


The Paryaya Swamiji blesses and feeds all the animals at the temple each morning (Swamiji is the one in orange).


I was able to be blessed by the elephant.


One of the main temple rooms.


This was a special day to celebrate graduation of students who studied Madhwa philosophy (Sri Sudha Mangala). This is a really great achievement.






We helped push the chariot.


We also traveled to the place where Shri Madhvacharya was born.

Travel to Udupi

We are taking an overnight trip to Udupi. Udupi is on the coast of Western India and is the site of the Krishna Temple. This temple was founded by the Hindu saint Shri Madhvacharya in the 13th century. There are actually eight temples on the site and houses a school for priests.

We took a train to Udupi and as a result of traffic we were so late to the train we literally ran to catch it and had to jump on while it had already started moving. The scenery was beautiful.








Our seats on the train.


Arrival into the train station

India Reception

LINK TO FULL INDIA RECEPTION ALBUM

The reception in India to celebrate our wedding was a beautiful and amazing evening at the Leela Palace in Bangalore.   I feel so lucky that I was able to meet and celebrate with so many of Abhay's family and friends in India who were unable to join us in Philadelphia.



Our guests of honor, Abhay's grandparents.


Much to my delight, Ahbay's grandfather wore the knit cap I made him to the reception.






There are entirely too many great photos of family and friends - so please check out the full album.

New Year's Eve in Bangalore

Abhay and I went with his cousin, Suchitra to a New Year's Eve party at the Lalit Ashok Hotel.









We also made a silly movie for our New Year's Eve kiss

Overnight Trip to Mantralayam

LINK TO FULL MANTRALAYAM PHOTO ALBUM

Today we left Bangalore at 6am to take an overnight trip to Mantralayam. This town is about six hours north of Bangalore in Andhra Pradesh. We stopped for some coffee at a roadside fast food restaurant.




An interesting site along the way.


On the way, we stopped at a small Hindu temple in Chippagiri. Sri Vijay dasaru lived here because he loved the serenity of this place. I have to agree - it was just so quiet and calming.


This is where devotees stay when they travel here.






Abhay's family has helped to build a function hall here for the temple.




Lunch.




The cutest little boy. He is the grandson of a couple of lives here at the temple to help care for it.


On the road again we encountered some interesting sites.






We arrived into Montralayam late in the evening.


It is the site of the Hindu Temple, Sri Raghavendra Swami Brindavan. This is where Sri Raghavendra Swami, who lived in the 16th century, placed himself inside a small enclosure called a Brindavana and while was still alive had the enclosure sealed around him. He remains in the Brindavana to this day where a temple has been built around it and thousands of followers make the journey to this site every year.

I didn't take too many pictures inside the temple at first because I wasn't sure if it was proper - but I got this which shows the covered area around the core of the temple.


At this temple, it struck me that some of the most amazing cultural artifacts are not located behind glass in museums – they are in fact still in use by the communities that cherish these items. These are a pair of pure gold sandals worn by Sri Raghavendra Swami and they are used in a ceremony daily in his honor. http://www.mantralayam.com/pop2.htm Also, you can see these chariots used on a daily basis to carry the statues of the Gods around the temple. One is made of pure gold and the other pure silver. These items were beyond compare in their artistic detail and high quality craftsmanship. I’m sure they would be a prize piece for any museum collection, however to me, it seems as if their splendor is much more appreciated in these humble surroundings