Hare Krishna!

Our detox started this morning. But let me tell you first about our great trip to Udupi yesterday. A town located about 1 hour drive from the resort.

Holy cow in front of the temple, people offer food to it and touch it to receive a blessing.

We left yesterday morning by van to Udupi. First stop, breakfast. And it was not just any restaurant. It was in an excellent restaurant in front of the temple. Excellent and reallyyyyy tiny... Ahaha We ate specialties from the region here, like idli, puri and aloo bonda.

Here is the entrance to the mini-restaurant/canteen. We see people on the left eating outside for lack of space.

As you can see, it's not very big! There is the mini-kitchen behind the 3 people on the left of the photo.

People come from all over the world to visit here, one of the places for pilgrimage . The Sri Krishna temple and the matha is said to have been founded in the 13th century by Madhvacharya. Legend has it that Kanakadasa, a devotee of Krishna, was refused entry to the temple. As he was determined to see Krishna, Kadakadasa continued to pray earnestly from outside the temple. Impressed by his devotion, it is said that the statue of Lord Krishna turned around to face Kanakadasa and a small hole was formed in the wall. This way, Kanakadasa could catch a glimpse of lord Krishna. This space is called Kanakana kindi (Kanaka's window).

To this day we can still look out the window of Kanaka

Each time I visit a temple, the experience is a little different. It's hard to explain into words, except that each time, I can just tell you that it's wow... the energy felt when you go to these places is so powerful. And Krishna's darshan... I really have no words. Hare Krishna! After receiving Krishna's darshan, we sat near a group of devotees who were reciting mantras. You really feel a power that emanates from that. We spent some time in each of the 2 temples for Krishna. In the biggest, there is a kitchen where thousands of meals are prepared every day. We could also see the stable with the sacred cows.

Top view of the chariot and thee of the temple

Unlit diya and rangoli

Sadhu in front of the temple

Several flower vendors around

Before you get into the temple, you need to remove your shoes. That's why there's a shoe check.

Boutique de murtis devant le temple. Vous vous en doutez, j'a-do-re!

Once the visit of the temple is over and a small session of incense and murtis (statutes) shopping. It was lunch time at a great restaurant, Gokula Krishna. They have the best malai kofta in the WORLD! Seriously, what a treat!

We ended this excursion with a visit to a clothing store. So we could buy some local clothes like kurtis and leggings. We also stopped at a musical instrument shop...

In India, the shopping experience is quite different. By proportion, there are very few pieces that are on display and that we can look at ourselves. Everything is stacked behind counters and an employee has to give you all the options so that you can make your choice. Quite an experience! And a lot of clothes to fold up... hahaha

Karine looking at scarves and leggings.

Testing the harmoniums

In the next article, I will tell you about our detox, the virechana.

See you soon,

Haribol!

Sraddha