Godhaana for Dad @ Udupi

Time: May 30th - Jun 2nd, 2025

Place: Udupi, Pajaka, Adamaru, Kateelu

Company: Relatives

Highlights: Godhaana (donation for the cow) needs to happen on behalf of the departed (my father, in this case) between the 165th and the 180th day of demise to help them on their onward journey. Udupi is a good place because of Krishna's presence and his love for the cows (and vice versa). So, planned for Udupi trip exactly two months before departure since had to book the train tickets for almost 12 of us. Thankfully, got all confirmed tickets.

Day 0 - May 30th: Bit of an adventure at the beginning itself with one family almost missing the train. We all thought they missed it but when it started moving, they entered our coach - huffing and puffing. Thankfully they had boarded the moving train in a different coach! So it was quite exciting to start off. The next hour was all about re-living the adventure - what happened, what could have been done better, etc..

Day 1 - May 31st: Reached at about 5 am, took couple of cabs to reach out pre-booked hotel. Checked-in, went to the Matha, took dip in the Madhwa Sarovara and started with the monthly rites of father. It was very different compared to how it happens in BLR. Language was tough to follow too. Anyways, an hour later it was done. We then went for Lord darshan. Huge queue but we got in midway due to the seva. Had nice darshan and sat within the ambit of the idol.

Then we waited for the priest who performs the Godhaana seva. Around 10:30, we were ushered in and one more small process for Godhaana where we gave offerings to the cow. It hardly took 10 minutes, and then we were done with the intent of the trip. The lunch took some time though, had to wait for more than an hour. Around 12:30 lunch was served, and after a sumptuous meal, we returned back to our lodge and took a nap.

Around 4 pm, we woke up and visited a relative house which was within walkable distance. Had nice time at cousin's in-laws, especially with cousin's two small kids. After tea, took two buses and went to Malpe beach. Thanks to the flood-like situation, they had cordoned off most of the beach and no one could go near the waves. However, there was a place where we could indeed venture into the beach and most tourists were there. We enjoyed about 30 mins of beach time when the cops realized the gap in the net, and they came whistling at us and ordered us to get away from the water! Thankfully we had had our fun by that time! There were more fun things to do for kids like kite flying, trampoline, etc. and they had a gala time!

After another round of road side tea, we took another bus which took us back to Udupi. From there, we walked all the way to our lodge. Had one more darshan of Lord Krishna just before temple closed, and then we retired for the night at the lodge. Had to scamper last minute to book a vehicle (Tempo Traveler) for the next day and plan the itinerary - but got that done successfully.

Day 2 - Jun 1st: Woke up at 6ish, quick bath, then went to darshan by 7. Everything got done quickly. Also visited some of the temples/mathas in the Car street and finally went to breakfast also on Car street. Tried some local cuisines. It started raining heavily. Finally at about 10ish, we were ready. We had four rooms, checked out two of them, kept remaining two until night-fall, and hopped onto the Tempo Traveler (TT) for local sight seeing.

Our first point of visit was Kujarugiri Durga Devi temple at Pajaka. Built atop a small hill. Nice peaceful setting. Madhwacharya statue also on this hill. Next we went to Madhwacharya's house where he had performed multitude of miracles, thankfully there are notice boards that talk about these tales within the house. Again, a serene divine place. After this, we went to Parashuram temple in front of Durga Devi Temple, again atop a hillock. Nice views all around of the Western Ghats.

Next we headed to Adamaru Temple. This was one more Matha set amidst nature and greenery. Very peaceful. Everywhere we went, we were met with hospitable people. They were willing to prepare lunch for us too but we had to wait for more than an hour, so we declined. After a short stop, we skipped some of the places which we were on our To-visit list like Palimaru Temple, Padubidri, Nandikur, etc. and went straight to Kateelu.

There was a huge crowd at the temple. It was a fantastic temple with gushing river on both sides, and one had to cross a small bridge to get to it. The Devi herself was very powerful, and that caused wifey to get rooted at the temple not wanting lunch or anything. She could feel the Devi's energy. Amidst all the chaos, it was also the right time for Brahmin's lunch, so most of the family hurried while the three of us (wife, daughter and me) could not. When we went, there was no space. So we then tried to go to the General lunch but there it has a huge queue, and we'd've'd to wait for over an hour. So we headed back to Brahmin's area and waited out for the first round to get done. We three were ok to skip too but family insisted we have. So we finished our lunch and by then it was almost 3 pm. 

For the three of us, the train was at 4.30 pm from Mulki. So we got down and rest of the family (came to know later) went to a beach at Padubidri since they didn't want to visit any more temples for the day! Then they went to Udupi, saw Krishna again and they took their train back from Udupi to BLR while the three of us caught the train (which was on time) from Mulki and reached BLR (Kengeri) at 5.30 am. Had couple of interesting incidents - one at Mulki where a fellow passenger looked at my wife and guessed correctly that she was into spirituality. He spoke about his life at Brahma Kumaris. Quite a tale. Second incident was that our Uber car from Kengeri to home broke down with a puncture, and we had to take an auto to get back home. Thankfully we were on time for the school, which was the main purpose why we had to take the train from Mulki.

Overview: A nice family trip to Udupi and surroundings. The Godhaana also was done with divinity at Lord Krishna's abode. A short two day trip filled with divinity of the Lord, love of the families amidst the nature (Western Ghats and Arabian Sea).