The place from where Madhwacharya saved a ship

Many of us have heard how Madhwacharya saved a ship from the rough waters  of the Arabian Sea and how the grateful captain gave him a lump of Gopichandana which contained the idol of Lord Krishna.

Did you know that the place where Madhwacharya was meditating when he saw the ship sinking and saved it and its inmates by  waving a clothe can still be seen near Udupi.

The ship managed to reach the sea shore and a grateful wanted to reward the acharya. Instead of asking for riches, the Acharya asked for the Gopichandana which contained these two idols.

According to Hindu lenegds, when Dwarka sank under the ocean, some disciples of Vishwakarma, the sculptor of Indra Loka, managed to save these idols.       

Madhwacharya had not only got the idol of Krishna

but also of Balarama from the Gopicandana. He installed the idol of  Balarama at the beach itself at the place where from here he saved the ship. This place is known as Vadabhandeshwara and there is a temple by the same name.

There is an idol of Balarama in the Vadabhandeshwara

Temple and this located on the Malpe beach which is about six kms from Udupi. However, the temple is more popularly known as Anantheshwara temple. This was one of the favourite temples of Madhavacharya apart from the Krishna
Temple at Udupi.

Devotees bathe in large numbers at the beach here on Mahalaya Amavaysa. The beach and the temple can be easily accessed by road from Udupi or even Malpe.

It is at this sea shore that Madhwacharya had a vision of Krishna.
This spot is marked by a shrine to Subramanya. There are several other idols here.Malpe is a natural port and it is situated at the confluence of the Udayavara river with the Arabian sea.
There are four islands close by. They are Daria-Bahadurgad, Kari-Illada-Kallu , Daria-Gadara-Kalluthe  and  St Mary’s island which is also  called Thonse Paar