Sri Krishna Matt

Getting there

• By air

  Fly to Mangalore, then take a cab to Udupi, as the district government suggests.

• By train

  Udupi railway station is managed by Konkan Railway.

• By road

  The temple is 2.2 km by road from Udupi. Private and government buses connect Udupi to all parts of Karnataka.

Rules to know

• A dress code has applied for devotees entering the Krishna temple since 19 January 2026.

Why devotees come here

Sri Krishna Matt is in Udupi, the administrative headquarters of Udupi district in Karnataka. The district government ranks it first among seven pilgrimage places in the district. Krishna is seen through a window with nine holes, called the Navagraha Kitiki.

The Krishna Matha at Udupi was founded by the Vaishnavite saint Madhvacharya in the 13th century. Legend says he found the Krishna idol inside a large ball of gopichandana. According to legend recorded by Mogling, the idol turned westward because of the devotion of Kanakadasa.

The Navagraha Kitiki is a window with nine holes through which devotees view the statue of Krishna. The district government calls this one of the unique ways to view Krishna. The window is beautifully decorated with fine arts and carvings, and the carvings are coated with silver plates. Separately, a small viewing aperture in the western wall of the main temple hall is called the Kanakana Kindi.

The matha once owned large tracts of land, but it lost them in 1975 under the Land Reforms Act of the Karnataka government. Each of the Ashta Mathas runs the temple for two years in a fixed rotation.

Festivals

• Once every two yearsParyaya festival

  The temple management passes to the next of the Ashta Mathas in the rotation.

Tips for your visit

• The temple offers prasada at noon, and it is popularly called Anna Brahma for feeding a vast number of devotees.
• The carvings on the window are coated with silver plates, according to the district government.

Questions people ask