Setting up Sri Krishna icon at Udupi
The popular story associated with the setting up of the Krishna
icon and the composition of the dvadasha stotra is as follows:
One morning Acharya Madhva was on the seashore performing his
rituals when he saw a ship in distress, wobbling violently in
the stormy waters. He waved his upper cloth and calmed the
storm. When the grateful captain of the ship offered him the
entire contents of the ship, he declined to accept anything
except three mounds or lumps of gopichandana that had been used
as ballast. With his divine vision, he saw in one of the lumps a
beautiful and precious icon of shrI Krishna that had originally
been worshipped by Rukmini Herself. Soaked in devotion he
carried the lumps on his shoulders and walked towards Udupi,
composing the dvaadasha stotra on the way. He duly consecrated
the icon in Udupi and personally worshipped it for 20 years.
He initiated 8 young boys into sanyAsa and appointed them as
pontiffs of 8 maThAs. He set up a unique system in which the 8
pontiffs would worship the Krishna icon for two months each in
turn. This system, called paryAya, was modified in 1532 by Sri
VadirAja, extending the term to two years per pontiff.