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Udupi has been a temple town since 1238, when Sri Madhvacharya consecrated the Krishna idol on a small stretch of coastal Karnataka and founded what would become one of Vaishnavism's most important seats — the Sri Krishna Matha, the heart of the Dvaita Vedanta tradition. Eight monasteries rotate its administration in the biennial Paryaya Festival; through a small nine-square-hole window called the Kanakana Kindi, Lord Krishna is said to have turned His face once to grant darshan to a devotee barred from the main entrance, and every visitor still takes their first darshan from that window today. Beyond the temple lanes of Car Street, the Madhva-Brahmin kitchens of the old town gave the country its sambar, its masala dosa and the lineage every "Udupi hotel" anywhere in India still carries in its name. Six kilometres west, the Malpe coast opens out to St. Mary's Island and the only columnar basaltic rocks in India. Order before 8 PM for same-day delivery, or any time up to 12:00 AM midnight for a next-day slot — both options are standard. Even a quiet evening on Car Street softens when something blooms on the dining table.