Matti, Karnataka

Mattu
—  village  —
Coordinates
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District(s)	Udupi
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)

Matti Gulla

Mattu is a village in the Udupi district of Karnataka state in India that lies on the shore of the Arabian sea.The village is also known by name of Matti. This village can be reached from town of Udupi by taking a right turn at Katapady on the way to Mangalore.

The village is famous for a particular variety of brinjal (eggplant) that is grown only in this village. The brinjal grown here is light green in colour and is spherical, unlike the usual purple-coloured variety. The first brinjal harvested is offered to Lord Krishna at Krishna Matha, Udupi. The Mattu gulla ( brinjal) grown here is consumed largely by Shivalli Madhva Brahmins. The seeds for growing this type of brinjal is said to be given by Shri Vadiraja swamiji.

Story of Mattu Gulla ( Mattu Brinjal )

The origin or the story behind Mattu gulla(Brinjal) goes like this:

Shree Vadhirajacharya, a monk ('swamilu' in tulu), was daily offering food to Hayagreeva or Hayavadhana (Narayana in Horse's face). He used to close the door and a horse steps up on his shoulder to eat it. Vadhirajaru used to return empty vessel always. This enraged other brahmanas, and in turn they mixed poison, thinking that Vadhirajaru has eaten it, as usual he offered food, the horse came and ate fully without leaving a trace. But to their surprise, other Brahmins saw Shri Krishna, Udupi's Idol turning blue in color. So other brahmnas felt guilty and went to Vadhirajaru for pardon. Vadhirajaru with his divine powers gave some seeds of Brinjal to Mattu Brahmins to sow it. The brinjal grown there is bought and being offered to Krishna as Nayvedhya. Slowly the blueishness vanished away. So even now "Mattu Gulla" is famous for non-septic in nature.

External links

• Tidal wave project