Kanakana Kindi or Kanaka's Window is a small peephole in the Udupi Sri Krishna temple through which the great Indian saint Kanaka Dasa was given darshan by lord Krishna.
History
Kanaka Dasa There are many popular legends regarding Lord Krishna's revelation to saint Kanaka Dâsa. We can unravel the mystery of this episode on the basis of the available historical documents as follows. Kanaka Dâsa came to Udupi as a pilgrim. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha knew about this pious devotee of the Lord, and made arrangements for his stay in a hut in the roadside in front of the temple. Kanaka Dâsa used to play on his tambuura and sing in the hut, but the wall of the temple was there between the icon and himself. Being of a lower class, by tradition he was forbidden to enter the temple and have darshana of Sri Krishna. The wall of the shrine was, of course, a barrier to the physical eyes, but who could prevent the vision of his inner eyes? They were fully open and the Sri Krishna was visible to Kanaka Dâsa.
Some time passed and then one night there was an earthquake and a small crack appeared in the wall of the shrine. Through this crack Kanaka Dâsa was able to have darshana of the icon of Krishna. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha became aware of this crack and of the fact that Kanaka Dâsa was using it to have darshana of Sri Krishna. Instead of having the crack plastered over, Sri Vâdirâja enlarged it and turned it into a window. To commemorate Lord Krishna's darshana to Kanaka Dâsa, the window has been designated as 'Kanaka's window.'
From that time onward, Kanaka Dâsa could have the darshana of Sri Krishna with his physical eyes as well as his inner eye. To perpetuate this sacred memory, the tradition of looking at the icon of Sri Krishna through this window before entering the shrine was started.
Not only pilgrims, but even the piiThaadhipati-s of the eight Mutts who go to take charge of the temple at the time of paryaaya come in procession to this window. It is only after looking at the icon through this window that they enter the shrine. This tradition has been going on since the time of Sri Vâdirâja.
The story that is current now is quite different. According to this story the icon of Sri Krishna was formerly facing East. Since Kanaka Dâsa was singing on the Western side of the temple, the icon turned to the West when Krishna was pleased with Kanaka Dâsa's devotion. This popular story, however, does not agree with the evidence available.
The architectural plan of the temple has been the way it is since the time of Sri Madhva. A portico for the distribution of sacred water and prasaada, a tuLasii plant, and discourse-hall -- all face the West. Hence it is quite unlikely that the icon alone was facing the East. The Eastern door, which is now closed and barred by Chenna Keshava, must have been the one used by the Swamijis to go out for ablution. Swamijis used to bathe in the sacred tank and enter the sanctum sanctorum through this door. Sri Madhva installed the icon of Krishna facing Westwards and that is why all the shrines of the eight Mutts have their icons facing West. More than anything else there is a reference in the commentary known as sanyaasa paddhati Tiike written by a piiThaadhipati of Bhandarakeri Mutt, Sri Surottama Tîrtha, who was a puurvaashrama brother of Sri Vâdirâja. It states that Sriman Madhvaachaarya had established the icon facing the West. For these reasons, the story of Krishna's icon turning towards the West must be a later invention.
Irony
The Irony of the incident was that Kanaka Dasa belonged to Kuruba caste, the same as Vijayanagara Emperors. Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya of the same Kuruba caste were responsible for the survival of Hinduism in the whole of south India, when they established the great Vijaynagar empire to protect Hindus and Hinduism from the onslaught of Islam. The Vijaynagar Emperors were great patrons of Hindu culture and heritage and built many great temples in south India which stand to this day as a testimony of the contribution of Kuruba people to Hinduism.
The Window
It is believed that Sri Vadiraja Swami set up a window to commemorate this divine event. This window, with a trellis work of peep-holes is popularly known as Kanakana kindi (Kanaka's window). Peeping through this window, a pilgrim can have a ready flashing sight of Krishna's image without entering the temple. After this window was installed, it became customary for all devotees to catch a sight of Krishna's image through this window, before entering the temple.
Scientific Reason
Many historians and scientists believe that a minor earthquake happened on the same day when Kanaka Dasa was refused entrance to the temple and a crack appeared on the western wall, with the idol of Krishna also making a westward tilt which allowed Kanaka Dasa to have a glimpse of the Idol.