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Guruvayur

Area Code: 0487 

Guruvayur is known as the Dwarka of the South and is famous for the Sri Krishna Temple. Guruvayur is 30km west of Thrissur and 80km north of Ernakulam. It is a peaceful city with a spiritual atmosphere.

During the mid-morning hours, wedding ceremonies take place one after another. Couples believe that being married at the Guruvayur Temple is a great blessing.

Sri Krishna Temple (Guruvayurappan Temple)
This is the most important Krishna temple in Kerala and one of the most important and richest temples in all of South India. Lord Krishna is known here as Guruvayurappan. The name of the Deity means the Lord (Appan) of Guru and Vayu. Guruvayur is known as Bhuloka Vaikuntha, “where the spiritual world meets the earth”.

The Deity of Lord Krishna in this temple is said to forgive all sins and grant liberation to his devotees. The Deity is believed to fulfill one’s desires. According to the story about the temple, this Deity is over 5,000 years old.

The Deity of Sri Krishna is made of the rare stone patala anjanam. He has four arms carrying a conch, disc, mace and lotus.

The temple schedule begins at 3 am with nirmalayam darshan (viewing the Deity), followed by abhiseka (bathing the Deity). The 3 am darshan is particularly auspicious. Worship and darshans continue until 10 pm, when the Deity is put to rest for the night. Uchcha Puja takes place at midday. The temple is closed between 1 and 4:30 pm.
Bilvamangala Thakur, the author of Sri Krishna-karnamrita, frequently visited the Guruvayur Temple.

Tulabharam is a common vow in which devotees donate to the Deity a quantity of an article equal in weight to their own bodies. Devotees are weighed on a scale against their choice of items such as silver, bananas, sugar, jaggery, or coconuts. On an average, about 100 tulabharams are offered a day, but on major festival days, the number goes up to over 200.

The proceeds from tulabharams were Rs 2.25 crores ($600,000) in 1990-91.
The temple worship is done by Nambudri Brahmins, who are expected to live within the temple precincts during their term of worship.
This temple has over Rs 45 crores in fixed deposits, three tons of silver articles, 600 kg of gold articles, priceless diamonds, and other jewelry.

Men must wear dhotis (tied-on cloth) and enter the temple bare-chested and women have to wear a sari. Bags are not permitted when entering the temple. Bags can be checked at the cloakroom to the right of the eastern entrance. Only Hindus (Indians) are allowed, but converted Hindus may be able to enter, but it is much more difficult than in the past.

I have been told a few things in references to converted Hindus (foreigners) entering the temples. Someone told me that his brother and him enter the temple with no problem and were treated very nicely and given extra time for darshan. Someone else told me that they were stopped and told they had to first see the temple manager to enter the temple, and since the temple manager wasn’t around at the time he left without entering the temple. In my opinion if you want to enter the temple you should enter through the back entrance where there much less people enter and walk in like you belong there. 

The Deity can be viewed from 3 am to 12:30 pm and 4:30 to 10 pm.

Story of the Deity
According to the Narada Purana, this Deity was originally worshiped by Lord Brahma and given to Vasudeva, Krishna’s father. Eventually, the Deity was worshiped by Krishna himself in Dwarka. Lord Krishna later gave the Deity to Uddhava to help relieve his feelings of separation when Krishna was preparing to leave this world.
As the sea began to submerge the city of Dwarka, the Deity was transported by Guru (Brihaspati) and Vayu (the air-god) to the present location. Guru and Vayu were entrusted to find a suitable holy place for the Deity.

They came to Kerala under the direction of Lord Parasuram, who led them to a lake full of lotuses—the present temple tank called Rudra-tirtha. They found Lord Siva (Rudranath) meditating by the lake, at which he had previously enlightened the Pracetas. The Deity was installed there and called Guruvayurappan, or the Lord of Guru and Vayu.

At another time, King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit Maharaja, contracted leprosy after performing a sacrifice to kill all the snakes on earth, performed to avenge his father’s death. Nothing could cure him, so Dattatreya advised him to worship Sri Krishna at Guruvayur. Janamejaya devotedly did so for four months and was cured.

Deity Procession
Each evening hosts the main event of the day, a Deity procession between 7 and 8 pm. The Deity of Lord Krishna in his four-armed Narayana form sits on his golden throne (thidambu) and rides on top of a gold-bedecked elephant.

Surrounded by priests bearing multicolored umbrellas and varieties of fans, musicians playing drums, cymbals, gongs, and trumpets, and exuberant devotees chanting the Lord’s names, the Deity is taken on a grand procession around the temple compound. The Deity is also brought out on an elephant around 6:30 am.

Temple Dance
In the evening, varieties of classical dance, such as Bharata-natyam and Kathakali, are performed for the public. The dancers combine dance and drama to depict Lord Krishna’s pastimes. Krishnanattam (the dance of Krishna) is a popular dance-drama performance here. Typical dramas are enacted from the 12th century poet Jayadeva Goswami’s Gita Govinda. The dance is performed after the temple closes at night on a stage in the north part of the temple compound. It is completed before the temple opens in the morning at 3 am.

Other Places
The Parthasarathi Temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna. This temple is a few minutes walk from the eastern entrance of the Sri Krishna Temple. The Deity of Parthasarathi is believed to be over 1,000 years old and was discovered in the ruins of the temple in 1972. The former temple had lain in ruins for years. The Deity was reinstalled in a new temple in 1981.

Punnathur Kotta (4km) is an ancient fort housing over forty elephants, all of which belong to the Guruvayur Temple. You have to pay an Rs 25 camera fee to take pictures.

Half a km northeast of the Parthasarathi Temple is a temple dedicated to Venkata-chalapati, also known as Tiruvenkatam of Tirupati.

At Mammiyur, about half a km northwest of Guruvayur is a Siva temple said to be older than the Guruvayur Temple. A half a km north of Mammiyur is a temple dedicated to the Goddess Narayani, who is Vishnu-maya.
There is a pleasant beach 3km away in Chavakkad.

Festivals
The Ekadasi festival, celebrated in the month of Vrischikam (Nov-Dec), during the Mandalam season, is the most important temple festival. The festival starts almost a month in advance with a daily festival of lights (Vilakku). The lights on the Vilakkumatam around the Nalambalam (inner temple area) and the lights of the dipastambhams are lit during this festival. There are regular elephant processions.

The last three days—Navami, Dasami, and Ekadasi—attract the largest crowds. A highlight of the festival is the day when the memorial service of the late Guruvayur Keshavan, who was the head of the elephants, is performed. All forty elephants start at Punnathur and walk to the main temple, stopping at the Parthasarathi Temple on the way. They are then fed a sumptuous feast of bananas, jaggery, sugar, and prasada. On the Ekadasi day there is a grand elephant procession around the temple. As part of the Ekadasi Festival there is an eleven-day Chembai Music Festival in which over 2,000 Carnatic musicians perform.

The ten-day-long Utsavam Festival in Feb-March is an important festival that starts with an elephant race. The elephants race a good distance, starting from Manjulal and ending at the temple. The first five to eight elephants to arrive run into the temple. The elephant that arrives first is given royal treatment. On the tenth night, the Deity of Krishna is taken to the temple tank and bathed there.

Where to Stay
Guruvayur can be a busy place, especially on weekends when most marriages are performed. Instead of staying in Guruvayur overnight, you could stay in Thrissur, which is about an hour away by bus. There are several cheap dharamshalas. It would be a good idea to call and reserve a room in advance, especially if you are coming here during a festival.
Govind Tourist Hotel, North Nada, by the temple tank, has rooms with hot water for Rs 200.
Nandini Tourist Home (556-509), East Nada, has rooms for Rs 200 and A/C rooms for Rs 400.
Hotel Nandanam (556-266), East Nada, has rooms for Rs 200 and A/C rooms for Rs 400.
Poornima Tourist Home (6690), East Nada, has rooms for Rs 250.
RVK Tourist Home (556-204), East Nada, has rooms for Rs 300 and rooms with A/C for Rs 550.
Elite Tourist Home (556-215), East Nadu, is one of the best places in town. It has rooms with bath for Rs 165 and Rs 350 with A/C.
Hotel Vyshakh (556-188), by the temple tank, has good rooms with hot water for Rs 400 and Rs 600 with A/C. It is one of the better places in town.
The two-star modern Hotel Vanamala Kusuman (556-702), South Nada, has rooms for Rs 350/450 and Rs 450/600 with A/C. It has a 3 pm checkout time. It is usually booked months in advance. It has the Vishakham Thali Restaurant.
Most of the eating places I saw in town were vegetarian thali places.

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