Guruvayur

Guruvayurappan temple, the most famous temple of Kerala state, after Sabarimalai Ayyappa temple, is located in Guruvayur town. Guruvayur town is situated at a distance of around 29 kms from Thrissur.

The divine icon of Guruvayurappan installed in the temple represents the enchanting form of Lord Vishnu with four arms holding the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki and the lotus. The icon portrays the majestic form of Vishnu as revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki, the parents of Lord Krishna at the time of Krishna's incarnation. Even though this icon technically represents Vishnu, people have called it Krishna since the beginning.

The Murti of Guruvayurappan, the main deity of Guruvayur temple, is unique since it is carved out of "Pathalanjana Sila", and is considered highly sacred. As per the legend, the beautiful icon of Guruvayurappan was with Lord Vishnu. He gifted it to Brahma. From Brahma, it passed through various people, and at last, Lord Krishna worshipped this Murti in Dwarka. Before returning to Vaikuntha in the form of Vishnu, Lord Krishna ordered Udhava to instruct Brihaspati (Guru) to install it on a suitable site. Guru, with the help of Vayu, was looking for a proper place; based on the advice from Lord Parasurama, they got permission from Lord Shiva and installed it on this site. Hence, the site got the name 'Guruvayur'.

Guruvayurappan temple has a tank where Lord Shiva was believed to have performed tapas and worshiped Vishnu for years. Hence, the tank is named Rudra Teertha. It is believed that Sri Adi Shankaracharya wrote 'Govinda Ashtakam' in Guruvayurappan temple, and he was the one who started 'Mandala Vilakku' - the lighting of lamps for 41 days in the temple.

Guruvayurappan temple also enshrines the other deities such as Ganapati, Shasta and Bhagavati. The temple has a lot of elephants and runs a small elephant sanctuary near the temple. The walls are full of mural paintings. In the corridor, there are sculptures of various Gods and saints such as Subramanya, Avvaiyar, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Shankaracharya, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and others.

Like any other Kerala temple, the devotees cannot enter the temple wearing the shirt, banyan, pajama, lungi, chequered clothes, or any different modern dress. There are facilities to keep them outside the temple. Men are expected to wear dhoti, and women are expected to wear Saree or churidar. 

A pilgrimage to Kerala without a Guruvayurappan temple is incomplete. 

Happy travelling.

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