Guruvayur

Kerala's beloved shrine where four-armed Shri Krishna is worshipped as Guruvayurappan in the mood of a child.

The Guruvayur temple in the Thrissur district of Kerala is one of the most beloved Krishna shrines of South India. Its deity is called Guruvayurappan. He has four arms, holding the conch, discus, mace and lotus, yet devotees lovingly worship him in the mood of little Krishna, "Unnikannan". According to tradition, this is the very form in which the Lord gave darshan to Vasudeva and Devaki at the time of his birth.

According to the temple legend, this deity was once worshipped in Dwarka. Before Dwarka sank into the sea, by Krishna's wish, Brihaspati, the guru of the gods, and Vayu, the wind god, carried the deity away and, guided by Lord Shiva, installed it here. Because it was installed by Guru and Vayu, the place came to be called Guruvayur.

In the sixteenth century the devotee-poet Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri composed the "Narayaniyam" here, a Sanskrit poem distilling the essence of the Shrimad Bhagavatam; tradition says that his severe illness was cured as he completed it. Krishnanattam, a classical dance-drama presenting the leelas of Krishna, is performed here as an offering. The temple is also a favoured place for a child's first rice-feeding (Choroonu), for weddings and for the Tulabharam offering, and its elephants, housed at Punnathur Kotta, are well known.

The temple has a strict dress code: men wear the traditional mundu and enter without an upper garment, and women wear a saree or other traditional dress. Guruvayur Ekadashi, the annual Utsavam, Ashtami Rohini (Janmashtami) and Vishu are the main festivals.

Practical note: Guruvayur has its own railway station, and the nearest large city is Thrissur.

State

Kerala

Nearest City

Thrissur

Main Temples

Guruvayur Shri Krishna Temple, Punnathur Kotta

Associated Leela

Four-armed form shown at Krishna's birth, installed by Guru and Vayu