Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus of Kerala.It is located in Guruvayur town which is 29km away from Thrissur District in Kerala.The temple is dedicated to workship the goddess of lord Krishna. Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple is one of the sacred pilgrim spots in South India therefore this is referred as “Bhuloka Vaikunta” which translates to the “Holy Abode of Vishnu on Earth” and ‘Dwarka of the South’ strict dress code exists for people who wish to enter into the Guruvayur Temple.Men’s are allowed to wear mundu to cover chest region with small piece of cloth (veshthi) and boys are allow to wear shorts prohibited to wear shirt.Women’s are allowed to wear Sari ,Salwaar Kameez and girls to wear long skirt and blouses.Security restrictions prevent carrying of mobile phones or cameras into the temple.The temple was renovated extensively in the year 1970, after major parts of it were destroyed in a fire.The unique feature of the idol of Sree Guruvayoorappan is that it is built out of a rare stone called Patala Anjana. Some of the common items used for Thulabharam include banana, sugar, jaggery, coconut, or gold. Besides Tulabharam, elephants are also offered to the Lord.The feeding of elephants is given called Anayoottu.

Deity: lord Krishna.

History about Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple is about 5000 years old.The Guruvayoor Temple has an interesting legend behind it. It is said that the idol in the temple was work-shipped by Lord Brahma himself at the holy city of Dwarka. It was then installed in this place after Brihaspati and Vayu searched all the holy places on Earth. In 14th century “Kokasandesam” references to a place called Kuruvayur are made. As early as the 16th century many references to Kuruvayur are seen.In ancient Dravidian languages, “kuruvai” means “sea”, hence the village on the Malabar Coast may be called Kuruvayur.But according to Prof. K V Krishna Iyer the Brahmins had begun to come and settle at Kodungalloor during the period of Chandra Gupta Maurya ( 321-297 BC). Trikkunavay in the Guruvayur documents is the same as Thrikkanamathilakam or Mathilakam mentioned in the Dutch and British records. And this place was in between Guruvayur and Kodungalloor. Guruvayur was Trikkunavay’s subordinate shrine since they were destroyed by the Dutch in 1755. That way Guruvayur must have come into existence before 52 AD. The story of Pandyan King building a shrine here may be a reference to the Azhavars , but they are all silent in their writing about Guruvayur. On November 30, 1970, a massive fire broke out in the temple.The famous Guruvayur Satyagraham was started by the Gandhians in 1934, led by Late Shri. K Kelappan.

Festival and Architecture Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple

There are many festivals celebrated in temple among them Ulsavam is the annual Fetival celebrated in the month of February- March for 10 days.Ashtami Rohini Festival is come in the month of july-august on Janmashtami occassion Appam is the favourite food of Bhagavan prepare on that day.Vaishaka festival is conducted in the month of April-May on Medam.This festival dedicated to workship the god vishnu.Kuchela’s Day is held on the month of December-January. Kuchela was a poverty-stricken Brahmin, a childhood friend and a great devotee of Bhagavan Krishna. Vishu occassion is come in the middle of may. flowers, raw rice, gold, betel leaves and nuts, yellow cucumber and coins are so arranged in front of the Ishta Deva in previous night for this auspicious day. Apart from theses Festivals there are many festivals such as : Mandalam, Ekadasi, Chembai festival & Narayaneeyam day. The Temple Architecture is built in traditional architectural style of Kerala. The walls of the temple are decorated with painting, sculptures and murals.There are two Gopuram one at east and other at west in temple.There are a number of light pillars in the Temple.The entire area between Gopurams is roofed with tiles(Anapanthal) and At the center square shaped pillared hall is made called Nalambalam.the outer wall of the Nalambalam is fixed with a gallery of oil lamps There are four Deepasthambams made of brass, inside the temple. Dwijasthamba is a flag-staff located around 70 feet height with fully covered with gold. The wall of Sree Kovil is decorated with ancient murals and square in shape with a pyramidal roof. The Sanctum is designed in 2 layers with copper sheet roofing plated with gold
Darshan Timing : At Morning: 3.00am to 1.30pm and At Evening: 4.30pm to 9.15pm.

How to Reach

By Train:Thrissur Railway Station is the nearest major railway station about 29 km from Guruvayoor. Guruvayur Railway Station is also nearest railway station..

By Bus: Guruvayoor Bus Stand is nearest where Both KSRTC and private bus services offers interstate bus services to almost all major cities in south India including Palani, Madurai, Mookambika, Ooty, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Salem, Mysore, Chennai, Mangalore, and Udupi. National Highway 17 (NH 17) passes through Kunnamkulam about 8 km away from Guruvayur.

By Airport:Kochi International Airport is the nearest airport located 80 km from Guruvayur. Calicut International Airport is another nearest airport around 100 km from Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple.

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple


By- Arjun.theone(Flickr)

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