Dwaraka Of The South-Guruvayurappan Temple

GURUVAYURAPPAN TEMPLE

AT

GURUVAYUR

 Guruvayoor temple is located in Thrissur district of kerala state of india.

Guruvayoor is one of the most sacred and important pilgrim centres of Kerala. Its main attraction is the Sree Krishna Temple, considered the Dwaraka of the South. This historic temple is shrouded in mystery.

 According to belief, the temple is the creation of Guru, the preceptor of the Gods, and Vayu, God of the winds.

The presiding deity is MahaVishnu, in standing posture with four hands carrying Sankhu(conch), Sudarshana chakram (a serrated disk),lotus and mace. He is worshipped as Balakrishna, the full avatar (Purnaavatara) of Mahavishnu .The idol is made of a rare stone known as Patala Anjana.

Parents do the first rice feeding (Choru Oottal in Tamil and Malayalam) to their children, a ritual called Anna prasanam in this temple on April 14 each year being the Chithirai Vishu-Tamil New year day.  It is their staunch faith that Lord would take care of the child with nutritious food for ever.

The temple celebrates many Vaishnava festivals among which the Vrichika Ekadasi is very important.  The festival begins 18 days earlier.  The temple has 52 elephants.  They only open temple doors. 

 As an elephant carries Lord during festivals, a running race is conducted among them and the winner elephant would thus become eligible to carry the Lord during festivals.

The idol of Lord Unnikrishna is made of a mixture called Padala Anjanam and not of stone or any metal.  It is also said that the idol was designed and made by Lord Himself.

  

He gave the idol to His devotee Uthava residing in Dwaraka and instructed him to deliver the idol to Prahaspathi-Guru Bhagwan when Dwaraka would be swallowed by a tsunami and added that Guru can install it in a place of his choice.

 As destined, Vayu became violent and blew fast.  Sea became furious and devoured Dwaraka.  He picked the idol floating in sea water, picked it up and installed it in Guruvayoor.  The place derived its name from Guru and Vayu.

THE TEMPLE OPENS AT 3.00 AM

3.00am to 3.30am    Nirmalyam
3.20am to 3.30am    
Oilabhishekam, Vakacharthu, Sankhabhishekam

3.30am to 4.15am    Malar Nivedyam, Alankaram
4.15am to 4.30am    Usha Nivedyam
4.30am to 6.15am    Ethirettu pooja followed by Usha pooja
7.15am to 9.00am    Seeveli,Palabhishekam,Navakabhishekam, Pantheeradi Nivedyam, and Pooja
11.30am to 12.30pm    Ucha pooja (the noon pooja)

TEMPLE WILL BE CLOSED BETWEEN 1.30PM AND 4.30PM AND REOPENS AT 4.30 PM

By Air

Kochi international airport (Nedumbassery) is 80 kms from Guruvayoor and the Calicut airport is 100 kms away. All major international flight services are operated from these airports.

By Train

 Guruvayur has got a railway station towards the east of the temple which is connected to the Madras-Kochi line of the Southern Railway at Thrissur. 

By Bus

KSRTC and private busses offer interstate services to all major South Indian cities like Madras, Madurai, Palani, Salem, Coimbatore, Thiruchandoor, Mysore, Mangalore, Uduppi, Mookambika etc.