Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple

Deity

Guruvayurappan, the child Krishna with four arms

Where

Thrissur, Kerala · 10.59N 76.04E

Usual hours

3 am – 1 pm, 4.30 pm – 9.15 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?

Grahas

Guru

Visited for

The Dwarka of the south, where thulabharam and annaprasanam are kept and thousands of weddings are held each year. Ekadasi, Ashtami Rohini and the Utsavam in Kumbham are its days.

The sthala purana has it that the image here was worshipped by Vasudeva and Devaki and afterwards by Krishna at Dwarka, and that before Dwarka went under the sea Krishna asked that it be taken away and set up elsewhere.

Brihaspati, the guru of the devas, and Vayu are said to have carried it and to have installed it at this place with Sivan’s help. Guru and Vayu together give the town its name.

Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri is said to have composed the Narayaneeyam here, a thousand verses on the Bhagavata, while ill, taking up a portion each day until he was well. Poonthanam’s Jnanappana, in Malayalam, belongs to the same temple and the same generation, and both are still recited.

The Narayaneeyam is a documented Sanskrit work of the sixteenth century composed at Guruvayur, and the temple keeps the tradition of its composition as part of its own history.

Guruvayur conducts an extremely large number of weddings, annaprasanam and thulabharam ceremonies every year, and much of its establishment exists to handle them. Non-Hindus are not admitted and the dress code is enforced at the gate.

The temple’s elephants are kept at Punnathur Kotta, a walled compound a few kilometres away that is open to visitors.

Guruvayurappan is a standing four-armed figure with conch, discus, mace and lotus — a Vishnu form worshipped as the child Krishna, which is part of why the temple feels as it does.

The srikovil is small and the queue passes it fast. The tall deepastambham in the courtyard, lit at dusk, and the Rudratheertham tank outside are the other things to look at.

The Mammiyoor Siva temple is a short walk away, and it is the custom that a visit to Guruvayur is not finished without it.

Guruvayur Ekadasi in Vrischikam is the largest day of the year, with recitation and music running through the night.

The ten-day Utsavam in Kumbham, ending in the Arattu, and Ashtami Rohini are the other great festivals. Vishu kani is kept here on a scale that draws people from across Kerala, and Ekadasi every month is busy.

Also called

Guruvayoor, Bhuloka Vaikuntam, the Dwarka of the south

Reaching it

Guruvayur is about 30 km north-west of Thrissur. It is the terminus of a branch railway line with its own station, and buses run from Thrissur through the day.

• Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur 20.1 km · Saiva
• Navamukunda Temple, Thirunavaya 30.7 km · Vaishnava
• Kadampuzha Bhagavathy Temple 43.4 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple 43.7 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Thirumandhamkunnu Bhagavathy Temple 46.8 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthy Temple 68.9 km · Vaishnava

Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.

• Were the hours right when you went?
• Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
• A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board

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