Why Guruvayur Temple is Famous!

Picture: A view of Guruvayur temple from the bathing pond   

The reason why Guruvayur Temple is famous all over the world is because of the all-powerful deity to which it is dedicated to - Lord Guruvayurappan. Lord Guruvayurappan is a four-armed avatar of Lord Vishnu -one of the Trimurtis of Hindu religion.

Guruvayur Temple is located at Guruvayur town in Thrissur district of Kerala and is around 28 kilometres from the district headquarters- Thrissur. Guruvayur is well connected by rail and road from all major locations of Kerala.

It is a major pilgrimage destination for Hindus and is one of the most revered and respected deities among Malayalees and south Indians all over the world. It is also known as Bhooloka Vaikuntham, which roughly translates to "The abode of MahaVishnu on earth".

Why Guruvayur temple is famous!

Lord Guruvayurappan is considered to be a very powerful deity  and showers enormous blessings on his devotees who sincerely worship him from the bottom of their heart. There are many miraculous stories of faith and reverence among his devotees .

Devotees visit and pay obeisance to Lord Guruvayurappan to shed them of miseries, diseases and misfortunes. It is said that Lord Guruvayurappan never leaves his devotees without granting their boons. 

It is believed that the deity of Lord Guruvayurappan in the temple is around 5000 years old, though there is no recordical evidence to prove so. The temple became famous through the concept of Unnikrishna or "Baby Krishna" propagated by Poonthanam- a poet and ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan.

Why Guruvayur temple is famous!

Melpathur's ( a mathematical linguist and a staunch devotee of the Lord) Narayaneeyam in praise of the deity made it a legendary work to such a scale that the compositions are still sung today in the temple. Narayaneeyam is a devotional hymn in sanskrit consisting of 1036 Slokas (verses).

The temple has survived several onslaughts and attacks by several invaders  across the history. The Dutch invaded it twice and destroyed it partially . Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan invaded it once each  and destroyed various sections of the temple. 

Once in the 1970's,  Guruvayur temple was about to be razed to ground due to a fire that broke out in the precincts. Timely intervention by locals and devotees prevented it to be destroyed completely.

Guruvayur temple and Lord Guruvayurappan stands tall today in the minds of it's devotees and believers. It is said that a secret and undisclosed dark  underground route below the temple area  leads to an unknown destination,  somewhat sounding similar to sea waves. 

Devotees believe that the unknown destination could be Vaikuntha itself- the abode of the ever powerful, ever benevolent and unsurpassable- Lord Mahavishnu. It is said that the gate is permanently closed for outsiders.