Guruvayur Temple - Part 1 background and ancient legends

Guruvayur Temple - Part 1 background and ancient legends 

Did you know that the Guruvayur Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna popularly known in Kerala as Guruvaurappan , was established in the 8th century of Adi Shankaracharya at Guruvayur town?

The Guruvayur Temple established in Guruvayur town in Thrissur District, of Kerala dedicated to Lord Krishna, the eigth incarnation (avatara) of Lord Vishnu. is also popularly called Guruvayurappan in Kerala. The historical belief is that Adi Shankaracharya (788-820) , the propounder of Advaita Philosophy, found the idol of Lord Krishna, a swamyamvyakta (self revealed) image, while he was travelling in the Guruvayur area. Shankaracharya then built a temple in Guruvayur and consecrated the Krishna idol, and started regular worship of the idol. This temple now one of the most famous Hindu temples is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam" which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth. It is a mahakshetram - a great temple, though small in size.

However, popular legend states that Lord Krishna directed two sages to take the idol from his temple in Dwarka while the city was getting sumbmerged, and consecrate it in Kerala. The idol of Lord Krishna was brought by Vayu Deva and Brihaspati and was consecrated in Guruvayur. Thus, the name "Guruvayur" is a compound word of the names "Guru" Brihaspati and "Vayu" deva. 

According to another legend, the majestic form of Maha Vishnu as Krishna was born to Vasudeva, also called (Anakadundubhi) and Devaki as Krishna Avatar,eight incarnation of Lord Veshnu. The divine idol installed as the presiding deity in the sanctum-sanctorum of the temple represents the enchanting form of Bhagvan Vishnu endowed with the four lustrous arms carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki and the lotus. Adorned with the divine Tulasi garland the idol represents the majestic form of Maha Vishnu. 

It is even said that the temple was built 5,000 years ago by the divine architect Vishwakarma, and the principal idol is made of rare stone called Patala Anjana. 

The most ancient legend related to this temple is of King Janamejaya, the son of King Parikshit and Queen Madravati according to the Mahabharata, performing the Sarpa Satra (snake sacrifice) to destroy all the snakes of the world including Takshaka, who was the cause of his father Parikshit's death; millions of snakes were drawn to the sacrifical fire and died. A Brahmin called Astika, appeared at the venue of Yagna and stopped it before Takshaka was killed. As a reult he was cursed to suffer from leprosy. When he lost all hope of a cure, he met Sage Atreya (son of Atri) who told him to take refuge under the feet of Lord Krishna at Guruvayur. He immediately rushed there and spent the next ten months worshipping the god of Guruvayur. At the end of ten months, he returned home healthy and took the astrologer to task for making a false prediction. But the astrologer asked the king to look for the mark of a snakebite on his left leg and also told him that he had escaped death only because he was at that time in a temple where Anantha (the emperor of serpents) was present and Anantha was the brother to the God at Guruvayur where he had worshipped. Then the king in great reverence and gratitue built the Guruvayur temple.

Historically, the temple has been a structure subject to many acts of construction as per Kerala architecture , and destrution and rebuilding over the centuries. After the installation and building of the temple by Shankaracharya in the 8th century, it is only In the 14th century, the Tamil literature "Kokasandesam" refers to a place named "Kuruvayur". Narayana Battatiri (1560-1646) composed Narayaniyam, a long text based on the Bhagavata Purana and the Bhagavad Gita which also includes praise of Guruvayurappan. This text is called Gospel of Guruvayur. In the 16th century (fifty years after Narayaniyam was composed) there are also multiple references to Kuruvayur[by what?]. In Old Tamil, "kuruvai" means "sea", hence the village on the Malabar Coast may be called Kuruvayur.The earliest temple records date back to the 17th century and it is believed that the temple was built in 1638 AD. In 1716, the Dutch raided Guruvayur. They looted treasures and set fire to the Western Gopuram (later rebuilt in 1747).n 1766, Hyder Ali of Mysore captured Kozhikkode (Calicut) and then Guruvayur. He demanded 10,000 fanams in ransom to spare the temple. The ransom was paid but due to insecurity pilgrims stopped visitng the temple However, on the request of the Malabar Governor, Shrnivasa Rao, Hyder Ali granted a Devadaya to save the temple. 

In 1789 CE, Tippu Sultan invaded the province destroyed the smaller shrines and set fire to this Temple. Providencially, it was saved due to timely rain. Tippu s was defeated King of Travancore and the English in 1792. The idol, which had been hidden underground in anticipation of the Tippu's invasion, was re-installed on 17 September 1792. Ullanad Panikkars rescued and looked after the temple from 1825 to 1900. From 1859 to 1892, the Chuttambalam, the Vilakkumatam, the Koottambalam and Sasta shrine were renovated and roofed with copper sheeting. In 1900, the administrator Konti Menon fixed the hours of worship and led the drive to keep the temple premises clean. He set up the big bell and reconstructed Pathayappura (granary). In 1928, Kozhikode once again became the administrator of Guruvayur. In November 1970, a massive fire in the temple, gutted the whole chuttambalam and the entire Vilakkumatam on the west, south and north sides which were rebuilt and the temple reopened in 1973.

The temple is managed by Guruvayur Devaswom under the control of the Government of Kerala.

Note: To be continued as: "Guruvayur Temple - Part 2, Architecture and worship practices."

Narasipur Char