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Guruvayur

Coordinates: 10°35′41″N 76°02′13″E / 10.5946°N 76.0369°E / 10.5946; 76.0369
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Guruvayur
Municipality, Pilgrimage Town
Guruvayur temple entrance
Guruvayur temple entrance
Nickname: 
Dwarka of the South
Guruvayur is located in Kerala
Guruvayur
Guruvayur
Coordinates: 10°35′41″N 76°02′13″E / 10.5946°N 76.0369°E / 10.5946; 76.0369
CountryIndia
StateKerala
DistrictThrissur
Area
 • Total29.66 km2 (11.45 sq mi)
Elevation
11.00 m (36.09 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total67,006[1]
 • Density3,115/km2 (8,070/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialMalayalam
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
680101
Telephone code91 (0)487
Vehicle registrationKL-46
ClimateAm/Aw (Köppen)
Avg. summer temperature35 °C (95 °F)
Avg. winter temperature20 °C (68 °F)
AKG Gate in Guruvayur
Government School
Government Guest House
Guruvayur Library
Guruvayur Railway Station

Guruvayur (IPA: [guɾuʋɐːjuːr]) is a municipal temple town in Thrissur District, of Kerala State in India. It is a suburban town of Thrissur city, located 28 kilometres (17 mi) from Thrissur towards the north-west. It houses the Guruvayur Shri Krishna Temple. It is located at a distance of 292 km (181 mi) from the state capital Trivandrum towards the north-west, 80 km (50 mi) from Kochi towards the north, 90 km (56 mi) from Calicut towards south.

History

Legends state that Lord Krishna asked two sages to take the idol from his temple in Dwarka while the city was being destroyed and establish it in Kerala. The idol of Lord Krishna was brought by Vayu deva and brhaspathi and was placed in Guruvayur. The name "guruvayur" is a merge of both their names ("guru" brahaspathi and "vayu" deva).[citation needed]

Demographics

In 2010 the Municipality has been upgraded to Grade 1 by merging adjoining 5 census towns (pookode(1), Iringaprom(2), Perakam(3), Paluvai(4) and Thaikkad(5)) of nearby pookode(1,2,3) and Thaikkad(4,5) panchayats[2]. Thus the Municipality total area(29.66 SquareKilometer), total number of wards (43), population(67006) and population density(3115 per SquareKilometer) are changed[3].

Religion

Religions in Guruvayur Municipality
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 73.76%
Muslims
 
 15.38%
Christians
 
 10.04%
Others
 
 0.81%
Distribution of religions

Government

Guruvayur Township was formed on 26 January 1962 with four electoral wards with an area of 6.49 square kilometres (2.51 sq mi). Later the wards were increased to 10 and in 1994 to 20 when the township was upgraded to Municipality status with an area of 12.41 km2 (4.79 sq mi). In 2010, the electoral wards were increased to 43. Guruvayur is a Grade-1 Municipality. Guruvayur assembly constituency is part of Trichur (Lok Sabha constituency).[4]

Festivals

Guruvayur Ekadashi

Ekadashi, the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight, is very auspicious to the Hindus. Of the 24 Ekadashis in a year, the Vrishchika Ekadashi (Sukla paksha) has got special significance in Guruvayur temple. A memorial honour for Gajarajan Keshavan is conducted in Guruvayur. The Karanavar or head of the elephant family places a wreath at the statue of Keshavan in front of Sreevalsam guest house and all the other elephants stand around and pay obeisance. On Ekadashi day, the Udayasthamana Pooja (dawn to dusk pooja) is conducted by the Devaswom itself . After the morning seeveli, on Ekadashi there is a grand elephant procession to the Parthasarathi temple since it is regarded as Geethopadesam Day also. On Ekadasi after night pooja, the famous Ekadashi Vilakku with elephant procession takes place and provides a fitting finale to the festival.[citation needed]

Chembai Sangeetholsavam

Chembai Sangeetholsavam is an annual Carnatic music festival held in Guruvayur by the Guruvayur Devaswom as a kind of homage to Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, one of the titans of Carnatic Classical Music. Chembai had conducted the festival in the temple town on his own for about 60 years. He used to invite all the great Carnatic Musicians to perform in the temple town and in course of time, the scale of the festival rivalled the Thyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaru, which is recognised as one of the most important festivals of homage paid to Saint Thyagaraja.[citation needed]

The Guruvayur Devaswom decided to take charge after his death in 1974, and renamed it as Chembai Sangeetholsavam in his memory. About 2000-2500 musicians participate in this festival every year, and it is held for about 12–15 days culminating on the Guruvayur Ekadasi day, when all the musicians sing 5 favourite songs of Chembai and also the Pancharatna Kritis of Thyagaraja.

Notable landmarks

Guruvayur Temple

Main article: Guruvayur Temple

The Guruvayur Temple is a famous Shri Krishna temple and is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam"[5] which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth. The divine idol installed here 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 as revealed to Vasudeva Anakadundubhi and Devaki at the time of Krishna Avatar. The presiding deity in the sanctum-sanctorum is Mahavishnu. He faces east and his idol is 4 ft tall. Even though this is not a much small idol, devotees consider him as Little Krishna. He has 4 hands : The upper right hand holding chakra, lower right hand holding lotus, upper left hand holding shankha and lower left hand holding gada. He is worshipped according to the pooja routines laid down by Adi Sankaracharya and later written formally in the Tantric way by Chennas Narayanan Namboodiri (born in 1427). The Chennas Namboodiris are the hereditary Tantris of the Guruvayur temple.[6] The temple/pooja routines are strictly followed without any compromise. The Tantri is available full-time at the Temple to ensure this. The Melsanti (Chief Priest) enters the Shri Kovil (sanctum sanctorum) at 2:30 AM and does not drink even a glass of water up to the completion of noon poojas at 12:30 PM.[7] The vedic traditions being followed here with absolute perfection and sincerity is the hallmark of the Guruvayur temple. It is important to note here that, even though the shrine is considered to be one of the holiest spots for Vaishnavites, the temple is not a part of the 108 Divya Desams. There are sub-shrines for Ganapathi, Ayyappan and Bhagavathi inside the complex, and also two shrines for Ganapathi and serpent deities under the temple outside the complex.

Other

Transport

Road

Guruvayur can be accessed from Kochi city by National Highway NH 66, which starts from Edapally in Kochi and interchange from Chavakkad. Guruvayur can be accessed from Thrissur city by state highway 49, which starts from Guruvayur and ends in state highway 69 at Choondal. Guruvayur can be accessed from Kozhikkode city by Chamravattom, interchange from Chavakkad. SH50 connecting chavakkad Kunnamkulam and wadakkancheri passes through Mammiyur Junction at Guruvayur. SH60 starting from Guruvayur ends at Ponnani the norther town to Guruvayur. From Guruvayur there are regular State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses. There is a KSRTC Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus stand in Guruvayur which run inter-state, inter-district and city services. There are good frequency of buses from Palakkad, Calicut also[8][9]

Railway

The main rail transport system in Guruvayur is operated by the Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways. Guruvayur Railway Station lies in the Thrissur-Guruvayur Section. It is the last station in this section. There are two passenger trains operating from Guruvayur Railway Station to Ernakulam Junction and another two passenger trains to Thrissur Railway Station every day. An overnight express train to Chennai Egmore via Ernakulam Junction, Kollam Junction, Thiruvananthapuram, Nagercoil Junction, Madurai, Trichy is also running from Guruvayur Railway Station every day. Thrissur Railway Station is the major rail head near to Guruvayur from where you can get all South Indian and North Indian trains.[8][9]

Air

Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport, which is 72 km (45 mi) from Guruvayur. All international, domestic and chartered flights are available here. Calicut International Airport at Karipur is about 100 km (62 mi) away.

Climate

Climate data for Guruvayur, Kerala
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.3
(88.3) 		32.5
(90.5) 		34.8
(94.6) 		35.1
(95.2) 		33.9
(93.0) 		29.2
(84.6) 		28.3
(82.9) 		28.6
(83.5) 		29.5
(85.1) 		30.4
(86.7) 		31.2
(88.2) 		31.8
(89.2) 		31.4
(88.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 20.6
(69.1) 		22.3
(72.1) 		24.7
(76.5) 		25.7
(78.3) 		25.3
(77.5) 		23.7
(74.7) 		23.0
(73.4) 		23.5
(74.3) 		23.6
(74.5) 		23.7
(74.7) 		23.5
(74.3) 		21.2
(70.2) 		23.4
(74.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 2
(0.1) 		13
(0.5) 		21
(0.8) 		98
(3.9) 		291
(11.5) 		711
(28.0) 		743
(29.3) 		411
(16.2) 		250
(9.8) 		275
(10.8) 		142
(5.6) 		26
(1.0) 		2,983
(117.5)
Source: Climate-Data.org[10]

Education

References

  1. ^ http://www.guruvayoormunicipality.lsgkerala.gov.in/ml/general-information
  2. ^ https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Seven-panchayats-in-Kerala-to-be-upgraded-as-municipalities/article16891430.ece
  3. ^ http://www.guruvayoormunicipality.lsgkerala.gov.in/ml/general-information
  4. ^ "Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Kerala. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  5. ^ "Offerings". Archived from the original on 10 December 2002.
  6. ^ "Guruvayur Devaswom". Archived from the original on 29 April 2005.
  7. ^ "Guruvayur Krishna Temple - Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia".
  8. ^ a b "Accessing Guruvayoor". DTPC Thrissur. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Guruvayoor". Kerala Tourism. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  10. ^ "CLIMATE: GURUVAYUR", Climate-Data.org. Web: [1].
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guruvayur.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Guruvayoor.
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