Kunjhikkavu was known as Raman in his childhood. He learnt Puranas through his mother’s daily parayana (recitation ) of Ezhuthachan’s works and learnt Sanskrit on his own. He formerly began

Kururamma was a childless widow. She adopted Unnikrishna as her son and gave Him a lot of motherly love. Villwamangalam also saw the Lord in the form of Unnikrishna but the Lord always

In almost all Kerala temples, Ganapathy will find a place among upadevas of the main installation. Here the Ganapathy shrine is situated within the Nalambalam itself, at the south-western corner. Initially this shrine was

Guruvayur is made divine by the prolonged Tapas by both Siva and prachethas in the Rudratheertha which is now Arattukulam of Lord Guruvayurappan. Under the waters of the Rudratheertha Siva was worshipping Maha

Prince Manavedan of Calicut was born in 1595 and had early education in Sanskrit. He wrote Purvabharatha Champu in 1643. He might have been familiar with Melpathur and Poonthanam

Though Poonthanam and Melpathur were great devotees of Lord Guruvayurappan, Poonthanam, a great poet, who wrote his verses in the vernacular, was famous for his bhakthi where

At the southern side of the temple, outside the Nalambalam and just inside the pradikshinavazhy is the shrine of Sastha. This is the only shrine outside the Nalambalam. The shrine of Edatharikathu Bhagavathy is

Mamankam was a very famous event at Thirunavaya, on the bank of Bharathappuzha . The war between the Zamorins and the Raja of Valluvanad of Thirunavaya in a way popularised Guruvayur

Brihaspathy, helped by Vayu went throughout the world, in search of the most holy and; suitable place. Then at the invitation of Parasurama, they came to kerala and reached Rudratheetha where Siva was doing tapas. Divining the

Mandala seasons commences on the 1st day of Vrichikam. Panjagavya abhishekam will be done during this period to Lord Guruvayurappan. Kazhchaseeveil thrice a day became a part of this season.

Kururamma was born in 1570 in the village of Parur, near the house of Villwamangalam. Her maiden name was Dhatri. By marriage she became Kururamma, the senior-most lady of the Kurur illam

The Jnanapana (means the song of wisdom) written in simple Malayalam is Poonthanam's greatest work. Melpathur was the most knowledgeable and learned man of that time. Poonthanam showed the

The Name Edatharikathu Kavu has come on account of its proximity to the main deity. The goddess here is looked upon as upadevatha (subordinate deity) of the temple. The popular belief is that the presiding deity is

Before the British occupation, Guruvayur was a temple state. As a state it had a well defined government, law and order maintenance, army and judicial jurisdiction. As a colony of Trikkunavay , Guruvayur had certain

Generally temples have idols made of dark granite but the idol of Guruvayurappan is made out of a rare pataalanjana sila and hence extremely divine. This image of Lord Krishna was once worshipped by the supreme

During the Navarathri season special poojas, Keli, Nagaswaram and Thayampaka are arranged at the Edatharikathukavu Temple of Guruvayur Temple.

Villwamangalam II was Prince Manavedan's spiritual mentor. Villwamangalam is the name of the illam in which the saint was born. He settled in Parur near Aluva. Like his ancestor, he also joined

Poonthanam a devout devotee of the Lord who used to walk about 100 kilometers to take darshan of Guruvayurappan every month. Once on his way, he was attacked by some robbers. Sensing the

This shrine is situated at the East nada inside the old Devaswom office compound. There is no roof for this shrine. The image here is considered to be very powerful and many people pray here to fulfill the

On November30,1970,a massive fire broke out in the temple. It begin from the western chuttambalam and raged all around for five hours, but the Sreekovil, the Vigraha, sub-shrines of Ganapathy, Sastha,

Every year Nira and puthiri are celebrated in Guruvayur Temple. The date for this is decided by the temple Thanthri. The paddy sheaves necessary for the Nira are carried from the eastern Gopuram by keezhsanthis.

Poonthanam and Melpathur were contemporaries. Poonthanam was the family name, his personal name is not known. He married a heiress at 20, but for a long time , they had no children. Poonthanam

Once Guruvayur was a Keezhedam of Thrikanamathilakam (Trikkunavay). The festival of Trikkunavay used to finish two days before the beginning of Guruvayur Utsavam. The elephants used to come

The superior staff in the administration were called Kovil adhikarikal, and lower staff as Kovil karmikal. The members of the staff were either given a monthly remuneration or assigned lands.

The vysakha month commences on the first day the new moon in the month of Medam. A more auspicious month for surrendering in total devosion to Lord Guruvayurappan cannot be had. Sreesankara jayanthi

The most famous among the Guruvayur saints was Melpathur. He was born in Melpathur illam near Tirunavaya, famed as the theatre of the Mamankam festival. He was married to Achuta Pisharodi’s

Manjulal was a virtuous and devout girl belong to Variyar caste Every night she used to bring garlands for the Lord. One day she was late and the temple got closed. She could reach only up to the banyan tree

The idol installed here at Guruvayur temple considered to be 5000 years old and lot of legends associated with it.

Vishu, the first of the month of Medam brings joy to people all over kerala. Vishukkani of Guruvayur attracts thousands of devotees to the temple as early as 2. 00 am since it is Tamil New year day, there is a steady flow of pilgrims from

The Sreekovil (Sanctum Sanctorum) is designed in 2 layers with copper sheet roofing plated with gold. The deity is in the traditionally orthodox form of Mahavishnu, with all the compliments

Once there was a priest at Guruvayur temple named Nenmini Namboodiri. There was only one priest on those days. He had to go out on an urgent and unavoidable situation. He told his 12 year old

Sree Manaveda Raja. Zamorin Raja of Calicut wrote the Krishnageethi based on the Sreemad Bhagavatha Dasama and Ekadasa Skandhas and submitted it to Lord Guruvayurappan on the 30th day of Thulam 1160.

The Administrative office is functioning in the new Sreepadmam building from 1997. In the present set-up there is no yogam. The ancient families all except Mallisseri have become extinct. On 9th March 1971, the Government of Kerala introduced an Act , known as the Guruvayur Devaswom Act, replacing the Trusteeship by a Managing Committee, nominated by the Hindu Ministers in the State Cabinet. The day-to-day administration is to be looked after by an Administrator appointed by the Government.

Once Sankaracharya was on his aerial journey to Shringeri. While above Guruvayur he smiled at the pompousness and vivacity of the procession of Sreebhootha Bali (feeding celestial attendants) and tried to pass the temple without

The first Thridiya of Vysaka is regarded as Akshaya Thridiya. It is also known as Balaramajayanthi. Kazhchaseeveli is conducted in the temple. Naturally, the day is appropriately celebrated at the Balarama

The Do and don't inside the temple.

The traditional rules and regulations in the Temple.

Listed here.

Villwamangalam's devotion and dedication towards the Lord was such that he could have visions of the Lord, independent of the image. Wherever he went, he had visions. He visualised Vishnu, Siva, and in

According to mythology, it was on this day that lord Krishna imparted Shrimad Bagavath Gita to Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurukshethra. So this day is celebrated as Gita day. On this day the Gita parayanam and Prabhashanam are

The day of the star Aswathy in the month of kumbam(February-March) is celebrated as the Poonthanam day i

Ganesha Chaturthi , also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha,

Ekadashi the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight, is very auspicious to the Hindus. Of the 24 Ekadasis in