The story of Guruvayur
Guruvayur temple is famous for Lord Sree Krishna and regarded to be one of the most divine temples of Lord Vishnu among the 108 most divine Vishnu temples in the world. This temple is considered the home of Lord Vishnu, which is why Guruvayoor is immersed in spirituality at heart. According to Hindu mythology, this is the same place where the Deva Guru (principal teacher of gods) Brihaspati and Vayu Deva (God of the Winds) placed an idol of Lord Vishnu on the instruction of Lord Krishna, who used to worship this idol in his palace in Dwarka Island. It is believed that Shree Krishna knew that soon Dwarka would submerge in the seas. So, to protect the idol of Lord Vishnu, he instructed the Guru and Vayu to search a sacred place and transfer the idol of Lord Vishnu there. That’s why, Guruvayur is known as Dwarka of south India.
Some people also say that a temple of Shiva existed in the same place where the idol had to be placed. On the invocation of the Guru, Lord Shiva decided to move his temple to another place, to install Lord Vishnu's divine idol. Since then, the place is becoming like Guruvayur and people from different parts of the country have begun to visit this temple to seek the blessings of Shree Krishna. However, some people believe that your visit to the Guruvayur temple is incomplete if you do not visit the original Shiva temple, which was transferred to Mammiyur at the time when Lord Vishnu's idol was placed at Guruvayur.
The popularity of the Great Temple of Lord Krishna, makes the city Guruvayur one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kerala. But, very few people know that this is also the best place to discover giant elephants, who are worshiped here and trained to participate in major processions and daily temple rituals. The famous Guruvayur elephant camp is located in Punnathur Kotta, 3 km from the Guruvayur Temple. This place is among the largest elephant sanctuaries in the world, housing around 60 elephants, who are trained to participate in major processions during festivals. It is a popular tourist attraction in Guruvayur, visited by a large number of people each year. The two main elephant festivals observed at Guruvayur Temple are Gajapooja (Adorant of Elephants) and Anayoottu (Feeding Elephants).
The activities to do in Guruvayur
You can visit the famous Guruvayur temple to seek the blessings of Lord Krishna. Be at a cultural event at the temple that takes place daily in the evening and witness the amazing traditional dance performance called 'Krishnaatham'.
Plan an excursion to the Chavakkad Beach, located about 5 km from Guruvayur, and enjoy the beautiful view of the Arabian Sea.
Visit the Elephant Sanctuary Punnathur Kotta to catch a glimpse of giant elephants and see how they are trained to participate in various temple rituals and festival processions.