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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

The origins of Guruvayur The origins of Guruvayur

kerala- a land of incomparable beauty and serenity seated in the southern corner of the Indian landmass is known as the "Gods own country" .Seated right in its heart is Guruvayur.Mentionthe word and it immediately strikes a familiar chord in the heart of every pious Hindu.


Believed to be the earthly abode of the LordVishnu
on earth it is known as "Bhooloka Vaikundham"
It is one of the most famous pilgrimage centres
and places of worship in India. Annually millions of
believers come to the temple and pray with outmost
devotion for relief from their never ending ordeals.

Devotees , do you know why Guruvayoor is considered to be so divine ?

Guruvayur is blessed with divinity due to the penance of Narayana by Lord Shiva andPrachetas in the temple pond and the idol of Lord Guruvayurappan which resides in that most famous of sanctum sanctorums.

The temple is believed to be 5000 years old.Even the pyramids wouldn't have been built then!.Dodn't believe it?. Refered to in the"Narada purana" in the chapter Gurupavanapura mahatmya , King Janmejaya is advised by sage Dattatreya to worship the diety at Guruvayoor!.The diety, is contrary to popular belief not that of Krishna but rather that of Lord Vishnu-the protector of all mortals and one of the divine trinity-the others being Lord Shiva and LordBrahma.

As to how the Pathalanjana Sila came to be in Guruvayoor, this is how it goes .Worshipped by Lord Narayana himself in Vaikundha the idol was gifted to Brahma at the beginning of the Padma kalpa(a denotion of time) .Brahma in turn
gave it to Sutepa and Prisna in the Varaha Kalpa who worshiped it for a son, passed through the hands of Kasyaprajapathy to Vasudeva and Devaki(Sutepa and Prisna's rebirth) who were blessed with Sreekrishna- the enchanting cowherd,the lover of Radha and the player of the magic flute Vamshi ,on hearing which mere mortals would swoon in delight.Later he slayed Kamsa and became the Lord of Dwaraka. Orchestrator of the Pandava's at Kurukshetra and charioteer toArjuna, it is he who disclosed to Arjuna trembling at the of thought of killing his own kin and friends- the widely acclaimed "Bhagavath Gita" which is enshrined in the souls of millions of Indians across the world.

Before his death Lord Krishna prophesised that the idol would be seen when the waters rushed to devour Dwaraka and entrusted Udhava to give it to Brihaspathi-the Guru of deva's and place it in a idyllic place where people would get salvation in the comingKalyuga.Brihaspathi and Vayu(the God of wind) were invited to kerala by Parashurama.They were enlightend byShiva that theRudratheertha from that he emerged and disclosed to Prachetas the "Rudrageetha" a song extolling MahaVishnu and which is now the Arattukulam( temple pond) was decided upon by Mahavishnu long ago . It is .He consented to reside on the opposite bank with Parvathy at Mammiyur.Since the idol was installed by Guru and Vayu it was named by Parashurama as Guruvayur.

That is why it is said"what use of a Darshan at Guruvayur unless you have paid obeisance to Lord Shiva at Mammiyur!" The sila was installed unto Guruvayur in the holy month of Kumbha
the temple was designed by Viswakarma in a unique way so that sun god showers his rays on
the lotus feet of Lord Guruvayurappan on the day of Vishu.

All those devotees out there, if thou wish to indulge those eyes tainted with earthly sins and desires with a glimpse of idol worshipped byLord Padhmanabha and emanating holy chaithanya,
Guruvayur-the heaven of heaven's beckons you.



posted by nepash @ 12:05 PM Comments: 1