Guruvayoor: December 2014

Thursday, December 18, 2014

DIVYA DESAM	BASE
THIRUVITHUVACODE THIRUNAAVAI	GURUVAYOOR
THIRUMOOZHIKALAM THIRUKAATKARAI	ERNAKULAM
THIRUVARANVILAI (AARANMULA)THIRUVANVANDOOR/	ERNAKULAM
THIRUKODITHANAM THIRUVALLAVAZH THIRUPULIYUR/	CHENGANOOR
THIRUCHENKUNDROOR	CHENGANOOR
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM	TRIVANDRUM
THIRUVANPARISAARAM THIRUVATAARU	NAGERCOIL

There is a museum in the office Annex building at East Nada (east entrance). The museum is kept open from 8.00 am to 8.00pm on all days except Tuesdays and other holidays. Guruvayoor: Located at Kizhakke Nada (east entrance), it functions in the traditional Gurukula system

https://www.here.com/directions/drive//Guruvayoor-Devaswom-Museum

Native

http://www.nativeplanet.com/guruvayur/

Holiday

http://www.holidayiq.com/destinations/guruvayur/

Tipu

In 1789 AD, the muslim tyrant Tippu Sultan, with the intention of converting Hindus to Muslims, invaded the kingdom of Calicut where Guruvayoor is located. Apprehending the destruction, the image was hidden underground and the *Utsava Moorty* was shifted to another place. Tippu set fire to the Temple, but it was saved by a celestial voice followed by timely rain. Terribly frightened at this divine intervention, Tippu and his mighty army fled from Guruvayoor. Later, Tippu was defeated and killed by the combined army of Calicut and the English.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Ganapati

Malliyoor’s family-deity is *Beeja-Ganapati* in the very ancient stone-carved temple . Since more than (50) years Brahamasree Malliyoor has been reciting Bhagavatam keeping a salagramam in front of temple’s Presiding Deity Ganapati . It is a very rare practice to worship one’s *Ishta-Devata* in front of another Deity.

However , Malliyoor did this to fulfill His obligations towards His “family-deity Ganapti” and His own *Ishta-Devata, Sri Krishna* . The result of the above ‘atmic-sadhana’ was a miracle . Vedic Brahmanas and Vedic-Jyotishis have found in this Ganapati-Deity an extremely rare superimposition of *Krishna –Chaitanyam* . Hence this Deity has become a unique *Vaishnava-Ganapati* .

Suprabatham

https://www.youtube.com/results?q=guruvayoor+suprabhatam

ixi

http://www.ixigo.com/travel-guide/guruvayoor

Chowalloor

http://www.chowalloorsivakshethram.org/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chowalloor

Kuchela

Kuchela, the poor Brahmin friend of Lord Krishna visited Dwaraka to meet his childhood friend on the first Wednesday of Malayalam month Dhanu. and offered him aval (puffed rice) as nivedyam and attained prosperity.

Thousands of devotees will throng the temple to offer aval nivedyam to Guruvayurappan on Kuchela dinam. Devotees can buy the receipt for the offering of aval nivedyam from the special counters opened at the temple from Tuesday evening, said temple administrator K Muraleedharan.

http://onlybrahmin.blogspot.com

Rediff

http://realtime.rediff.com/news/Guruvayoor

Devaswom

http://www.guruvayurdevaswom.nic.in/
http://guruvayurdevaswoms.blogspot.in/

Bhooloka Vaikunta

As the idol was once worshiped by the Lord Mahavishnu himself in Vaikunta, Guruvayur is considered to be " Bhooloka Vaikunta " - the heaven on earth.

Vasthu

Guruvayur temple is an epitome of Kerala's temple Vastuvidya .

one at East (*Kizhakkenada*) and
other at West (*Padinjarenada*).
The entire area between these *Gopurams* is roofed with tiles and known as *Anapanthal* .
At the centre of this is a square shaped pillared hall called *Nalambalam*, the outer wall of which is fixed with a gallery of oil lamps.

The shrine is tiered in tandem with Kerala's traditional "vaastu" principles. The tiers represent the three aspects of a man's life -

'artha' (money),
'kama' (desire) and
'dharma' (religion).

At the

north-east side of this shrine is the *Koothambalam* , where, in olden times, dance performances were held. In the front and the east side of *Nalambalam* , the *Belikkal* and *Deepastambas* - Pillar of lights are located. There are a number of such light pillars in the Temple. The *Deepastambas* ,at each Gopurams ,are of special interest. In the north-eastern side of the Sree Kovil is the temple well called *Manikinar*.
The eastern side *Deepastambam* is 24 feet in height and has thirteen circular receptacles to hold the wicks.
Of the other two at West Gopuram, one is in the shape of a tree. Dwijasthamba - It is a flag-staff ,around 70 feet height, fully covered with gold. The square shaped *Sri Kovil* has two stairs and three rooms inside. The inner most room is known as *Garbhagriha* (The Moorty of Bhagavan Krishna is placed here). Here, the two doors and the roof are covered by Gold. All the articles inside the *Garbhagriha* are in Gold. The outer room is called *Mukhamandapam* . The wall of Sree Kovil is decorated with ancient (17th century) murals. In front of the Sree Kovil is the *Namaskara Mandapam*, square in shape and with a pyramidal roof. Surrounding this is a pillared square hall called *Nalambalam* or *Chuttambalam* . A gallery of oil lamps is fixed on the wall of *Nalambalam * .
The *Oottupura*, the place for *prasadauttu* is also located in the north side Here, the daily lunch is arranged for the devotees .Next to it is the temple tank *Rudratheertha* which is located near the north side of the temple.

The high point of the traditional Kerala architecture in the pillared courtyard surrounding the sanctum sanctorum is a 33.5-foot gold-plated flag mast that draws cosmic energy to rejuvenate the deity every day. The pillars are inscribed with sacred mantras

Vishwakarma, the divine architect was requested to built a Temple , which he made in such a way that

on the day of Vishu (Summer equinox), the sun himself makes his obeisance .
His first rays on that day fall straight on the Lord's feet.

The idol was installed

in the solar month of Kumbha. (February - March).
The ceremony was begun on the seventh asterism of Pooyam (Puozhya) and completed on the day of Anizham (Anuradha)

Bhasuri inn

http://www.bhasuriinn.com/

Nenmini

Once a Nenmini Namboodiri, the priest at the Guruvayur temple, instructed his twelve year old son to offer the Nivedyam to the Lord. There was only one priest in those days and the Nenmini Namboodiri had to go out on an urgent engagement.

The son, Unni, offered a Nivedyam of cooked rice to the Lord; in his simplicity, he believed that the idol would eat the food, but the idol did not move.

Unni bought some salted mangoes and curd from a neighborhood vendor, thinking that the Lord would prefer this, mixed the curd with rice and offered it again. The idol again remained unmoved. Unni

cajoled,
requested,
coaxed and
in the end threatened, but the idol remained unmoved.
He wept because he believed he had failed and
shouted at the Lord, exclaiming that his father would beat him.

The Lord could not bear it any more, and made the Nivedyam disappear. The boy left the temple satisfied. Unni did not know that the Nivedyam offered to the Lord was the Variyar's prerequisite. When Variyar returned to the temple, he saw the empty plate and became very angry with Unni, but Unni insisted that God had, in fact, eaten the offering. Unni's innocent words made Variyar furious, as he believed the boy had eaten the offering himself and was lying. His father was about to beat Unni, but just then an Asareeri (celestial voice) was heard saying,

"I am guilty. Unni is innocent"

https://www.google.com/search?q=Nenmini+Unni

Chembai Sangeetholsavam / Leela / Videos

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was an Indian Carnatic music singer from the state of Kerala. Usually known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1895. Chembai was noted for his powerful voice and majestic style of singing. His first public performance was in 1904, when he was nine. He was a recipient of several titles and honours in his performing career of 70 years (1904-1974). He was known for his encouragement of upcoming musicians, and also for his ability to spot new talent. He was responsible for popularizing compositions like Rakshamam, Pavana Guru, among others.[4] The music critic 'Aeolus' describes him as "the musician who has meant the most to Carnatic Music in the first fifty years of the 20th century" Some of his prominent disciples include

Yesudas,
T.V.Gopalakrishnan,
V.V.Subramaniam,
P.Leela, among others.

Memorial music festivals are held in his honour annually since his death in 1974.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chembai_Sangeetholsavam
http://guruvayoorappanvizag.20m.com/catalog.html http://www.google.com/search?q=Chembai+Sangeetholsavam+&tbo=p&tbs=vid:1&source=vgc&aq=f

Krishnanattam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishnanattam
Picture Book
http://krishnattam.tripod.com/picture_book/kaliya.html
Summary
http://www.dvaipayana.net/krishnanattam/krish_summary.html
Tube
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Krishnattam

The various benefits of Krishnanattam as an offering are listed here

Avatharam	for a birth of a child
Kaliyamardhanam	to remove the effect of poison
Rasakreeda	well being of unmarried girls, to end disputes between couples
Kamsavaddham	to remove enemies
Swayamvaram	for a happy matrimony
Bana yuddham	to remove impoverishment, for good farm production
Vividha vadham	to eliminate poverty and increase yield from farms
Swargarohanam	for peace of a departed soul

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 during his time. Later he became the disciple of Villwamangalam II. With his devotion to Lord and guidance of Villwamangalam, he saw the Lord as Unnikrishna , standing under the Elajhi tree on the way from the Palace to the temple. The present Koothambalam is located at this spot. The Prince wrote a series of eight dramas for Krishnanattam . The Krishnanattam began to be staged in the temple regularly as an offering to the Lord.Further, the Zamorins' subjects and friends of other Principalities vied with each other to invite the troupe to their place as a mark of devotion to the Lord. Thus the dance-drama, Krishnanattam , became yet another medium to spread the fame of Guruvayur all over Kerala. There is a memorial built for Manavedan in the Panchajanyam Guest house compound.

Other Deities

The Ganapati shrine is situated within the Nalambalam itself at the south-west corner.
The Sasta shrine is outside the Nalambalam on the south-east corner.
The goddess is called Edatharikathu Kavil Bhagavati .Her shrine is called Edatharikathu Kavu, which in Malayalam means the shrine located on the left side.

NDTV

http://www.ndtv.com/topic/guruvayoor

Guruvayoor Links

www.guruvayur.com/
http://www.guruvayoor.org/

Online

http://www.guruvayuronline.com/

Bhajanam

The way to perform a Bhajanam at Guruvayoor temple is as follows.

The Bhajanam starts as early as 2 am.
Take a bath in the Rudratheertham and reach the temple before 3 am. At 3 am worship the most auspicious 'Nirmalyam darshanam'.
After worshiping Lord Guruvayoorappan, worship the gods

Ganapathi,
Ayyappan and
Bhagavathi.

By this time, it is time for worshiping the Lord by Thailabhishekam and Vakacharth. Make 'pradakshinam' channting 'Hare Krishna'. 'Sayanapradakshinam' is said to be very noble. Ladies should not perform 'Shayanapradakshinam', but is enough to do the 'Adi pradakshinam'.
Then after worshiping the Lord's 'Balagopaladarshanam', come out of the 'Nalambalam' and receive the Theertham and Kalabham.
At around 5 am, after worshiping the Ushapooja and Ganapathi homam, accompany the 'Sheeveli' chanting the 'Hare Rama/Hare Krishna'. After this, at around 8 am, worship the Palabhishekam, Navakabhishekam and Pantheeradi pooja.Again, pay your offerings when the Shreekovil is opened after the Uchapooja. By this the morning session is poojas are over.

In the afternoon

at around 4.30 pm, after cleaning yourself, pay offering to the Lord.
Then accompany the Sheeveli and make the 'Pradakshinam'.
Worship the 'Deeparadhana' at the dusk.

After the nightfall,

worship the Lord when the Shreekovil is open after the 'Athazhapooja',
take part in the Sheeveli and help to light the lamps for 'Chuttuvilakku'.
Worship the 'Thrippuka' and receive the 'Neyprasadam'.
Worship the Bhagavathiazhal and receive the prasadam.
Then come in front of the Shreekovil and prostrate the Lord.
Then watch the 'Krishnanattam' performed in front of the Attavilakku.

And that completes one day of Bhajanam.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bhajanam

Kokasandesam

The earliest reference for Guruvayur is found in a fourteenth century Tamil work 'Kokasandesam', in which it is described as Kuruvayur.In ancient Dravidic, Kuruvai means sea, hence the village on the coast may be called Kuruvayur.

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=643&q=Kokasandesam

Nirmalya darshanam

The NIRMALYA DARSHAN (3 A.M to 3.20 A.M) is the first of the day. The Lord now is still adorned with the flowers and garlands of the previous night. It is believed that after the night pooja (worship), when the doors are closed, the devas (Gods) come and worship the deity. A darshan of the Lord who has just been worshipped by the Devas themselves is considered highly auspicious. Amidst the lit lamps, the chiming bells and the conch, the spontaneous cries of the devotees shouting out "Narayana","Guruvayurappa","Govinda",etc., the innermost recesses of your mind will be lifted to the heights of devotional passion.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nirmalya+darshanam

Janamejaya

There is a story about the emergence of Guruvayoor Temple in Narada Purana. King Parikshit, a descendant of Kuru dynasty, being the grandson of Arjuna and son of Abhimanyu, died due to the bite of Takshaka, a fierce snake, after the curse by a sage. His son, Janamejaya, tried to revenge this by conducting a fierce yaga named Sarpasatra. Many innocent snakes got killed in the ritual fire. But Takshaka did not die, because he had drunk Amrita. Thus, Janamejaya got cursed by snakes and he was affected with severe leprosy. Even though he tried his best to get cure, his condition did not improve. Thus, both his body and mind got weaker over time.

At that time, sage Dattatreya appeared before him and requested him to worship Lord Mahavishnu of Guruvayoor to get cure of leprosy. He also told about the greatness of the idol there. That story is like this:

Long ago, in Padma Kalpa, when Lord Brahma was conducting his task of creation, Lord Vishnu appeared before him. When Lord Brahma requested his wish to get salvation to himself and his creations,

Lord Vishnu gave an idol of & made by himself. Later, in Varaha Kalpa,
Lord Brahma gave this idol to a king named Sutapass and his wife Prasni, who were worshipping Lord Vishnu to get a son. They continued to worship, and finally Lord Vishnu appeared before them.

He stated that he would himself be born as their son in four births, and in all those births, they would be blessed with the idol which they worshipped.

Thus, in the first birth in Satya Yuga, the Lord was born as Prasnigarbha, the son of Sutapass and Prasni.
Later, in Treta Yuga, when Sutapass and Prasni were born as Kashyapa and Aditi respectively, the Lord was born as Vamana, their son.
Again later, in Treta Yuga itself, when they were born as Dasaratha and Kausalya respectively, the Lord was born as Rama, their son, and
finally, in Dwapara Yuga, when they were born as Vasudeva and Devaki, the Lord was born as Krishna, their son. In all these births, the idol was also with them. Later, Lord Krishna, an avatar himself, took the idol to Dwaraka, and began to worship it.

At last, when the Lord was ascending to heaven after his avatar, he told to his friend and devotee Uddhava that Dwaraka would be submerged with sea within a week and everyone expect the idol he worshipped would be destroyed, so that the idol should be given to

Brihaspati, the guru of devas and
Vayu, the wind god.

What Lord Krishna told exactly happened. Uddhava took the idol from the sea and gave it to Brihaspati and Vayu. Later, he went to Badaryashram to do penance. Brihaspati and Vayu went southwards with the idol. On the way, they saw a large, beautiful lake very close to the sea, which was full of lotuses of all colours. They entered there. They saw a huge forest near the lake. Everyone there was so exciting that even Indraloka would be defeated. Many birds were chirping, animals were walking through and fresh air was all there. When they walked through the place, they met with

Sage Parasurama, who took them to the place where his guru
Lord Shiva and
Goddess Parvati were sitting. All the three told about the greatness of the place they were standing. It is like this:

Long ago, Lord Shiva worshipped Lord Vishnu in the place which they were standing. The lake on the north side is known as Rudratheertham, as Rudra (Lord Shiva) bathed there before conducting poojas. Many years later, ten prince brothers named 'Prachetas' came to the place to get the title of Prajapati. Lord Shiva taught them a hymn named 'Rudrageetham', in praise of Lord Vishnu. They meditated with that hymn, and finally their wish was fullfiled.

When Brihaspati and Vayu heard the story, they realized that the place itself is suitable for consecrating the idol. Thus, they called Vishwakarma, the architect of devas. He built a temple within minutes and the idol was consecrated there. As it was Guru and Vayu who consecrated the idol of Lord Vishnu there, the place came to be known as Guruvayoor and the idol came to be known as "Guruvayoorappan".

http://paninformation.blogspot.com/2011/09/janamejaya-two-versions-place-festival.html

Nirmala mizhikal

http://www.malayalamsongslyrics.com/lyrics_new/lyrics.php?id=960
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nirmala+mizhikal

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Govindashtakam

Shri Adi Shankara having extra ordinary powers was once travelling by air from Kalady to Shringeri. Even he, who never believed in the worshiping of idols, was forced to come down while crossing Guruvayoor To appease Lord Maha Vishnu,

He worshiped the deity by eight 'Shloka'(Shloka is four lines of poetry) This is now knows as the 'Govindashtakam' He then spent 41 days worshiping Lord Maha Vishnu. The daily rituals of worship during the Mandalam period were conceived by Shri AdiSankara at that time.

http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v25.htm
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Govindashtakam

Rudratheertham

The place was already sacred owing to the presence of Lord Paramashiva. He was worshiping Lord Maha Vishnu under the waters of the 'Rudratheertham' (the sacred pond near the temple).

Later, Lord Shiva emerged out of the waters when the Prachethas, son of King Pracheenabarhis came in search of a place to worship Lord Maha Vishnu. He then revealed the hymn 'Rudra Geetha' to Prachethas And then the Prachethas worshiped Lord Maha Vishnu for another ten thousand years staying in the 'Rudratheertham' After the installation of the idol of Mahavishnu by Guru and Vayu, Lord Shiva moved to the nearby Mammiyoor temple

http://wikimapia.org/143268/Guruvayur-Rudratheertham