Guruvayoor Improvement Plan

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

Lord Guruvayoorappans temple in Guruvayur is among the oldest temples

in Kerala. I must thank the Devasom authorities and everybody else

for maintaining the sanctity of this temple to the best possible

standards. Some of the points given below are related to the Guruvayur

Improvement plan and which kept coming to my mind again and again

since Sunil came up with the Improvement Plan.

 

1. Sankalpa : People who have visited Sri Mookambika Devi temple in

Kolur (Karnataka) would be familiar with this ritual I would like

Devasom to start a similar service in Guruvayoor temple, whereby

devotees could perform this Sankalpa near the Sreekovil and get

Darshanam of the lord without having to wait in the queue.

 

Benefits

Get Darshanam and blessing of the Lord for the full family

More priests would get employed. (one priest to handle one family at a

time)

More income for Devasom

 

2 12 Darshanams: It is considered very auspicious if we could get all

the 12 Darshanams of Lord Guruvayoorappan on a single date. Currently

every devotee would have to queue up 12 or more times to get this

done, if Guruvayoor Devasom could start a special facility which could

guarantee all 12 darshanams to any willing devotee, this would be very

helpful, especially during peak rush seasons.

 

Benefits

Get Darshanams and blessing of the Lord

Get Prasadams, including special prasadam from the Sree Kovil

Employment for kavalkaran who would be responsible for his team

More income for Devasom

 

3 Long Queue: Lord Guruvayoorappan has his own ways of allowing

devotees to have Darshanam at the temple, sometimes he allows us to

get quick darshan and sometimes we have to queue up for long time.

Currently we find serpentine queue inside the temple, often extending

to outside the temple. It would be very beneficial if Devasom, could

convert the area above the Prasadam Ticket counter area to allow

devotees to queue where benches and fans can be provided, this could

be modeled like the facility at Tirupathi. This would be very helpful

for the aged, children and women. Devasom to work out the modalities

and logistics for this facility.

 

Benefits

Less Noise and din inside the temple.

Allow for a calm and tranquil atmosphere in the waiting hall,

Allow devotees to chant 'Om Namo Narayana' till they get Lords

Darshanam.

 

4 Clean-up the Chituvelaku: The chituvelaku is one of the beauty

spot of Guruvayur temple, especially when it is lit up in the night.

It would be very beautiful even during day time if the brass covering

and the area around the same could be cleaned on a regular basis. One

idea I would like to suggest in this respect is to use pressure water

(kind of one used in Car service station) may be mixed with a chemical

compound (not smelly like WD40) to remove the oil spill and the green

coating on the same with little trouble. The wall behind this

chituvelaku too can be cleaned using the same process allowing the

beautiful stone work to be revealed. People tend to keep away from the

foundation wall since there are often oil spills on them and they try

avoid get those stuck on their dress.

 

5 Kitchen inside the temple: The big kitchen used to prepare

prasadam located to the left of West Nada, should be fully secured or

shifted to a place outside the temple. The unfortunate inside in a

Tamil Nada school recently should not be forgotten. In any case

marking of fire exit and Fire Drills are a must for not only Devasom

staff, but also for the staff manning shop and establishments around

the temple. I am sure Devasom must be taking the necessary precautions

in the respect.

 

6 Posters and Music: Devotional music cassettes have become big

business in India and it seems every music company churns out numerous

cassettes in a year to deal with each season. We do not mind the

business part of this, but playing these cassettes in top volume

around the temples in Kerala has to be stopped. Areas in and around

the temples are supposed to be quiet and tranquil and the blaring of

such music does not help in this respect. I am sure just by reducing

the volume would not affect the business of these vendors. Another

issue related to this issue is the posters released by the music

companies, these posters contain the picture of various Gods and

Goddesses and they are stuck on every nook and corner, some of them

get torn and mutilated after some time. Devasom should take up the

matter with the concerned authorities to stop the above two practices.

Educating and requesting the music companies and the vendors around

the temple too could give positive results.

 

 

Please excuse me for any grammatical errors. I look forward to your

views and comments on the above points. Thanks

 

Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

 

Pravin Balan