Guest guest Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hi Sunil, Thanks to your reply. It is very informative. I especially liked the elephant's history. Whenever some documentaries come on elephants in Animal Planet, I watch it. Elephants are very much human like with lots of memory and social feelings. When I go next time to Guruvayoor, I shall see the elephant's statue. I didn't know the malayalam equivalent words for the ceremonies I saw. One of my friend is a great fan of Guruvayoorappan. His mom always chants " Om Namo Narayana " . They are very close to me. They live in Palakkad. His name is Krishna Menon !!!!! Good coincidence. Are you from Bangalore ? Where do you work ? Are you the moderator of this group ? Bye. On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 Sunil Menon wrote : >Dear Girish, > >Thank you for sharing your travelogue and darshan of Guruvayur. > >Your narration is very realistic and true to the core, as many of us >felt the same when we were in Guruvayur for the first time. The temple >guards scolding, the crowd at such early hours, the small >vigraham(idol) of Guruvayoorappan , the semi darkness inside the >Sreekovil (sactum sactoruim) compared to many temples outside Kerala etc. > >But over a small period time Guruvayoorappan and Guruvayur takes over >your mind and you will start admiring the beauty of the temple and the >pilgrim town. That is the most special effect I felt in Guruvayoor, >that you wanting to go there again and again and see that smiling face >idol of Unnikrishna. > >Here are some trivia of Guruvayoor to explain your observations - > >Guruvayoor temple is considered to be 5000 years old but many parts of >the temple are rebuilt after fires in various years. The most recent >fire was in 1970. > >The known historical records about Guruvayur says the Sreekovil and >Mandapam was renovated in AD-1030. Another early reference of the >temple is the 14th century Tamil literature 'Kokasandesam', mentions >about a place called Kuruvayur. > >The temple opens at 2.30 and the 'Nirmalyam' (early morning Pooja) >starts at 3 AM with Thailabhishekam, Vakacharthu, Sankhabhishekam. > >In this most auspicious time, the Lord is still adorned with flowers >and garlands of the previous day. Then the idol is ritually bathed and >dressed to represent Balagopala or Krishna as a child, the most >popular form for many of us. > >Guruvayoorappan is represented as Unnikrishna (Krishna as a child)in >the morning and Mahavishnu by evening. > >Narayaneeyam has sung by P. Leela. > >The two tusks above the main entrance and the photo is of 'Gajarajan >Guruvayoor Kesavan', the legendary elephant of Guruvayoor with >majestic look, exceptional intelligence and amazing strength. >Guruvayoor Kesavan carried the thidambu - idol of the deity - during >temple processions; carrying the thidambu is an important role in >Kerala temple culture. The elephant died on the very auspicious day of > " Guruvayur Ekadasi " !!! It fasted for the entire day and dropped down >facing the direction of the temple with its trunk raised as a mark of >prostration. There is a life size statue of Kesavan erected by the >devaswom that you can visit if you have not seen it already. > >As KVG stated in a mail long time ago, waiting for Darshan is an >important aspect of Guruvayur Darshan as we get enough time to fill >our minds with Bhakthi and Krishna thoughts by the time we see the deity. > >Om Namo Narayanaya: >Sunil. > >guruvayur , " girish girish m " <vnkh wrote: > > > > > > Hi all, > > > > I would like to share my experience of my visit to Guruvayoor. I >went to Guruvayoor for the first time with my friends in 3rd semester >B.Tech. I was in NIT, Calicut, Kerala. Guruvayoor is just 3 hrs >journey away from Calicut. > > > > We reached Guruvayoor at 2 am on saturday. All were coming for the >first time. We asked some people about place of bath and they guided >us. We headed straight to pond beside temple. I could see so many >people sleeping near the stage put in front of temple (where cultural >activities takes place). We took bath in the pond. I wore a mundu by >borrowing from a counter. I guess, I bought one - Rs 50 or so. > > > > I could see so many people moving here and there, busy at 2.30 am ! > Most men, without shirts, clad in white mundu and women mostly in >white sarees with some yellow/brown border. I always admired >Keralites' cleanliness in terms their dress and appearance. People >began to stand in the queue. I stood waiting for the temple to open. > > > > Suddenly, they started playing some song - in Sanskrit. It was >melodious. I thought it is some suprabhatam sung by MS Subbulaxmi in >praise of Guruvayoorappan(Several years later, I understood it was >Narayaneeyam) Some temple worker came and started waking up sleeping >people on the platform. I was getting eager to enter temple. > > > > Finally they opened the temple. I proceeded slowly. I heard many >people uttering Guvayoorappa ! Narayana ! Narayana! to themselves. I >saw the temple in surprise. It was so old ! Two tusks were above the >main door. An elephant's photo. Green light decorating it. Towards >left of main door, lots of coconut and a balance. I remembered >tulabhara story of Sri Krishan. We had to go round the temple for the >queue. Many people becoming emotional shouting Narayana ! Narayana ! >The queue was a kind of halt and proceed stuff. Finally when I was >near the main entrance for further inside, I saw a big vessel full of >red seeds. People putting hands in it and waving. This was all new >for me. None of my friends knew what they were doing. Everyone around >us seemed familiar with these activities. We felt shy to ask others. > > > > Finally we entered further inside. The lord was being bathed. I >could hardly see the face. I could just see something black but was >not able to see eyes, mouth etc. I desperately tried to get a good >glimpse. But a temple worker scolded me and dragged me ahead. I was so >dissapointed and angry too. > > > > We came to prasadam counter. I took sugar, butter and brown jaggery >payasam sweet and a green banana. The payasam was very hot. At first, >I thought the plastic bottle would melt. But it didn't. The payasam >tastes good when it becomes cold. You can drink even more. Unlike >Tirupati, where laddus are limited, we can get unlimited sweet here. > > > > Still the fact that I couldn't see God properly was bugging me from >inside. I was terribly sad from within. I told my friends, I will >stand once again in the queue. They said they would wait for me >outside. I had darshan again. But after sufficient long time. I could >see Guruvayoorappan - small diety with a big smile. The face was >covered with sandalwood. The ears had some golden covering - which was > shining.I still remember the face. I thought the statue will be very >tall. But it was small. I was satisfied. > > > > We visited elephant sanctuary. I wonder how do they feed so many >elephants ! A stick would be placed behind the ears of standing >elephants. I asked, why ? A mahout told it is instruction for elephant > " Chup Chaap Khade Raho " !! We went to beach and played so well. Some >of the beach area was very dirty. We also saw a Shiva temple. > > > > After that vist, I have gone to Guruvayoor - three more times. >Recently one of my friend's marriage took place there. I saw elephant >processions in morning . In evening there was a procession of three >elephants with men sitting on them. The lamps glowing around the >temple. That looks spectacular. One of my good friends is an atheist. >I felt, atheists condemn the existence of God. But, here Lord is >worshipped so fantastically with majesty - everyday. Atheists come >and go. But Lord remains permanent. Guruvayoor bears a testimony for it. > > > > If somebody is going to Guruvayoor from Bangalore, kindly intimate >me. I would like to go again. But I dont have any company. I would >like to go there with somebody who belongs to this group. Here people >have so much reverence for Guruvayoorappan and I am simply attracted >to the sentiments they have expressed. > > > > Jai Sree Krishna. Hari Krishna. > > > > Bye. > > > > > > > > Girish.M. > > B.Tech. ECE. > > NITC. > > > > Girish.M. B.Tech. ECE. NITC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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