Guruvayur Guruvayoor
Dwarka of the South
—  municipality and town  —
A bird's view of Guruvayur city
Guruvayur Location of Guruvayur in Kerala and India
Coordinates	10°21′N 76°12′E / 10.35°N 76.2°E / 10.35; 76.2Coordinates: 10°21′N 76°12′E / 10.35°N 76.2°E / 10.35; 76.2
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Thrissur District
Official languages	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 2.83 metres (9.3 ft)
Climate Temperature • Summer • Winter	Am/Aw (Köppen) •      35 °C (95 °F) •      20 °C (68 °F)
Codes • Pincode • 680101 • Telephone • +91 (0)487 • Vehicle • KL-46

Guruvayur (Malayalam: ഗുരുവായൂർ) (also written as Guruvayoor or Gurupavanapuri) is a municipal town in Thrissur District, of Kerala State in India. It houses the famous Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple, the fourth biggest temple in India in terms of the number of devotees per day.^[1]

History[link]

Guruvayur, according to the legends may be 5,000 years old as the Guruvayur temple idol is. There are no historical records to establish it. In the 14th century, Tamil literature 'Kokasandesam', references about a place called Kuruvayur is made. As early as 16th century, many references are seen about Kuruvayur. In ancient Dravidic, Kuruvai means sea, hence the village on the coast may be called Kuruvayur. According to eminent historian Professor K. V. Krishna Iyer, the Brahmins had begun to come and settle at Kodungallur during the period of Chandra Gupta Maurya (321-297 BC).^[2]

Guruvayur was a subordinate shrine of Trikkunavay Shiva temple before the latter was destroyed by the Dutch in 1755. Trikkunavay in the Guruvayur documents is the same as Thrikkanamathilakam or Mathilakam mentioned in the Dutch and British records. And this place was in between Guruvayur and Kodungallur. The story of Pandyan King building a shrine here may be a reference to the Azhavars, but they are all silent in their writing about Guruvayur. It was Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri's Narayaniyam through which the Guruvayur temple got famous all over India.^[2]

Demographics[link]

As of the Indian census of 2001,^[3] Guruvayur had a population of 21,187. Males constitute 46% of the population and females 54%. Guruvayur has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 86%, and female literacy is 85%. In Guruvayoor, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Government[link]

Guruvayoor Township was formed on January 26, 1962 with four electoral wards with an area of 6.49 km². Later the wards were increased to 10 and in 1994 to 20 when the township was upgraded to Municipality status with an area of 29.66 km². In 2010, the electoral wards were increased to 43. Guruvayoor is a Grade-III Municipality. The Municipality has a total population of 20,216 with a population density of 31, 14 per km².^[4][5] Guruvayoor assembly constituency is part of Trichur (Lok Sabha constituency).^[6]

Festivals[link]

Guruvayur Ekadasi[link]

Ekadasi, the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight, is very auspicious to the Hindus. Of the 24 Ekadasis in a year, the Vrishchika Ekadasi (Sukla paksha) has got special significance in Guruvayur temple. A memorial honour for Gajarajan Kesavan is conducted in Guruvayur. The Karanavar or head of the elephant family places a wreath at the statue of Kesavan in front of Sreevalsam guest house and all the other elephants stand around and pay obeisance. On Ekadasi day, the Udayasthamana Pooja (dawn to dusk pooja) is conducted by the Devaswom itself . After the morning seeveli, on Ekadasi there is a grand elephant procession to the Parthasarathi temple since it is regarded as Geethopadesam Day also. On Ekadasi after night pooja, the famous Ekadasi Vilakku with elephant procession takes place and provides a fitting finale to the festival..

Chembai Sangeetholsavam[link]

Inscription on the Guruvayoor temple

Chembai Sangeetholsavam is an annual Carnatic music festival held in Guruvayur by the Guruvayur Devaswom at Thiruvaiyaru as a kind of homage to Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, one of the titans of Carnatic Classical Music. Chembai had conducted the festival in the temple town on his own for about 60 years. He used to invite all the great Carnatic Musicians to perform in the temple town and in course of time, the scale of the festival rivalled the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana, which is recognised as one of the most important festivals of homage paid to Saint Thyagaraja.

The Guruvayur Devaswom decided to take charge after his death in 1974, and renamed it as Chembai Sangeetholsavam in his memory. About 2000-2500 musicians participate in this festival every year, and it is held for about 12–15 days culminating on the Guruvayur Ekadasi day, when all the musicians sing 5 favourite songs of Chembai and also the Pancharatna Kritis of Thyagaraja.

Notable landmarks[link]

Guruvayur Temple[link]

Main Article: Guruvayur Temple

The Guruvayur Temple is a famous Krishna temple and is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam"^[7] which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth. The divine idol installed here represents the enchanting form of Sree Krishna endowed with the four lustrous arms carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki and the lotus. Adorned with the divine Tulasi garland the idol represents the majestic form of Maha Vishnu as revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki at the time of Krishna Avatar. The presiding deity in the sanctum-sanctorum is Mahavishnu. He faces east and his idol is 4 ft tall. Even though this is not a much small idol, devotees consider him as Little Krishna. He has 4 hands : The upper right hand holding chakra, lower right hand holding lotus, upper left hand holding shankha and lower left hand holding gada. He is worshipped according to the pooja routines laid down by Adi Sankaracharya and later written formally in the Tantric way by Chennas Narayanan Namboodiri (born in 1427). The Chennas Namboodiris are the hereditary Tantris of the Guruvayur temple.^[8] The temple/pooja routines are strictly followed without any compromise. The Tantri is available full time at the Temple to ensure this. The Melsanti (Chief Priest) enters the Sri Kovil (sanctum sanctorum) at 2:30 AM and does not drink even a glass of water up to the completion of noon poojas at 12:30 PM.^[9] The vedic traditions being followed here with absolute perfection and sincerity is the hallmark of the Guruvayur temple. It is important to note here that, even though the shrine is considered to be one of the holiest spots for Vaishnavites, the temple is not a part of the 108 Divya Desams.

Other[link]

• Punnathur Kotta Elephant sanctuary
• Mammiyoor Temple

Transport[link]

Road[link]

Guruvayur can be accessed from Thrissur city by state highway 49, which starts from Guruvayur and ends in state highway 69 at choondal. From Thrissur city there are regular private and State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses. There is a private and a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus stand in Guruvayur which run inter-state, inter-district and city services.There are good frequency of buses from Palakkad also^[10][11]

Railway[link]

The main rail transport system in Guruvayur is operated by the Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways. Guruvayur Railway Station lies in the Thrissur-Guruvayur Section. It is the last station in this section. There are two passenger trains operating from Guruvayur Railway Station to Ernakulam Junction and another two passenger trains to Thrissur Railway Station every day. An overnight express train to Chennai Egmore via Ernakulam Junction, Thiruvananthapuram, Madurai, Trichy is also running from Guruvayur Railway Station everyday. Thrissur Railway Station is the major rail head near to Guruvayur from where you can get all South Indian and North Indian trains.^[10][11]

Air[link]

Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport, which is 87 KM from Guruvayur. All international, domestic and chartered flights are available here. Calicut International Airport at Karipur is about 100 KM away.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Guruvayur

• guruvayuronline.com - Divine Gateway
• guruvayurdevaswom.org
• Read the details about Sri Guruvayoor Temple
• Guruvayupuresham.com All about Guruvayoor

v t e Hindu holy cities India Char Dham Badrinath (Badrinath Temple) Dwarka (Dwarakadheesh Temple) Puri (Jagannath Temple) Rameswaram (Ramanathaswamy Temple) Ashtavinayaka Morgaon (Moreshwar) Lenyadri (Girijatmaj) Pali (Ballaleshwar) Mahad (Varadvinayak) Ranjangaon (Mahaganapati) Siddhatek (Siddhivinayak) Ozar (Vighneswar) Theur (Chintamani) Jyotirlinga Prabhas Patan (Somnath) Srisailam (Mallikājuna) Ujjain (Mahakaleshwar) Omkareshwar (Omkareshwar) Deogarh District (Vaidyanath) Bhorgiri (Bhimashankar) Rameswaram(Ramanathaswamy) Parali-Vaijanath(Nageshvara) Varanasi (Kashi Vishvanath) Trimbakeshwar (Trimbakeshwar) Kedarnath (Kedarnath) Daulatabad (near Grishneshwar) Others Allahabad Ambaji Arunachala Ayodhya Bhadrachalam Chidambaram Chitrakuta Dakor Deoghar Dharmasthala Gangotri Gaya Gokul Guruvayur Haridwar Jageshwar Kalahasti Kalighat Kanchipuram Kollur Madurai Mathura Nashik Nathdwara Pushkar Rishikesh Sabarimala Somnath Sringeri Srirangam Tirupati Tripunithura Udupi Vrindavan Yamunotri Nepal Kathmandu Janakpurdham Sri Lanka Kataragama

Unni Menon is an Indian film playback singer. He has sung over 3000 songs in South Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.^[1] In the early part of his career, he spent many years as a low-profile playback singer.^[1] The turning point in his career came when he sang the song "Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from Mani Ratnam's award winning 1992 Tamil film Roja, composed by A. R. Rahman. He has frequently associated with A. R. Rahman, lending his voice to nearly 25 memorable songs from films like Karuththamma (1994) and Minsaara Kanavu (1997).

Early life[link]

Unni Menon was born on December 2, 1957 at Guruvayoor, a temple town in the Thrissur district of Kerala to V. K. S. Menon, an officer in Tamil Nadu police and a native of Valanchery in Malappuram district and Malathy. He did his schooling in Guruvayoor and B.E.M. High School, Palakkad. Later, he attended the Government Victoria College, Palakkad from where he graduated with a degree in Physics. Unni Menon exhibited great talent and enthusiasm for music in childhood, winning many prizes in competitions throughout his schooling and college life.^[2]

Career[link]

Unni Menon is basically a Malayalam film playback singer. Kunjunni, a violinist for music director Ilaiyaraaja introduced him to B. A. Chidambaranath, a music director, and Unni’s musical career was launched in 1981–82. His maiden song "Amudhum Thenum" was never released, but with "Pon maane kobam eno" he became a noted singer in 1984.^[1] He was a track singer and after listening to his tracks for the film, Kadathu, KJ Yesudas asked to the music director, Shyam, to make it straight. And after the huge success of the Kadathu songs ("Olangal Thaalam Thullumbol", "Punnaare Poonthinkale", etc.), Unni became a regular singer for the hit music director, Shyam. Shyam has given him a good number of popular songs like "Maanathe Hoori Pole" (Ee Naadu), "Valakilukkam Oru Valakilukkam" (Munnettam), "Kaayampoo Korthu Tharum" (Aarorumariyaathe) and "Thozhuthu Madangum Sandhyayumetho" (Aksharangal). Several songs sung by him durung this time were credited to other singers mainly Yesudas.^[1] After Shyam's decline from the film music field, Unni's career in Malayalam film musicdom also went into shades. During that period, he has given some hit private albums such as Raagageethi and Raaga Lahari, with his contemporary playback singer, Ashalatha.

Unni Menon moved to Chennai (then Madras) where he had a job in the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi. Many of the prominent recording studios of South India were located in Chennai. His interest in music led him to visit these studios regularly and formed acquaintances with many prominent artistes like the singer K. J. Yesudas and composer Ilayaraaja. Soon he had graduated from singing tracks for prominent singers and was becoming a singer sought after by many music directors.^[3]

In 1980s he had few lone hits in Tamil film 'Oru kaidhiyin dairy', singing for Ilayaraja. His career got a major boost in 1992 when A. R. Rahman offered him the song "Puthu Vellai Mazhai". That song went on to become a huge hit, as were all the other songs from the film. Since then sung many songs which have become big hits.

In 2003, Unni Menon added a new dimension to his career when he acted and composed music for the Malayalam film Sthithi besides singing the songs in the film.^[2]

Unni menon is the leading Singer in 2009 Malayalam Devotional Album Saranamanthram directed by Kamalan.

Awards[link]

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards:

• 2002 – Best Male Playback Singer – Varushamellam Vasantham (Song: Enge Antha Vennila) and Unnai Ninaithu (Songs: Ennai thalatum and Yaarindha Devathai)
• 1996 – Best Male Playback Singer – Minsara Kanavu (Song: Ooh lalala)^[2]

Film Guidance Society of Kerala Film Awards:

• 2011 – Best Male Playback Singer – Beautiful (Song: Mazhaneer Thullikal)

Partial filmography[link]

• Beautiful (2011)
• Oru Kalluriyin Kathai (2005)
• Sthithi (2003)
• Kangalal Kaithu Sei (2003)
• Mullavalliyum Thenmavum (2003)
• Enakku 20 Unakku 18 (2003) (in Tamil and Telugu)
• Bala (2003)
• Unnai Ninaithu (2002)
• Star (2001)
• Jodi (2001)
• Rhythm (2000) (in Tamil and Telugu)
• Kadhalar Dhinam (1999)
• Varushamellam Vasantham (1999)
  • aka Lover's Day (India: Telugu title: remake or dubbed version)
• Uyire (1998)
• Minsaara Kanavu (1997)
  • aka Merupu Kalalu (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
  • aka Minsara Kanavu (India: Tamil title: alternative transliteration)
• Mr. Romeo (1996)
• Tom & Jerry (1995)
• Karuththamma'(1994) (In Tamil and Telugu)
• Puthupatty Ponnuthayee'(1994) (Tamil)
• Thiruda Thiruda (1993) (in Tamil and Telugu)
• Pudhiya Mugam (1993)
• Roja (1992)
  • aka Roja (India: Malayalam title) (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
  • aka The Rose (International: English title)
• Mimics Parade (1991)
• Akkareakkareakkare (1990)
  • aka Akkare Akkare Akkare (India: Malayalam title: alternative transliteration)
• Naaduvazhikal (1989)
• Ramo Speaking (1989)
• Sruthi (1987)
• Gandhinagar 2nd Street(1987)
• Vazhiyorakkazhchakal (1987)
• Nyayavidhi (1986)
• Sneulla Simham (1986)
• Kshamichu Ennoru Vakku (1986)
• Ithile Iniyum Varu (1986)
• Rajavinte Makan (1986)
• Kandu Kandarinju (1985)
• Ee Lokam Ivide Kure Manushyar (1985)
• Oru Nokku Kanan (1985)
• Adhyayam Onnu Muthal (1985)
• Boeing Boeing (1985)
• Vellarikka Pattanam (1985)
• Aarorumariyathe (1984)
• Koottinli (1984)
• Aksharangal(1983)
• Belt Mathai (1983)
• Bhookambam (1983)
• Iniyenkilum (1983)
• Munnettam (1982)
• John Jaffer Janardhanan (1982)
• Palangal (1981)
• Ee Naadu (1981)
• Kadathu (1981)

Malayalam Album Songs[link]

• Pranayamarmaram – 2009.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Unni Menon at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Website