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Guruvayur | |
|---|---|
 Guruvayur temple entrance | |
| Nickname: Dvaraka of the South | |
  Guruvayur Guruvayur,Kerala | |
| Coordinates:10°35′40.6″N76°02′12.8″E / 10.594611°N 76.036889°E /10.594611; 76.036889[1] | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Kerala |
| District | Thrissur |
| Government | |
| • Body | Guruvayur Municipality |
| Area | |
• Total | 29.66 km2 (11.45 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 24.86 m (81.6 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 67,006 |
| • Density | 2,259/km2 (5,851/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Malayalam |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 680101 |
| Telephone code | +91487xxxxxxx |
| Vehicle registration | KL-46 |
| Climate | Am/Aw(Köppen) |
| Avg. summer temperature | 35 °C (95 °F) |
| Avg. winter temperature | 20 °C (68 °F) |
GuruvayurIPA:[guɾuʋɐːjuːr]) is a municipal temple town inThrissur district, ofKerala State inIndia. It is a suburban town ofThrissur city, located 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Thrissur towards the north-west. It houses theGuruvayur Shri Krishna Temple. It is located at a distance of 292 km (181 mi) from the state capitalTrivandrum towards the north-west, 86 km (53 mi) fromKochi towards the north, 95 km (59 mi) fromCalicut towards south.
According to Hindu legend, the deityKrishna is said to have asked a deity and a sage to take theidol from his temple inDvaraka before it was destroyed by a flood, and establish it in Kerala. Accordingly, the idol of Krishna is believed to have been brought by the wind deityVayu and SageBrihaspati and was placed in Guruvayur. The name Guruvayur is a portmanteau of their names:Guru referring to the title of Brihaspati,Vayu referring to the deity.[2]Ur is a Malayalam suffix that means city or settlement.
In 2010, the Municipal limits were expanded by merging nearby Pookode and Thaikkad panchayats.[3] The Municipality consists of Perakam (CT) village, Pookode Village, Iringappuram(CT) Village, Thaikkad(CT) Village, Chavakkad Village, and Guruvayur Village part, revenue villages of Chavakkad Taluk. Thus, the total area of Municipality is 29.66 square kilometers comprising 43 wards with 67,006 population and population density of 2,259 per square kilometre.[1]
| Community | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiyyar | 50.94% | |||
| Other Hindu | 22.82% | |||
| Islam | 15.38% | |||
| Christianity | 10.04% | |||
Guruvayur Township was formed on 26 January 1962 with four electoral wards with an area of 6.49 square kilometres (2.51 sq mi). Later the wards were increased to 10 and in 1994 to 20 when the township was upgraded to Municipality status with an area of 12.41 km2 (4.79 sq mi). In 2010, the electoral wards were increased to 43. Guruvayur is a Grade-1 Municipality. Guruvayur assembly constituency is part ofTrichur (Lok Sabha constituency).[5]
Ekadashi, the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight, is very auspicious to theHindus. Of the 24 Ekadashis in a year, the Vrishchika Ekadashi (Sukla paksha) has got special significance inGuruvayur temple. A memorial honour for Gajarajan Keshavan is conducted in Guruvayur. The Karanavar or head of the elephant family places a wreath at the statue of Keshavan in front of Sreevalsam guest house and all the other elephants stand around and pay obeisance. On Ekadashi day, the Udayasthamana Pooja (dawn to dusk pooja) is conducted by the Devaswom itself . After the morning seeveli, on Ekadashi there is a grand elephant procession to the Parthasarathi temple since it is regarded as Geethopadesam Day also. On Ekadashi after night pooja, the famous Ekadashi Vilakku with elephant procession takes place and provides a fitting finale to the festival.[citation needed]
Chembai Sangeetholsavam is an annualCarnatic music festival held in Guruvayur by theGuruvayur Devaswom as a kind of homage toChembai 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 Thyagaraja Aradhana atThiruvaiyaru, which is recognised as one of the most important festivals of homage paid to Saint Thyagaraja.[citation needed]
TheGuruvayur 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 theGuruvayur Ekadashi day, when all the musicians sing 5 favourite songs of Chembai and also thePancharatna Kritis ofThyagaraja.
TheGuruvayur Temple is a Hindu temple ofKrishna. It is often referred to as BhulokaVaikuntham,[6] meaning the holy abode ofVishnu on earth. Theidol installed here represents a form of the deity Vishnu bearingfour arms carrying the conchPanchajanya, the discusSudarshana Chakra, the maceKaumodaki, and thelotus. Adorned with atulasi garland, the idol representsVishnu as revealed toVasudeva andDevaki at the time of hisincarnation of Krishna. The presiding deity in thesanctum sanctorum isVishnu. It faces east and is 4 feet tall.[7] There are sub-shrines forGanesha,Ayyappan, andBhagavati inside the complex, and also two shrines for Ganesha andserpent deities under the temple outside the complex.
The main rail transport system in Guruvayur is operated by theSouthern Railway Zone ofIndian Railways.Guruvayur Railway Station lies in theThrissur-Guruvayur Section. It is the last station in this section. There are two passenger trains operating fromGuruvayur Railway Station toErnakulam Junction and another two passenger trains toThrissur railway station every day. An overnight express train toChennai Egmore via Ernakulam Junction,Kollam Junction,Thiruvananthapuram,Nagercoil Junction,Madurai,Trichy is also running from Guruvayur Railway Station every day.Thrissur railway station is the major rail head near to Guruvayur from where you can get all South Indian and North Indian trains.[8][9]
Cochin International Airport, the nearest airport from the town, is located 72 km (45 mi) from Guruvayur. All international, domestic and chartered flights are available here.Calicut International Airport atKaripur is about 100 km (62 mi) away.
| Climate data for Guruvayur, Kerala | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) | 32.5 (90.5) | 34.8 (94.6) | 35.1 (95.2) | 33.9 (93.0) | 29.2 (84.6) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.6 (83.5) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.4 (86.7) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.4 (88.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 20.6 (69.1) | 22.3 (72.1) | 24.7 (76.5) | 25.7 (78.3) | 25.3 (77.5) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.0 (73.4) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.5 (74.3) | 21.2 (70.2) | 23.4 (74.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 2 (0.1) | 13 (0.5) | 21 (0.8) | 98 (3.9) | 291 (11.5) | 711 (28.0) | 743 (29.3) | 411 (16.2) | 250 (9.8) | 275 (10.8) | 142 (5.6) | 26 (1.0) | 2,983 (117.5) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[10] | |||||||||||||
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