In the town of Guruvayur in Kerala stands one of the most beloved Krishna temples in India, where the Lord is worshipped as Guruvayurappa — Vishnu in the enchanting four-armed form he revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki, bearing conch, discus, mace, and lotus, yet cherished as the child Krishna, Unnikkannan. Tradition holds that the very image was worshipped at Dwaraka and, at the close of that age, installed here by Guru (Brihaspati) and Vayu, the wind-god — from whom the place takes its name.
Revered as a Bhuloka Vaikuntha of the South, Guruvayur is celebrated in the Narayaniyam, the devotional masterpiece composed here by the poet Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri. The temple is famed for its elephants, its strict and ancient traditions of worship, and its favour as a site for weddings and a child's first feeding of rice.
Guruvayurappa is sought by countless devotees as the ever-accessible, ever-loving Lord.
Guruvayur keeps a herd of elephants at Punnathurkotta, a few kilometres from the shrine — animals gifted to the deity over generations.
Source: Guruvayur Devaswom; Punnathurkotta elephant sanctuary
