Administrated by the Guruvayur Devaswom Board, it is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and is often referred to as Bhuloka Vaikunta (Holy Abode of Vishnu on Earth).

The central icon is a four-armed standing Vishnu carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana, the mace Kaumodaki, and a lotus with a tulasi garland.

This image represents the form of Vishnu as revealed to Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki around the time of his birth.

Worship proceeds according to routines laid down by Adi Shankara and later written formally in the Tantric way, the inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, by Chennas Ravinarayanan Nambudiri (1427-1527), whose descendants are the hereditary tantris (high priests) of the Guruvayur Temple.

According to legend, the king Janamejaya conducted a sacrifice to destroy all the snakes of the world including Takshaka, who was the cause of his father Parikshit's death.

One day Sage Atreya (son of Atri) came before Janamejaya and told him to take refuge under the feet of Krishna at Guruvayur.

Atreya told him that in the temple at Guruvayur the effulgence of Hari is at its best and Vishnu showers his blessings on all devotees.

At the end of ten months, he returned home healthy and took the astrologer to task for making a false prediction.

When the holy man entered the precincts of that temple, he was courteously received by a Brahmin boy and sumptuously fed.

The earliest mention of the many important Vishnu temples of Kerala are found in the songs of Alvars, the Tamil poet-saints, whose time-line is not exactly fixed.

On the request of the Malabar Governor, Shrnivasa Rao, Hyder Ali granted a Devadaya to save the temple.

Tipu destroyed the smaller shrines and set fire to the Temple, but it was saved due to timely rain.

In 1900, the administrator Konti Menon fixed the hours of worship and led the drive to keep the temple premises clean.

[12][clarification needed] On 30 November 1970, a massive fire broke out in the temple, gutting the whole chuttambalam and the entire Vilakkumatam on the west, south and north sides.