Guruvayurappan
Lord / Father of Guruvayoor) also rendered as Guruvayoorappan, is a form of Vishnu worshipped mainly in Kerala, India.
The deity represents the purna rupa (full manifestation) revealed by baby Krishna to his parents Vasudeva and Devaki immediately after his advent in Kamsa's jail.
[5] King Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna and the son of Abhimanyu, died of a bite by the poisonous snake Takshaka, due to a curse which had fallen upon him.
King Janamejaya, his son, wanted to avenge his father's death by killing all snakes, including Takshaka.
Thousands of innocent snakes died in the yajna fire, but Takshaka could not be killed because he had consumed amrita, the nectar of immortality.
He also told of the glory of the temple: Long ago, in the beginning of Padma Kalpa,[a] when Brahma was undergoing his work of creation, Vishnu appeared before him.
When the creator deity[b] said that he and his creations wanted mukti (liberation) without the bondage of karma, Vishnu made an idol of himself and presented it to his friend.
Brahma worshipped the idol with deep obeisance for a long time, and in the Varaha Kalpa, he gifted it to a sage named Sutapas and his wife Prashni, who were meditating upon Vishnu for begetting a child.
In this birth, he prophesied the importance of brahmacharya and offered darshana (a divine view of his form) to his devotee Dhruva, to whom he made a realm called Dhruvaloka.
In the Treta Yuga, when Sutapas and Prashni were reborn as Kashyapa and Aditi, Vishnu was born as their son Vamana.
Finally, in the Dvapara Yuga, when they were reborn as Vasudeva and Devaki, Vishnu was born as their eighth son, Krishna.
Before leaving, he told his friend and disciple Uddhava that Dvaraka would suffer a deluge in a week, and the lone non-natural survivor of the flood would be the divine idol worshipped by his parents in his three births.
He advised Uddhava to hand over the idol to Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devas, and leave for Badrikashram to perform a penance for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, the sage Parashurama appeared, and told them to install the idol in an appropriate location in Bhargava Kshetra,[c] the land he had created with his axe.
According to the wishes of the sage, Brihaspati and Vayu took the idol on their hands, and travelled southwards through the sky to find an appropriate location in the Bhargava Kshetra.
On the western side of Bhargava Kshetra, very close to the sea, they saw a large, beautiful lake surrounded by lush, idyllic greenery.
Shiva told them that he had been waiting for their arrival, and that the perfect spot for installing the idol of Vishnu was none other the place that they were standing.
[d] Shiva then declared that since the idol would be installed by Brihaspati the Guru and Vayu, the place would be called 'Guruvayur', and the devotees would find solace here from the troubles of the Kali Yuga.
The peacock feather was incorporated in the headgear for the character of Krishna in the dance drama Krishnanattam, based on his[whose?]
On the ninth day, one play (Avatharam) of the drama was repeated, as the Samoothiri felt that it was not auspicious to end the series with the demise of Krishna.
The shopkeeper did not have the heart to punish this innocent boy, but to teach him a lesson, he ordered him to walk around the temple a certain number of times.
"[10] Once, a Nenmini Namboodiri, the main priest (melsanthi) at the Guruvayur Temple, instructed his twelve-year-old son, Unni, to offer the nivadyam to God.
It also sponsors the Saptami (7th day) Vilakku during the annual Ekadasi festival in the Malayalam month of Vrischikam.
