Guruvayur, the Lourdes of India !

Guruvayur is the place where millions of devotees visit, the true Lourdes of India ! The famous Lord Krishna temple is visited by more than 50,000 people per day. This is the place where a great epic poem, similar to Dante's Divina Commedia or Goethe's Faust, the Narayaneeyam, the Tale of the Lord, was composed by the schoar-poet Melpathur. It is said that Poetry can transcend Cosmolical Cycles and the verses of this poet are on the lips of many. A deep philosophic scholar, who had mastered the six auxiliary sciences and the six main sciences, Melpathur was an accomplished scholar. The 98th canto of this Overmind Poem deals with Absolute Being. The first verse begins like this

O! blessed is mankind, for in the mighty temple of Guruvayur there shines in all its effulgence, the Absolute Self itself, which is the ultimate goal of all human endeavor; the Timeless Existence which alone makes Space, Time & Cosmos possible; which shines through a hundred divine scriptures and yet remains indistinct; which is ever free; which trancends time and space; which is incomparable; and which is the crystallised essence of Bliss and Knowledge Absolute !

In the last verse, he implores for forgiveness from the Almighty, for he has described the Indescribable, limited the Illimitable !

Guruvayur has a world renowned Elephant Sanctuary comprising of 65 elephants, these jumbos being the offerings of the Lord's devotees. Lots of tourists and pilgrims visit this spot during their sojourn in this Holy Place.

Trichur, a center of Spiritual Tourism

Trichur is an important centre for Spiritual Tourism. The base of Trichur City is the lovely Vadakkunnathan Temple, literally meaning lord of the North. It is one of the largest Shiva temples in Kerala. It is believed to be over 2000 years old. Adorned with beautiful murlas, this temple is a classic example of Keralite architecture.

According to traditional beliefs, Shankara was born, after his parents prayed at this temple. Lord Shiva appeared before them and asked them to choose between a mediocre son with high longevity or an intellectual son, with low longevity. They preferred the latter and one of the greatest intellectual giants, Sankara, was born !

Founded by Lord Parasurama and enshrining Lord Shiva as the principal Deity, this temple is one of the oldest in South India. The idol of Shiva is considered to be covered under a mount of ghee and is invisible. Only a sixteen foot high mount of ghee can be seen and this believed to be represent the snow clad Mount Kailas, the abode of the Male and Female components of the Ultimate, Shiva & Shakti.


The murals which adorn the temple are rare and two of them are worshipped regularly. Nandikeswara, who symbolises the animal aspect in man, is worshipped as a large white bullock. The symbolism is that only after removing our animal aspect ( Nandi ), can we have Self _ Actualisation or Vision of the Lord.

Now the Trichur town is developing. Shobha's 850 crores realty project, Lulu's 150 crore project and 300 crores worth flats projects, all will make Trichur the Twin city, or the satellite city of booming Kochi