Game : Speciality of your place :P - Page 6

Many factors contribute to the popularity of India's major temples. Sri Rangam, situated on the Kaveri River, is popular because of its antiquity. Badarintha, high in the Himalayas, is famous for its geographical location. Konark, the sun temple in Orissa, is known for its unique architecture, and Vyenkateswara, in the South Indian hill town of Tirumala, owes much of its fame to the Deity's reputation for fulfilling the requests of His worshipers. All these factors combine at Guruvayur, in the South Indian state of Kerala. Guruvayur is one of the most enchanting and glorious temples in all of India.

Guruvayur is a holy city, where people come to make spiritual advancement. In an atmosphere of devotion to Krishna, visitors immediately feel they have risen above this earthly world to the divine. Appropriately, Guruvayur is known as BhulokaVaikuntha: "where heaven meets earth."

At Guruvaayoor Temple:

In the evening, varieties of classical dance, such as Bhrata-ntyam and Kathakli, are performed for the public. The dancers combine dance and drama to depict the pastimes of Lord Krishna. These dance traditions have existed in South India for thousands of years, and no temple function is complete without them.

The evening also brings the main event of the day: a Deity procession led by jewel- and gold-bedecked elephants. The beauty of the Deity and the grandeur of the elephants draws thousands of pilgrims to witness the procession each evening. Before the arrival of the Deity, elaborate preparations are made. Then, as the enthusiastic crowd stands expectant, a devotee blows three blasts on a conchshell. The priests quickly emerge from the Deity's chamber bearing Lord Krishna on a golden throne, which is placed on the lead elephant. Surrounded by priests bearing multicolored umbrellas and varieties of fans, by musicians playing drums, cymbals, gongs, and trumpets, and by exuberant devotees chanting the names of the Lord, the Deity is carried around the temple compound, now illuminated by ten thousand oil lamps.

After about one hour, with the circumambulation completed, the elephants return to the starting point and stand motionless while the Deity is removed from the golden throne and returned to His chamber

KESAVAN : THE ELEPHANT DEVOTEE OF LORD GURUVAYUR

One of the most famous elephant serving Lord Guruvayurwas Keshavan, also know as Gajarja, or "king of the elephants."

In January 1922, Valiya Raja (King) of Nilambur offered one of his 12 elephants to Lord Guruvayurappa, as a fulfillment of his vow when he got back his entire property intact at the time of the Malabar Mutiny. Aged 10 years, Elephant was named Keshavan. He was noble and kindly, yet mischievous and stupid. To remove his lunacy, he was given butter to eat which was first sanctified (made holy) by the Melshanti (Head Priest) - believed to be an effective treatment for stupidity, and then made to perform bhajan by attending all the 3 siveli (temple functions). All this transformed him into an idealDeity elephant.

He would bend his front legs only before those who held the Lord's thidambu (Deity) to enable them to climb on him. Others who held the umbrella, alavattam etc. had to climb by his behind legs. Very compassionate, he never harmed anybody. Even when he was inside and outside Guruvayur, he was not destructive; He would proceed to the temple, take a round and occupy his place.

Once he was hurrying to the temple, disobeying the mahouts. Everybody in the area fled for fear of being trembled by it. Except a poor, helpless leper who could not run away & remained helpless on the path. As the people watched with fear, they were astonished when they saw that Kesavan had actually lifted the leper with his trunk, placed him safely in a corner, and proceeded straight to the temple.

In 1973, Kesavan was honored with the title of "Gajarajan"(King of elephants) when the temple was for the first time, celebrating the golden Jubilee of the services of an elephant.

For more than fifty years Keshavan served Lord Krishna at Guruvayur. During one festival,(On the fateful day December 2nd, 1976 on the famous GuruvayurEkadasi day) however, he became ill, just at the time of the Deity procession. His huge body began to tremble, and he was removed from the procession and taken to a nearby stable, where he fasted throughout the night. The next evening, when the conchshell blew to announce the appearance of the Deity, Keshavan bowed before the temple, and amid thousands of devotees chanting and playing on musical instruments, his soul departed from his body to attain the eternal realm of Vaikuntha.

A 12 - feet high concrete statue of the elephant Kesavan has been executed by the temple members at the spot in front of the Panchajanyam Rest House - a fitting memorial indeed for a unique devotee

Me from chidambaram

Chidambaram is one of the five pancha bootha sthalams. Chidambaram is the Akasa sthalam. Chidambaram is known for the Thillai Nataraja Temple and Annamalai University in chidambaram , is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in the state