Lord Krishna in Guruvayoor stands out and has enticed everyone the most. The beautiful stature of Lord Guruvayoor attracts the devotees to come in large numbers and imagine to hug the Lord.
Guruvayoor is located in Trichur district in Southern India.
Sri Narayana Bhattatri composed the beautiful Narayaneeyam, containing thousand slokas which is sung in most of the houses in India .
Guru and Vayu adorned the deity of Lord Krishna to Narayana Saras and ParamaShivan was residing in a temple. On seeing Lord Krishna, it is said that Shiva moved out of the temple and shifted to a place called Mammiyoor.
So ParamaShiva gave his own place to Lord Krishna and that is verily where Guru and Vayu consecrated Krishna. The little Krishna stands there as “Guruvayurappa” even today. ParamaShiva’s temple in Mammiyoor is about a kilometer away from the Guruvayur temple. It is believed that Shiva looks at Lord Krishna and is doing penance in Mammiyoor.
Poonthanam was a great devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan . (Kerala ) . He was an ordinary and simple man . He was not familiar with Sanskrit . He used to sing praises of the Lord in Malayalam which was his mother tongue.
Out of sheer love he wished to chant Sri Vishnusahsranamam .
He started reciting Vishnu Shahasarnamam .
Among the 1000 holy names at one particular place , instead of reciting the Holy name as “Amara Prabhuhu” he recited it as “Mara Prabhuhu”.
Amara connotes Devas and Amara Prabhuhu means the ‘Lord of all Devas’.
Another great devotee of Lord Krishna ( Guruvayurappan ) Bhattathiri a Sanskrit scholar the author of the epic Srimad Narayaneeyam , who was passing by , heard Poonthanam reciting the nama as Mara Prabhuhu.
The next day, Poonthanam again recited the name as Mara Prabhuhu. Bhattathiri who was passing by became upset hearing Poonthanam’s recital of Vishnu Shasarnamam He walked near to his place and roughed him not to chant Vishnu Shasarnamam since he had not learnt it properly. Poonthanam was sad for the offence .He pleaded LORD to forgive for his poor knowledge in Sanskrit.
That very night, the all compassionate Lord Krishna arrived in Bhattathiri’s dream and commanded him that he was pleased with Poonthanam’s devotion more than Bhattathiri’s scholarliness.
He also clarified that the holy name he chanted was correct and is indeed “Mara Prabhu” which connotes “Lord of all human beings, plants and animals”.
Coming to terms , Bhattadri realises the offence he had committed .
The very next day, Bhattathiri rushed to his house and prostrated unto Poonthanam and that “Amara Prabhuhu” and “Mara Prabhuhu” are indeed correct and requested him to continue chanting the nama verse as “Mara Prabhuhu”.
It was indeed a divine play of the Lord to show that he was indeed “Mara Prabhuhu”.
There was a follower of Poonthanam who would string garlands to Lord Guruvayurappan. She would offer the garland to the Lord every evening.
One day she was running a little late as she had some chores to complete. By the time she reached the temple, the Dolotsavam was over and the temple was closed.
There was no one else in the temple and she saw Poonthanam, who was the last person to come out of the temple. She offered her obeisances to Poonthanam and expressed her sadness that she was not able to get the garland Lord on time
Poonthanam took her near a tree before the temple and asked to offer the same .This tree called “Manjulal” is housed outside Lord Guruvayurappan temple.
One would first have the darshan of the holy tree before entering the temple.
Since the Lord was “Mara Prabhuhu” who is the Lord of trees [Mara], Poonthanam requested the girl to offer the garland to this tree. She implicitly obeyed Poonthanam and offered the garland to Manjulal.
The next morning, when the priest opened the temple to wake up the Lord, they saw the same garland around the Lord’s neck. Such was the Lord’s compassion on that little girl who verbatim obeyed a devotees words.
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics : Courtesy Google pics
