It was the Dussera vacations and we had planned that we will make a trip to Guruvayur during the holidays. Once we made the hotel reservations at Guruvayur and decided to drive in our car, we started to pack early.
My sister and I started the packing early and was ready 2 days before we started the journey.
On 4th October, we started from Bangalore after our dinner. My sister and I were sleeping in the car throughout the trip. When we woke-up, we had reached our destination.
The drive was just over 500kms, and the route was Bangalore to Guruvayur through Hosur, Krishnagiri, Salem, Coimbatore, Palakad and Shoranur.
We had some difficulty in finding our hotel. Eventually after asking a few people, we found the Gokulam Resorts hotel. The hotel was neat and decent.
We freshened-up and by 9am, went to the nearby Ganapathy Bhavan for breakfast.
We then went for our first visit to the Guruvayur Shree Krishna temple. We did not go inside the temple, but took a walk around the temple. It was quite warm and humid compared to Bangalore.
We returned to the hotel, and my father took a short nap (After a non-stop drive from Bangalore throughout the night). My sister and I watched a movie on my dad's laptop.
In the afternoon, after our lunch, we decided to visit the Punathur Kotta (Also called 'Elephant Fort' or 'Anakotta'). This is the place where all the elephants of Guruvayur temple is kept and taken care of. We heard that there were more than 60 elephants in Anakotta !! After paying an entrance fee, we went inside the gates of the Anakotta.
There were at-least two keepers (mahout?) to take care of each elephant. Some of the elephants were being given a bath, while some others were being fed. There was an elephant which seemed to be trying to break it's chain.
We took some pictures and videos of the elephants.
Video 1: Elephant being fed
Video 2: Eating time... !!
My father's favourite picture. He calls it "4-elephants".
The humidity and heat of Kerala made the four of us thirsty in no time. At the exit gate of the fort, there was a tender coconut seller. 3 tender coconuts later, thirst satisfied, we went back to our rooms to change.
The Guruvayur temple has a strict dress code and I had to change to white mundu along with my father (Pants and shirts are not allowed in the temple). There was a long queue to enter the temple for the darshan of the lord. It was a very pleasant experience. After we came out of the temple, we went to the nearby KTDC restaurant and had some good dosa and idly with chai. We did some shopping in the temple shops (drums for my sister and cousin, some devotional and kids CDs, That night, we all retired early to bed.
The next morning (5th Oct), my mother visited the temple for the early morning darshan. After our breakfast, we gave two vilakku (traditional Kerala temple lamps) as vazhivadu to the temple.
We then visited the nearby Mammiyoor Shiva temple. It is walkable distance from Guruvayur temple. The temple pond had plenty of fish and was very clean. The temple auditoriom had a cultural program in progress. We watched for a little time. After purchasing the prasadam (Nei/Ghee Payasam), we took a short food break at a nearby bakery with cake, juice, ice-cream and chips. While eating, my father told us all the story of Mammiyur temple.
Story: http://www.mammiyurdevaswom.com/history.html
The nearby theater had a Dileep movie on show and we decided to watch it. (Shringaaravelan) Mother and I enjoyed the movie, while dad was bored and my sister slept through the show - with a wake-up during interval for a pop-corn. :-)
In the evening, my sister and I went shopping around the temple shops with my father. We visited almost every shop in the vicinity and purchased some books on the history of the Guruvayur temple, some pictures of the famous elephants of the temple, etc..
The next day, after breakfast, we started for Thrissur. A short drive of about 30 minutes later, we reached what is called as the cultural capital of Kerala. We visited the zoo and the Thrissur museum. We saw the rose ringed parakeet, white necked strok, common indian monitor lizard, spotted deer, bisons, indian python, lion, tiger, cheetah and several other animals and birds. The museum had the skeleton of a huge elephant, horse, tiger and other animals (including a human). The museum and several other interesting articals like different kinds of stones and sand found in India, clothing of olden india, weapons of old India, etc..
My mother's friend and colleague, Shipla, is a native of Thrissur. She was on holiday in Thrissur, and we visited her home. After that, she was our guide for the day. :-)
Her flat was a neat house with pretty pots maintined by uncle. She helped us in all our purchases (including chips, cooking clay pot, some beans seeds, knives for my grand mother, etc...). After a chai at Shilpa aunty's uncle, we went to the famous Vadakkunathan temple. All the important details of the temple and the stories of them were explained to us by Shilpa aunty.
We returned to Guruvayur later that night. We packed and started back for Bangalore just after midnight and reached our grandfathers house for breakfast. Once again, my sister and I slept through the entire drive.
This was our first visit to Guruvayur, and we enjoyed it to the maximum.
My sister and I started the packing early and was ready 2 days before we started the journey.
On 4th October, we started from Bangalore after our dinner. My sister and I were sleeping in the car throughout the trip. When we woke-up, we had reached our destination.
The drive was just over 500kms, and the route was Bangalore to Guruvayur through Hosur, Krishnagiri, Salem, Coimbatore, Palakad and Shoranur.
We had some difficulty in finding our hotel. Eventually after asking a few people, we found the Gokulam Resorts hotel. The hotel was neat and decent.
We freshened-up and by 9am, went to the nearby Ganapathy Bhavan for breakfast.
We then went for our first visit to the Guruvayur Shree Krishna temple. We did not go inside the temple, but took a walk around the temple. It was quite warm and humid compared to Bangalore.
We returned to the hotel, and my father took a short nap (After a non-stop drive from Bangalore throughout the night). My sister and I watched a movie on my dad's laptop.
In the afternoon, after our lunch, we decided to visit the Punathur Kotta (Also called 'Elephant Fort' or 'Anakotta'). This is the place where all the elephants of Guruvayur temple is kept and taken care of. We heard that there were more than 60 elephants in Anakotta !! After paying an entrance fee, we went inside the gates of the Anakotta.
There were at-least two keepers (mahout?) to take care of each elephant. Some of the elephants were being given a bath, while some others were being fed. There was an elephant which seemed to be trying to break it's chain.
We took some pictures and videos of the elephants.
Video 2: Eating time... !!
My father's favourite picture. He calls it "4-elephants".
The humidity and heat of Kerala made the four of us thirsty in no time. At the exit gate of the fort, there was a tender coconut seller. 3 tender coconuts later, thirst satisfied, we went back to our rooms to change.
The Guruvayur temple has a strict dress code and I had to change to white mundu along with my father (Pants and shirts are not allowed in the temple). There was a long queue to enter the temple for the darshan of the lord. It was a very pleasant experience. After we came out of the temple, we went to the nearby KTDC restaurant and had some good dosa and idly with chai. We did some shopping in the temple shops (drums for my sister and cousin, some devotional and kids CDs, That night, we all retired early to bed.
The next morning (5th Oct), my mother visited the temple for the early morning darshan. After our breakfast, we gave two vilakku (traditional Kerala temple lamps) as vazhivadu to the temple.
We then visited the nearby Mammiyoor Shiva temple. It is walkable distance from Guruvayur temple. The temple pond had plenty of fish and was very clean. The temple auditoriom had a cultural program in progress. We watched for a little time. After purchasing the prasadam (Nei/Ghee Payasam), we took a short food break at a nearby bakery with cake, juice, ice-cream and chips. While eating, my father told us all the story of Mammiyur temple.
Story: http://www.mammiyurdevaswom.com/history.html
The nearby theater had a Dileep movie on show and we decided to watch it. (Shringaaravelan) Mother and I enjoyed the movie, while dad was bored and my sister slept through the show - with a wake-up during interval for a pop-corn. :-)
In the evening, my sister and I went shopping around the temple shops with my father. We visited almost every shop in the vicinity and purchased some books on the history of the Guruvayur temple, some pictures of the famous elephants of the temple, etc..
The next day, after breakfast, we started for Thrissur. A short drive of about 30 minutes later, we reached what is called as the cultural capital of Kerala. We visited the zoo and the Thrissur museum. We saw the rose ringed parakeet, white necked strok, common indian monitor lizard, spotted deer, bisons, indian python, lion, tiger, cheetah and several other animals and birds. The museum had the skeleton of a huge elephant, horse, tiger and other animals (including a human). The museum and several other interesting articals like different kinds of stones and sand found in India, clothing of olden india, weapons of old India, etc..
My mother's friend and colleague, Shipla, is a native of Thrissur. She was on holiday in Thrissur, and we visited her home. After that, she was our guide for the day. :-)
Her flat was a neat house with pretty pots maintined by uncle. She helped us in all our purchases (including chips, cooking clay pot, some beans seeds, knives for my grand mother, etc...). After a chai at Shilpa aunty's uncle, we went to the famous Vadakkunathan temple. All the important details of the temple and the stories of them were explained to us by Shilpa aunty.
We returned to Guruvayur later that night. We packed and started back for Bangalore just after midnight and reached our grandfathers house for breakfast. Once again, my sister and I slept through the entire drive.
This was our first visit to Guruvayur, and we enjoyed it to the maximum.
