page_title: Guruvayur Temple
section_title: Temple Elephants
hierarchical_section_title: Guruvayur Temple / Temple Elephants
caption_attribution_description: Statue of Guruvayur Keshavan at Guruvayur
context_page_description: Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu god Guruvayurappan, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and is often referred to as Bhuloka Vaikunta.
  The presiding deity of the Guruvayur Temple is Vishnu, worshipped in the form of his avatar Krishna. The central icon is a four-armed standing Vishnu carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki, and a lotus with a Holy basil garland. This image represents the majestic form of Vishnu as revealed to Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki around the time of Krishna's birth. Worship proceeds according to routines laid down by Adi Shankara and later written formally in the Tantric way, the inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, by Chennas Narayanan Nambudiri. The Chennas Nambudiris are the hereditary tantris of the Guruvayur Temple.
  The temple is managed by a special Devaswom under the control of the Government of Kerala.
context_section_description: The Punnathur kotta, also known as the Anakotta (Elephant Yard in English), houses the 56 elephants belonging to the temple. This place is the home to the largest population of captive male Asian elephants in the world. These elephants are donated by devotees to the temple, and due to the preference of donating tusked male elephants, the ratio of male and female elephants living at the Anakotta is skewed. The elephants were initially kept at a compound close to the temple when the numbers were low. However, as more and more devotees donated elephants, the space became insufficient and hence they were moved to a larger property three kilometres away from the temple. Because of their association with the temple, devotees consider several of these elephants as living forms of Lord Guruvayurappa himself. Guruvayur Keshavan was the most famous among those.
caption: The Statue of Guruvayoor Kesavan at Guruvayur.
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