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Guruvayur Temple – 4
Some more anecdotes
Manaveda
Manaveda (1585–1658 AD), the Zamorin Raja of Calicut in northern Kerala was a renowned author, poetic genius and a far sighted ruler. He is best known for his Sanskrit text Krishnageethi that presents the story of Krishna, based on 10th and 11th skandhas of Bhagavata Purana. It has also drawn inspirations from Gita Govinda of Jayadeva and Narayaneeyam of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri . This masterpiece forms the basis of “Krishnanattam”, a unique genre of dance drama dealing solely on the story of Krishna through eight presentations : Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham, and Swargarohanam. This blessed art form is still preserved and patronized by Guruvayur Temple and staged as an offering (vazhipadu) by devotees.
It is said that once King Manaveda told Vilwamangalam Swamiyar about his wish to see Lord Krishna. The next day the Swamiyar told him that Guruvayurappan had given his consent and Manaveda could see Him playing in the early morning hours at the platform of the Elanji tree.He was permitted to see Him but not touch Him. When as per this agreement, Manavedan saw Guruvayurappan in the form of little child Sri Krishna, he was so excited that he forgot himself and rushed to embrace little Sree Krishna. He immediately disappeared saying, “Vilwamangalam did not tell me that this would happen “.However, Manaveda got a peacock feather from the headgear of Bhagavan Krishna that was later incorporated in the headgear for the character of Sri Krishna in the Krishnanattam performed near the sanctum sanctorum of the Guruvayur Temple.
Shopkeeper and boy
Once, a poor boy was so hungry that to appease his hunger, he stole a banana from a nearby fruit shop. Being a devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, he dropped half the banana into the ‘hundi’ and ate the other half. The shop-keeper caught hold of the boy who admitted his guilt. As a punishment, the shop-keeper ordered him to walk around the temple a certain number of times. The shop-keeper was aghast when he saw Lord Guruvayurappan follow the little boy around the temple. That night the Lord came to the shopkeeper in a dream and explained, “Since I have also had a share in the stolen banana I am bound to share the punishment, too. So, I followed the boy around the temple.”
Disappearing Nivedyam
Once the melsanthi (main priest) at the Guruvayur temple, instructed his twelve-year-old son to offer the Nivedyam to the Lord, as he had to be away on an urgent engagement. The son, Unni, offered a Nivedyam of cooked rice to the Lord : in his simplicity, he believed that the deity would actually eat the food, but the deity did not move. So, Unni bought some salted mangoes and curd from a neighborhood vendor, thinking that the Lord would prefer this, mixed the curd with rice and offered it again. The deity again remained unmoved. Unni cajoled, requested, coaxed and in the end threatened, but the deity remained unmoved. He wept because he believed he had failed and shouted at the Lord, exclaiming that his father would beat him.
The Lord could not bear it any more, and made the Nivedyam disappear.. When his father, returned to the temple, he saw the empty plate and became very angry with Unni, but Unni insisted that God had, in fact, eaten the offering. The father thought that the boy had eaten the offering himself and was lying. He was about to beat Unni, but just then an Asareeri (celestial voice) was heard saying, “What Unni told is right. I am guilty. Unni is innocent. I ate all the food that he had offered me. There’s no need to punish him”.
In recent decades, Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshitar, the well known scholar and Upanyasa Chakravati was cured of his leprosy by his faithful recitation of Narayaneeyam and praying to Lord Guruvayurappan. Similarly, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, the legendary singer, lost his voice suddenly during a concert. Several doctors tried to cure him but to no avail. He went to Guruvayur and cried out to the Lord. He regained his voice and lived many more years to sing in many concerts.
All these interesting anecdotes help us understand the divine presence of Guruvayurappa ever ready to grace and bless anyone and everyone who prays to the Lord with unalloyed bhakthi.I presume you have had darshan of Guruvayurappa: if not, you should. What are you waiting for?
Om Namo Narayanaya