Other attractions
Punathur Elephant Palace
Believe it or not, you will see a sprawling large palace and its courtyards for a luxurious life for its residents, none other than 65 large elephants. Guruvayurappan Lord of Guruvayur temple is the owner of largest number of domesticated elephants, all offered by devotees. Being lord's own elephants, their accommodation was arranged in a nearby palace fort, which was renovated from its ruins to its present splendor. The 65 elephants spends their full day, eating, bathing and playing with other inmates as they are not allowed to work elsewhere. Many elephants are famous in Kerala, being star elephants and have huge number of fans across Kerala. Such star elephants, gets more splendid accommodation and services. Most of the elephants are used only for temple procession during festivals and for certain ceremonies. The annual elephant feast and Gajapooja elephant worship are some of the tradition ceremonies held inside the Palace. Also one can see the grand Punathur Palace, built strictly in traditional Kerala style.
Statues of Maraprabhu and Guruyaur Kesavan
Guruvayur Devasom has erected two giant statues at gardens of Sree Valsam guest house complex. The statue of Guruvayur Kesavan, one of the most celebrated elephants of Guruvayurappan's stables was erected as a memorial to the deceased elephant, who was crowned as Gajaraja Elephant king several times during its career as Lord's main elephant. Another landmark, located just near to Kesavan Memorial is the giant statue of Mara-Prabhu. The statue is a creative interpretion of Lord Krishna as a trunk of giant banyan tree. The statue was erected based a traditional folk-lore story.
Major temples
Mammiyoor Shiva Temple
The large Shiva Temple, is located just 500 meter from the Main temple. Its believe Lord Shiva was the original owner of Guruvayur temple and decided to relocate to current site to place the Vishnu idol in Guruvayur temple. Hence its customary for all devotees visiting Guruvayur temple to visit Mammiyoor temple before leaving the town, to complete the pilgrimage. The temple has 2 independent shrines, one for Lord Shiva and one for Lord Vishnu. The temple is extremely famous for its large murals.
Thiru Venkatachalapathy Temple
A small temple, dedicated to Thirupathi Venkatachalapathy, established by Telugu pilgrims as their token to devotion to Lord Krishna.
Parthasarathy Temple
Located within a kilometer from main temple, its a must see temple, with its main shrine built as a chariot and Lord Krishna sitting as Parthasarathy, advocating Gita to Arjuna. The main deities are Krishna reciting Holy Gita and Arjuna hearing it.
sree krishna temple
WARNING: Non Hindus strictly not allowed. The temple follows rigid traditions, by not allowing Non-hindus inside the main complex. Violators will be heavily fined; if you refuse to pay, expect to be arrested.
The entire town of Guruvayur rose to international fame because of the popularity of the Great Krishna temple, thus the temple and its surrounding temples are the prime attraction. Nearly 6-10 million devotees visit annually and it is one of the richest temples in South India.