Guruvayurappan - Kururamma, another favourite devotee – 3 of 3

Part 14

Kururamma and the red loin cloth

Kururamma who was an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, used to promptly visit the temple and have the darshan of the Lord every morning and evening.

One night as she was returning back after the Sriveli procession, where the Lord is taken around in a procession on an elephant and then put to sleep, it started raining and she lost her way. She had to cross a couple of forests en route her home and it was very dark as there were no lights on the road. As she was walking in the forest, she was continuously chanting the divine names of Lord Guruvayurappan and suddenly a small boy appeared in front of her and enquired as to how she got lost. She narrated and then the boy led Kururamma safely towards her house. As they both walked, both of them got drenched in the rains.

As they reached Kururamma’s house, she thanked the boy for taking her safely home and asked his name. The boy replied that his name was Gopala. She wanted to give the boy something as a token of gratitude and when she asked the boy, he asked her for a piece of cloth. He was only clad in a loin cloth on his hip and since he had got wet in the rains, he wanted to change his loin cloth.

Kururamma looked around and she spotted a red saree. She tore apart some portion of the saree and gave it to the boy. He happily changed his loin cloth and went away.

The next morning, when the priests opened the temple to wake the Lord, they were surprised to behold the beautiful form of the Lord in a red loin cloth and were wondering where it came from. Kururamma came to have the darshan of the Lord the next day and felt extremely happy to see the Lord clad in red loin cloth! She was deeply touched at the divine play of the Lord and how he had showered his grace on her. The form of the Lord was so enticing that from that day, the Lord is dressed in only a red loin cloth in the night.

A little boy and his devotion

In Guruvayur lived a little boy who used to partake the food, only after offering to Lord Guruvayurappan. If he had only one fruit to eat, he would offer half of it to the Lord and partake the remaining half. Such was his devotion to Lord Guruvayurappan.

One day he couldn’t find a morsel of rice to eat and since he was starving, he stole a banana from a nearby shop and was eventually caught and everyone reprimanded him severely. They also wanted to punish him and hence ordered him to go around the temple for a certain number of times.

As the boy was going around the temple, the priest of the temple was able to see that Lord Guruvayurappan was also going around the temple along with the boy. When he asked the Lord for the reason, He replied that since he also had a share in the stolen banana, he is bound to share the punishment too!

Kittai's tender coconuts

On Arattu day, the Utsava vigraha will be taken out and tender coconut water abhishekam (pouring of coconut water over the idol) will be done. An Ezhava family called Tampuran Patikkal used to bring these tender coconuts for this important rite. There was one Kittai, as the head of the family then.

Once on the Arattu day, one Keezhsanthi (priest) went to Kittai of Tampuran Patikkal and asked for some tender coconut to quench his thirst. Kittai was a bit slow to get the coconut and the Keezhsanthi went away in a hurry. As soon as he left, the coconuts began to fall from the trees, on their own one after the other. Kittai was shocked to see this and he took a full load of 25 coconuts and ran to the temple.

He met one of the uralars or trustees of the temple and described the whole incident. On enquiring it was found that neither of the two Keezhsanthis had gone that way. It was evident that the Keezhsanthi was none other than the Lord himself and that He wanted to have an abhishekam with tender coconut water! Thus, started this rite of tender coconut water abhishekam on the Arattu day. The privilege of bringing the tender-coconuts was conferred on the descendants of that family.

Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshitar

In modern times, this well-known scholar and Upanyasa Chakravati was cured of his leprosy by praying to Lord Guruvayurappan. His disease was so advanced, that the watchman did not allow him to take bath in the temple tank. 3 or 4 years later, Dikshitar came to pray to Guruvayurappan. To the amazement of all, he was fully cured. The miracle was due to his faithful recitation of Narayaneeyam!

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar

The legendary Carnatic music singer, lost his voice suddenly at the peak of a concert at Suchindram. 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 sang many more concerts in later years.