The Gurupavanapura-Mahatmya which forms part of the Narada Purana alludes briefly to its history and sanctity. The story goes that King Janamejaya, son of King Parikshit, wished to avenge his father's death which was brought about by the deadly Takshaka , a Naga chief. He accordingly performed a sarpa yagna in which thousands of innocent reptiles perished.

     As a result of the victims' curse he become afflicted with leprosy. The disease manifested itself at the very touch of his bride, Jyotishmati of Avanti , on the very day of their marriage. He obtained no relief from medicines. In despair he was on the point of taking his own life when the sage Dattatreya appeared before him. Moved by the king's sufferings, the sage suggested a remedy: propitiation of Lord Krishna at Guruvayur. He then revealed to the monarch the glory of that deity.

     "The deity at Guruvayur," said Dattatreya, "is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Narayana and Narayana Himself was the first to worship Him." At the beginning of the Padma Kalpa. He gave it to Brahma and it was by the grace of this deity that he was able to carry out his allotted task of creation.

     At the beginning of the Varaha Kalpa, Sutapa and Prisni who had no children, prayed to Brahma for the gift of a son. The creator gave them the deity and said that their wish would be fulfilled by worshipping it. Pleased with their sincere and deep devotion, Lord Mahavishnu Himself appeared before them. Three times they asked Him for a son and every time He said, "Be it so" and added that He would be born to them as their son at three successive births and they would have the good fortune of worshipping the divine deity too during all the three janmas

     In due course, Prisni gave birth to a son, who was named 'Prisnigarbha'. In their second life, as Kasyapa and Aditi, the couple worshipped the same deity. The Lord incarnated Himself as Vamana in order to deliver the demon king Bali who was a threat to the demigods.

     Kasyapa and Aditi were born as Vasudeva and Devaki in their third life. They received the deity from Dhaumya and through its grace Lord Krishna was born to them. After slaying Kamsa, Krishna moved to Dwaraka where He built a temple in which He installed the deity of the Supreme Lord Himself and worshipped it after the death of His parents.
When the time came for the Lord's ascent to Goloka Vrindavan, Lord Krishna told His foremost disciple and devotee Uddhava that the purpose of His appearance was over and that He would soon disappear. Uddhava was plunged in grief thinking of the terrible fate that would befall the world in kaliyuga during His absence. The Lord pacified His devotee by saying that He would manifest Himself in the deity and shower His blessings on His devotees and ward off the evil effects of Kaliyuga. He asked Uddhava to take good care of the deity during the impending submergence of Dwaraka in the sea and install it at a spot equally holy in consultation with Brihaspati (Guru), the preceptor of the demigods.

     Accordingly, Brihaspati accompanied by his disciple, Vayu, the god of the winds, arrived at Dwaraka. Sri Krishna had already departed for His eternal Abode and varuna, the sea-god was in occupation of Dwaraka. The deity was being tossed in the sea by the surging waves. At the suggestion of Guru and Vayu, Varuna withdrew. The wind god carried the deity on his head and both set out in search of a sacred place for its installation.
After wandering through a lot of places in North India, at last, as they were entering Kerala through the Palakkad gap, they were met by Parasurama who had created Kerala and who Himself was going to Dwaraka in search of the very deity they were bringing.

     At this time, Kerala was afflicted with rheumatism. Unable to bear the suffering people journeyed together to Parasurama's mulasthana. or headquarters at Thrissoor and appealed to him to afford them some means of relief. At the same time, Narada muni happened to pass through Thrissoor. He was deeply moved by the sight of such a vast assembly of rheumatics writhing in pain. He advised Parasurama to bring the deity whichSri Krishna had worshipped

at Dwaraka and install it in the most sacred spot in Kerala. By worshipping the deity, Narada muni said, people would be cured of the malady. Parasurama now led the way for Guru and Vayu and they all came near a beautiful lake full of lotuses. On one side of it there were Lord Siva and Parvati to welcome them. The lake was none other than Rudrathirtha where Siva taught the Rudragita to Pracetas. "This place", said Siva to them, " was marked out long ago for the deity of Narayana; I shall most gladly leave Rudrathirtha and live with Parvati at Mammiyur on the opposite bank." ( ISKCON'S PROJECT site is situated immediately near this famous Mamiyur Shiva temple and a stones throw behind the main temple of Guruvayur )      Sprinkling the holy waters of the Rudrakupa on the deity and offering worship to it, Siva turned to Guru and Vayu and said "You two together should perform the installation; as you are the founders of this sacred temple, this place shall be known as Guruvayupura." The deity of Guruvayur is endearingly called Guruvayurappan, the Lord (appan) of Guruvayur.      Guru and Vayu brought Vishwakarma, the architect of the demigods and built the temple. Such is the mahatmya of the deity of Guruvayur as narrated by the sage Dattatreya.

      After hearing this story of the Lord in full, Janamejaya, accompanied by the sage Dattatreya, went thither and practiced devotional service for four months under his direction. He was present for all the temple programs and took only prasadam of the Lord. At last one night while asleep, janamejaya felt the Lotus hands of the Lord pass over his body from head to foot. When he opened his eyes he found to his joy and wonder that the racking pains had ceased and the festering sores healed. He returned to his kingdom filled with devotion to the Lord of Guruvayur to Whom no one prays in vain.

Pastimes of Sri Guruvayurappan

Poontanam and Melpattur Narayana Bhattatiri:
Poonthanam nambudiri was a humble devotee of Lord Sri Guruvayurappan. Unlike Bhattatiri, who was a well versed sanskrit scholar, Poonthanam had no formal education. In his daily parayana of the Bhagavatam or of chanting of the thousand names of the Lord he mispronounced many words. Once Bhattatiri laughed when he heard him utter the word Amaraprabhu (Lord of the demigods) as "Maraprabhu" (in Malayalam it would mean Lord of the trees). An incorporeal voice was now heard saying: " The Lord is Amaraprabhu, Maraprabhu and indeed Sarvaprabhu (Lord of everything)."

Poonthanam Nambudiri : On one occasion Poonthanam was travelling from his native Angadipuram to Guruvayur. The route from Angadipuram to Guruvayur the lay across a forest infested with robbers. The sun had already set and Poonthanam found he had still six miles to go to reach Guruvayur. On the perilous path he sought courage from chanting of the Lord's names and singing from the Narayaniyam. Nevertheless he was waylaid by robbers. The only valuable thing the robbers found on him was the ring he wore on his finger. This the ruffians removed by force and beat him up. Poor Poonthanam fell on his feet giving himself up to the Lord's - his beloved Guruvayurappan's - care. In a flash he saw Draupadi praying to Lord Krishna to save her from the wicked Dussasana disrobing her in the open assembly of the Kauravas. He saw Gajendra offering flowers at His feet to save him from the jaws of the crocodile and Poonthanam also found himself praying:

Draupaditraane yaa tvaraa Gajarakshakane
mayyaarte karunaamoorte saa tvaaraakva gataa hare!

Rescued he was! How? As he was praying to Sri Guruvayurappan, the sound of a galloping horse was heard and there appeared on the scene a party of the Zamorin's soldiers (King), commanded by Mangat Achan(commander). Seeing this, the robbers took to their heels leaving the ring and Poonthanam fell at his saviour's feet. As a token of gratitude he offered the commander the ring, which he reluctantly accepted. Next morning when Poonthanam went to have his beloved Lord's darshan at Guruvayur, the Melsanti (Head Priest) handed over to him a ring which was the same as he had handed over the previous night to the Zamorin's commander. The mystery became clear to poonatanam in notime. The commander was none other than the Lord Guruvayurappan Himself come to save His poor devotee's life. Tears of grateful joy rolled down Poonthanam's cheeks as he fell prostrate before the Lord.

Gajarajan Kesavan: In Guruvayur, the playful Lord has a collected a lot of elephants. One of the elephants who used to carry the Lord on his head during Seeveli. He served the Lord for 54 years and died in the temple in front of the Lord. He was the tallest elephant in Kerala during his times and was very much devoted to Lord Guruvayurappan. He was also very playful and mischievous, but never harmed anyone. One such story reveals his extreme compassion for people in distress. Once he was walking hurriedly to the temple through a narrow lane, disobeying the orders of the mahouts. Horrified, the people on the road and those inside the shops on both sides of the road ran for their lives. But a leper who had lost both the legs, sitting on the middle of the road, could do nothing but cry aloud for the mercy of the Lord. Every one feared that Kesavan would cause the poor man's death by trampling over him. But as everyone watched the scene from a safe distance, Kesavan lifted the man with his heavy trunk, gently placed him in a corner and then went straight to the temple.