50,000 devotees attend Guruvayur ekadasi

Thrissur: Tens of thousands of devotees thronged the Lord Sree Krishna Temple here on Thursday on the occasion of ekadesi festival.  Starting from the wee hours of ‘ekadasi’ day, the temple witnessed devotees from all over the state and the country offering prayers before the idol of Lord Sree Krishna after observing ‘ekadesi’ fast.  Guruvayur Ekadasi is observed on the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) Ekadasi in the Malayalam month of Vrishchikam. More than 50,000 devotees visited the temple by the afternoon of ekadasi day, temple authorities said.

The doors of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, which was opened during the wee hours of ‘Desami’ day on Thursday, will be closed only on ‘dwadasi’ day, which is on Friday at 9 a.m. and will only be opened at 4.30 p.m. No devotee will be allowed to enter the temple during this time.  Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee had allocated Rs 56 lakh for the ekadasi celebration. Free feast including boiled wheat, vegetable curries and payasam were served to the devotees.  The annual 10-day-long Chembai Musical Fest which was being held at the Melpathur Auditorium in front of the temple in connection with ekadasi concluded on Thursday night.