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Record-breaking 420-plus weddings lined up at Guruvayur temple

Another 338 weddings have been booked for August 30 and 320 for September 13.

Published Aug 23, 2026 | 9:25 AMUpdated Aug 23, 2026 | 9:25 AM

Guruvayur Temple
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Kerala’s famed Guruvayur temple will see a possibly record-breaking 422 weddings on Sunday.

The record so far is 334 weddings held on another Sunday, September 8, 2024.

The weddings were then held from 4 am to 12:35 pm. As many as 49 weddings were conducted in an hour. There were no weddings during the Pantheeradi pooja held from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM and the Naivedhyam from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

The first weddings on August 23 began at 4 am.

Another 338 weddings have been booked for August 30 and 320 for September 13.

The Guruvayur Devaswom has put in place special crowd-control measures, including additional police deployment, six wedding mandapams and one-way movement through the eastern entrance.

Wedding parties have been told to collect tokens from the southern entrance and exit through the same route after the ceremony.

Only 24 people, including photographers, will be allowed near each mandapam.

Rituals such as pradakshinam and sayana pradakshina will be restricted on Sunday because of the wedding rush. CCTV systems are being checked, while parking is banned on the Inner and Outer Ring roads. Devotees have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel to the Guruvayur temple.

The Guruvayur Temple is one of the most-visited temples in Kerala. With Guruvayurappan, a form of Krishna, as the presiding deity, the temple is popular among devotees as Bhuloka Vaikunta and Dwaraka of the South.

An RTI query in 2024 revealed that Guruvayur has over Rs 2000 crore in assets and 271 acres of land. The temple also holds over 260 kg of gold and over 6600 kg of silver, making it one of the richest in the country. It is also famed for its elephants, kept at the Punnathur Kota sanctuary.

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(With inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)

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