Guruvayoor: Chingam is the Malayalam month of weddings. The wedding rush in front of the Guruvayur temple will also increase considerably during this time of the year. On August 21, the first Saturday of this year’s Chingam, the temple received bookings for 242 weddings. This number will further increase in the coming days. It is the first time in two years that such a huge number of weddings are going to be held on the same day. 

The court has directed that more arrangements should be made in Guruvayur to handle the rush during weddings. Guruvayur Devaswom Board president Dr V K Vijayan said that the board made all arrangements before the instructions were issued. 

Five Kalayana mandapams

There are three mandapams for the wedding ceremony at present. Two more will be installed on Saturday night. The new mandapams will be installed in such a way that they can be removed on days when there is not much wedding rush. 

Bride and groom should arrive early 

The bride, groom and their relatives should arrive at least half an hour before the muhurtham and report at the booth set up on the south side of the Melpathoor auditorium. The wedding party will be directed to the mandapams as per the time allotted to them while booking tickets. Only 20 people including photographers will be allowed inside the mandapam. 

Registration facility will be improved 

There will be a huge rush for wedding registration in the Guruvayur municipality office. Municipality Chairman M Krishnadas said that more arrangements will be made to hand out the marriage certificates in a timely manner if necessary documents are submitted properly. 

No registration facility in front of the temple 

The married couple has to walk from the temple to the registration office after the wedding ceremony. The Devaswom had decided to start a registration counter near the temple to avoid this problem. But no action has been taken yet.

Choose this way 

There is a temporary service road as the work of the bridge near the east entrance of the temple is progressing. This road is one-way and only two-wheelers and barely scooters are able to pass through this road. The vehicles coming from Thrissur may find it challenging to get to Guruvayur as the work is progressing.
Those coming from Kozhikode, Palakkad and Ernakulam through Kodungalloor can reach Guruvayur without any obstructions. 

Rooms all booked out 

There are more than 150 lodges in the area. Most of them have been completely booked out for about two months. The facilitation centre and amenity centre have not been opened yet. These have washrooms and resting areas for devotees and will prove to be much useful once opened. 

Many people will rely on the hotels in Thrissur and other nearby areas including Kunnamkulam, Chavakkad and even Thriprayar. Kunnamkulam is 10 kilometres away from Guruvayur and Chavakad is four kilometres away. Distance between Guruvayur and Thrissur is 45 minutes and to Thriprayar is 50 minutes.