The Guruvayur Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Guruvayurappan, a form of Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and is often referred to as Bhuloka Vaikuntha (Vaikuntha in the earthly realm). The central icon is a four-armed standing Vishnu carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana, the mace Kaumodaki, and a lotus with a tulasi garland. This image represents the form of Vishnu as revealed to Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki around the time of his birth. Worship proceeds according to routines laid down by Adi Shankara and later written formally in the Tantric way, the inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, by Chennas Narayanan Nambudiri. The Chennas Nambudiris are the hereditary tantris (high priests) of the Guruvayur Temple. The temple is managed by Guruvayur Devaswom under the control of the Government of Kerala. The main festivals of this temple are the 10-day festival in the Malayalam month of Kumbham starting with flag hoisting on Pooyam star, Krishna Janmashtami (Birthday of Krishna) in the month of Chingam, Ekadasi (11th day) in the shukla paksha (bright fortnight) in the month of Vrischikam, popularly called as the Guruvayur Ekadasi and Vishu on the first day of the month of Medam, once a harvest festival. The temple's sub-deities are Ganapati, Ayyappan, and Bhagavati, and there are two sub-temples each, one for Ganapati and the other for ''Nagadevata'' nearby the temple. One of its replica temples is Uttara Guruvayurappan Temple located at Mayur Vihar in Delhi. The temple is dedicated to Krishna, who is worshipped as Guruvayurappan, the deity of the famous Krishna Temple in Guruvayur Town in the state of Kerala. This temple is most revered by the Malayalis and Tamilians. All non-Hindus are prohibited entry within the Guruvayur Temple. Legend Guruvayur Mahatmyam – early legend According to legend, the king Janamejaya conducted a sacrifice to destroy all the snakes of the world including Takshaka, who was the cause of his father Parikshit's death. Hundreds of thousands of snakes fell into the sacrificial fire and were killed, but the sacrifice was stopped by a Brahmin called Astika, before Takshaka was killed. Since Janamejaya was responsible for the death of millions of snakes, he was afflicted with leprosy. He lost all hope of a cure. One day Sage Atreya (son