Guruvayoor Ekadasi 2018

At Guruvayur in Kerala, Sri Krishna is worshipped as Guruvayurappan, the image said to have been installed by Guru, the teacher of the devas, and Vayu, the wind god, after whom the place is named. The Shukla Ekadashi of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam is the temple's greatest Ekadashi.

Tradition holds that this is also the day Krishna taught the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, so it is kept as Gita Day at the temple. Worship goes on from before dawn until late night, the Udayasthamana Puja, and the temple remains open through the night into Dvadashi.

The weeks before the day are filled with the Chembai Sangeetholsavam, the music festival in honour of the singer Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, which ends on Ekadashi. The day also remembers Guruvayur Kesavan, the temple's beloved elephant. Devotees fast through the day and break the fast on Dvadashi morning.