Guruvayur Thiru Venkatachalapathy temple is located at Thiruvenkidom – Guruvayoor, a kilometer north east of the world famous Sri Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple. The shrine is dedicated to Thiruvenkitachalapathy (Balaji or Venkateswara of Tirumala Tirupati temple). Goddess Bhagavathi is also worshipped with equal importance in the temple. As per local belief a Sannyasi from Tirupati Tirumala came to Guruvayoor temple and he wished to have a shrine dedicated to Venkateswara in Guruvayur. He got permission from Guruvayoorappan (Sri Krishna) to construct a temple in the spot where the current Thiru Venkitachalapathy temple is located. The annual Makara Chovva festival in the temple is famous for Ganapati homam, Laksharchana, Melam and Nadyakkal Para. Ganapathy, Goddess Saraswathi, Ayyappan, Nagaraja and Brahmarakshas are the upa devatas. Ramanujaryar, the founder of the temple, has a separate worship area. The annual festival in the temple begins on Punartham nakshatra in Medam mont