Governor M.K. Narayanan being greeted at the Sree Guruvayurappan Temple on Sunday

The Sree Guruvayurappan Temple off Lake Market in south Calcutta will have a floor added to the main shrine or Srikovil, a Nadappura (grand hall) adjacent to it and a Gopuram (elaborate main entrance) in a year’s time.

All these and more as part of a Rs 5-crore expansion and renovation project of an important place of worship for Calcutta’s Malayali community.

Governor M.K. Narayanan and industrialist Harshvardhan Neotia on Sunday attended the Sayujya Puja (inaugural stone-laying ritual) of the project.

Clad in a mundu, the governor arrived at the temple at 9.30am and stayed bare-bodied during the entire two-hour ceremony.

Tradition demands devotees near the sanctum sanctorum of a Malayali Hindu temple to be clad in a single piece of cloth devoid of stitches.

“I am blessed by Lord Guruvayurappan to be the governor of Bengal… and be a part of this holy ceremony,” Narayanan said.

“I am a devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan. I will help the project in whichever way possible,” said Neotia who was present with wife Madhu.

Built in 1995, the temple dedicated to Lord Krishna currently stands on an eight-cottah plot while four more cottahs have been acquired for the expansion project.

It is modelled on the Guruvayur Temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district, which is believed to be over 5,000 years old and the earliest recorded reference dates back to 14th century AD. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Krishna.

The chief priest of the Guruvayur Temple, Thantri Acharya Ratna Brahmasree P.C. Dinesan Namboodiripad, and architect Brahmasree Kanippayur Krishnan Namboodiripad had flown in to perform the rituals on Sunday.

“The expansion plan was in the pipeline because of increasing devotee count at the temple. The project is likely to be completed by 2014-end,” said a member of the Sree Guruvayurappan Samajam Calcutta’s managing council.

The Nadappura or hall will have restrooms while the Gopuram will be built with granite stones from Kerala.

Temple sources said 55 intricate sculptures of deities carved on Nilambur teakwood in Kerala would embellish the new wings.