A temple on the lines of the famous Krishna temple in Kerala's Guruvayur has come up in a narrow lane off Manoharpukur Road in south Calcutta, in the place of a smaller temple built in the mid-90s.
The Guruvayurappan temple - tucked in Nakuleswar Bhattacharjee Lane, about 10 minutes' walk from the Hazra crossing - has a gopuram and a large teak door called Dasavatharam Gopuram door.
The door is named so because images of 10 avatars of Krishna are engraved on it.
"The architecture is similar to that of the Guruvayur temple," said N. Ravi, a member of the committee that runs the temple. "Architects had come from Kerala and worked here for two years to build this temple."
The temple in Guruvayur town, in Thrissur district, is believed to be 5,000 years old.
The new temple, spread across 12 cottahs and opened on February 8, has places for visitors to stay and eat and a bigger space for devotees to stand or sit and watch the puja.
The earlier temple stood on a 5-cottah plot. The temple committee bought an adjacent plot and the new temple was built at a cost of Rs 5 crore. The funds were raised with donations from individuals as well as institutions.
Members of the local Malayali community said the Guruvayurappan temple was more than a shrine - they expect it to become a meeting place for the community and a platform to showcase their culture.
"Earlier, Malayalis were concentrated in some areas like Southern Avenue or Park Circus, but now we have spread across the city and also to the fringes. So this temple is also a nice meeting place for members of the community," said Ramesh Narayan, a businessman and member of the committee running the temple.
According to an estimate, around 60,000 Malayalis live in Calcutta and the fringes.
Several cultural programmes were held on the temple premises in the first week of February to mark the unveiling of the temple.
The performances included a Kathakali dance recital by Sucheendranathan of Visva-Bharati and devotional songs by Udaiyalur K. Kalyanaraman from Kerala.
