Navaneetham - Guruvayoor / Guruvayur

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When he was 8 years old his Upanayanam was completed and at 14 his Samaavarthanam.
He went to the Valyedathumoosathinte Kurumaappuram Narasimha Kshethram (Temple)
to learn and to do Pooja etc. His initially gurus were Shri Kaatambakil Parameshwaran
Nair and Poochedi Krishnapilla. His father Parameshwaran Namboothiri did not like to
send this son to the normal school during those days since he suspected his son would
lose his Brahmanya and fall into bad company. Thereafter he started learning Sanskrit
from Guru Pattaman Vasudevan Namboothiri. Later on his father friend advised him to
send this son to Calicut to learn Shanthi and related work at the Niramkaithakotta Temple
as well arranged to let him learn Sanskrit too.
Basically Guruvayoorappan had already started making arrangement to ensure the young
lad would be one of this dear Baktas who would sing his glories though the Bhagwatha
recitals. As Sri Narayana Bhattatiri as stated, Sickness cannot be regarded as our enemies
if they are going to lead us to Guruvayoorappan. During his days in Calicut he stated
getting sick often. The work at the temple and then walking about 2 kms in the hot sun to
learn Sanskrit and then return back to work in the temple. He used to go to sleep at 10PM
in the Night and then wakeup at 4AM for temple puja activities. This rigours routine had
taken its toll on his body and he started getting sick too often. He started getting stomach
and digestive problem very often, he somehow managed to complete 12 months stay in
Calicut, thereafter he returned to his home town for treatment. He took treatment from
various Ayurvedic Doctors and this included Taikattu Moosa too, but those treatments
did not have any effect on him. During this time Kuzhiyadi Raman Namboothiri advised
him to do Soorya Namaskaaram along with the medication. This too did not yield any
appreciable improvement in his illness. It is then that with the blessing of
Guruvayoorappan his mother told him to serve Guruvayoorappan. All she had was just a
one rupee coin which she gave him and told that Guruvayoorappan will take care of the
rest. He later collected some money from his friends and relatives and reach Guruvayoor
in the month of Tulam (Oct-Nov). Initially he spent 12 days in the company of
Othikanmar (Pujaris) and then later he got a friend with who decided to go for the 41
days Bhajanam.
Brahmashree Padappan Namboothiri used to stay in Guruvayoor during those days and
he had a special liking for Shankaran Namboothiri. Padappan Namboothiri used to eat
only the Naivedayam (Offering) at the Guruvayoorambalam that too after giving part of it
to all those present as prasadam. As Shankaran Namboothiri had a special liking for
Sanskrit recitation and Padappan Namboothiri too liked him very much therefore he
decided to make Shankaran Namboothiri as his disciple. All Shankaran Namboothiri had
was a Quarter Anna which he offered as Dakshina to the Guru. While studying
Bhagwatha it is essential that the student has to read Bhagwatha every day, but
Shankaran Namboothiri did not have enough money to buy one, again Guruvayoorappan
had to help him in this respect too. One Thootam Namboothiri told him to meet Amayyar
she was a staunch devotee of Guruvayoorappan and she would give Bhagwatham. He got
the Bhagwatham from her for free. He completed learning Bhagwatham and wanted to
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