Most people have only a vague concept of the temple’s history. I thought it would be a good idea to provide a brief overview based on the perusal of historic records, primarily the many papers and books authored by an early Malabar chronicler, KV Krishna Ayyar. Some years ago, I had written about the involvement of the Dutch and Hydrose Kutty Moplah, in the temple’s history. This will overlap and cover earlier aspects and take you through a few of the changes after Malabar came under the British administration. So, this article will take you through some early surmises, the Dutch and Mysore periods, and eventually the golden days under the Zamorins of Calicut, who incidentally are still the main trustees. We will also quickly check out what Ayyar termed the Guruvayur Cult.