Lord Guruvayurappan is a form of Lord Vishnu, who is being worshiped as Sri Krishna in His child form, also known as Guruvayur Unni Kannan. Even though the deity is that of Chatur bahu - four handed Lord Vishnu, the Sankalpam - concept of the people is that the deity is the infant form of Lord Krishna. The deity represents the purna rupa - full manifestation revealed by baby Sri Krishna to his parents Vasudeva and Devaki immediately after His advent in Kamsa's prison.
The word Guruvayurappan, meaning Lord of Guruvayur, comes from the words Guru referring to Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devas, Vayu the God of Wind and Appan meaning 'father' or 'Lord' in Malayalam. Since Guru and Vayu installed Sri Krishna's deity, the name Guruvayurappan was given to the deity. The significance of Sri Guruvayurappan and various miracles of him are narrated in the Appendix section of this document.