New head priest for Guruvayur temple

Guruvayur: Bhavan Namboodiri (42) was Tuesday elected as the head priest of the famous Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple for six months starting from October 1.

The selection was made by drawing lots from a list of 45 shortlisted candidates who applied for the job, temple officials said.

Bhavan hails from a family of Vedic scholars.

The head priest-- known as "melsanthi"--is selected every six months as per the convention followed by the temple.

He will lead all the rituals and poojas from early in the morning on all days during his tenure.