A peasant woman living far to the north of the temple who was an ardent devotee of Krishna aspired to visit the Guruvayur temple someday. While it was customary to bring offerings to the temple, she was too poor to afford any gifts. But she did know of an old tree that shed beautiful shiny red seeds, so gathering a pouchful of them she left the safety of her home and loved ones and set off for Guruvayur.

It was a long, arduous journey through forests and over rivers for a lone woman on foot over four days. When she finally arrived at her destination, however, her timing wasn't good.

It was the first day of the month, when the local ruler would visit the temple with his monthly gift. To display his devotion, his officials cleared people away from the path to make room for the ruler and his elephant to approach the temple.

Somehow during this procession the peasant woman was knocked to the ground, her precious pouch of seeds scattered over the ground. Immediately, the elephant went berserk and began to run wild, trampling everything in its path.

Unable to control the elephant, the ruler prayed to Krishna for help. Suddenly a voice was heard from within the temple: "Where is my Manjadikuru? Where is my devotee, whom you have insulted and hurt? Where is my gift of beautiful bright red seeds that she lovingly put together?"

Ashamed, the ruler apologized to the woman and gathered up her scattered seeds. When her pouch was full once more she was escorted into the sanctum of the temple with great honor. Once her gift was given, the elephant returned to normal. In memory of her offering, even to this day, the large urn of shiny red seeds sits within the temple.

In memory of her devotion, Indian artisans place a dozen carved elephants inside the Lucky Beans.