Kalahasthi
Temple Name : Sri Kalahastheeswar temple
Devi : Vandaar Kuzhalaal/ Gnanaprasoonambika
Bhairava : -
Organ: upper abdomen
Sanskrit letter: No
At a early morning, i have started my journey to Tirupathi with my friends. There is a regular and famous train named Saptagiri express from chennai central to Tirpati at 6 25 am. We reached Tirupathi 9 30 am, we went to get registration for Darshan, in Devasthanam Board nearby Bus stand. But we got token by afternoon, so we plan to kalhasthi, another shakthi peet.
Kalahasthi is said to be Dhakshina Kailash(south kailash) and this temple is said to be one of pancha bootha sthalam (Temples for Lord shiva emboided with five primary elements fire, water, air, land and space). This temple is mentioned for air. There is a story narrates that this temple is worshipped by three beings snake, elephant and spider as it named as Sri (spider) kala(snake) hasti(elepant). We reached the temple, after crossing busy bazaar, the temple build in southern architecture and it is well developed inperiod of vijayanagara empire with four gopurams(towers) at four directions.
First, we went to shiva shrine, that the linga in main sanctoum is said to be very ancient as it is Swayambhu – orginate by its own. There is a straight snake ornament is covered over the linga looks so beauty for it. There are nine horizontal crosses over the ornament resembles nine planet and 27 stars over it. I heard that two lamp flames lightened here oscillats very fast in air whereas there is no flow of air in that tight architecture.I noticed that one, it is not oscillating that much fast, but it is oscillating and i saw a camphor flame nearby, it is still.
Shakthi shrine is next to it, devi idol is gigantic made up of black stone, decorated beautiful and seems to be a 6 feet fair lady stands before us. She is named as Vandoor Kuzhalaali in Tamil means wearing flowers with bees around in her head hair and Gnanaprasoonambika in sanskrit. We went outside of the temple, and we saw a small kali temple in that outer prahakaram, may be this one will be shakthi peet. As I saw in many temple, the main deity that is inside the temple will not be a shakthi peet, a small and unnoticed temple will be a shakthi peet and it will be mentioned as kali, usually.
We worshipped that kali temple, much more vibrant there and went outside the temple, we saw a smallhillock nearby the temple, and they said that is kannapa hill located, east to this temple. Kannapa was a hunter lived at this region, seems to belong before 10 th centuary. Once at his life time, he reached this place, and see a linga here. Attracted to that place and that linga, we fall in love with that. He starts to come to this place reguraly, feed it with hunted food , cleaned with water, decorated with flowers. One day, he saw that one eye of that stone was bleeding, he stopped that with his hand, but still it was. He crushed medicinal herbs on it,no use. His starts crying, and without thinking, he cut his eyes with the arrow and palced in that place, it stops bleeding. Then after a moment, next eye starts bleeding, again kannapa, placed his leg on the eye spot of linga, he cut his another eye and placed in that spot. At that moment, shiva appears before him and hugged. The story ends with that he went with shiva. A great devotee of Tamil nadu, Manickavasagar lived in 10 Ad praised Kannapa, as there is no replacement for Kannapa’s love to shiva. We start climbing that legendary hill is near by through steps.
In the top of this small hillock , there is a plain space where there is a small temple for Bhaktha Kannapa. The temple for this great devootee is in poor condition, we saw alcoholic bottles, ashes of cigaratees through that place, moreover scribllings over the white paints of the temple. The temple is locked all over the day and heared that priest come twice a day and again locked up.
We can see entire location of kalahasti from that hillocak, we saw river Swarnamukhi beautifully curved around the temple and flow through greenish small hills and plains.
Kalahasthi temple is praised in thevara hyms(Tamil shiva lyrics) and both three nayanmars (shiva devotees lived between 4 Ad to 7 AD) appar, sundarar and ThiruGnana sambandar visited this place.
