History of Sri Kalahasti Temple

According to Puranas, a Spider (Sri), a Snake (Kala) and an Elephant (Hasti) worshipped the lord here and attained mukti (salvation). Hence the linga is known as Sri Kala Hasti Eshwara.

 

According to Hindu mythology, the five lingas represent the five great elements namely – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space, established in the five great ‘Kshetras’. At Srikalahasti temple, Lord Shiva is worshiped as Vayu Linga of the Wind God. Sri Kalahasti temple is famous for the element air and the other four which are Chidambaram (Space), Kanchipuram (Earth), Tiruvanaikkaval (Water), and Tiruvannamalai (Fire).

 

In the first days of the world, God "Vayu Deva" is worshiped with reverence by the devotion of the Siva (a form of Karpura Linga) and he had done thousands of years of penance for the God Siva. The God Siva appeared to Vayudeva, then Vayudeva ask a boon that I should be everywhere in the world, should be the main thing for the living things and the name of your Karpuralingam should be changed to my name. Lord Siva agreed to Vayudeva and fulfilled his wish.

Srikalahasti derives its name from his ardent devotees:-

 

1. Spider called Sri

2. Serpent called Kala

3. Elephant called Hasti

 

In Kritayuga, the spider built a thick web in the form of a temple and the walls of the shrine to worship Lord Siva. The Spider protects the deity from external damage by weaving his web and continuously worships Lord Siva. One day Lord Siva tried to test Spider and burnt the temple built by its web using the lamp. By looking at this Spider went to swallow the lamp, in the meantime, Lord Shiva appeared and offered a boon to him. Then the Spider wanted to make him without birth, so Lord Siva agreed and united his spirit in him. In Tretayuga, the Snake brought precious gems from the underworld and worshiped Shiva every day and an Elephant used to clean Shiva linga by carrying river water with its trunk. The Elephant threw the gems brought by a snake, used to worship by placing bilva leaves and flowers on top of Shiva linga. The next day Snake came and saw the flowers threw them, and worshipped Siva with precious gems. This lead to enmity between them, the Snake decides to punish the Elephant by entering its trunk and in the process kills itself, while the Elephant runs and hits its trunk and head against Shiva linga. Lord Siva impressed with their devotion provided moksha to elephants and snakes.

The frontal part of Shiva linga is a five-string snake shape (Panchmukhi Shakti), the head part of Shiva linga is in the shape of an Elephant’s two teeth and the below part of the linga is in the shape of a Spider.

Legend of Bhakta Kannapa - The hills are closely associated with a legend of a tribal hunter and an ardent Shiva devotee Kannappa. His original name was Thinna, one day he noticed a priest performing Shiva puja and followed it regularly. In course of time, the hunter became so devoted that he started worshipping the lord, offering meat to hunted animals. This infuriated the priest, who wanted to teach the hunter a lesson. But the lord wanted to prove that between him and a true devotee, irrespective of caste or creed, nothing else can stand. He decided to enact a divine drama. One day, an eye of the lord started bleeding. The devout Thinna, unable to withstand this, gorged out one of his eyes and offered it to the lord. The bleeding stopped and Thinna was extremely happy. But the lord apparently wanted to test his devotion further. The second eye started bleeding now. Thinna was such a staunch devotee that without any hesitation, he scooped out his second eye also, holding the lord's bleeding eye with one of his feet. Moved by this act, Lord Shiva appeared before Thinna, called his devotee by the name Kannappa (Kan in Tamil means eye), and gave him Mukti (salvation). The priest, who witnessed this high drama hiding in the neighborhood realized what true devotion is. In commemoration of this legend, the hill was named after Kannappa and he is immortalized as one of the 63 Saivite saints (63 Nayanmars).

Legend of Swarnamukhi River - Original name for Swarnamukhi is Uttara Vahini but its course was changed as per the request of sage Agasthya Swarnamukhi River flows from South to North. Agastya Mahamuni along with his disciples came to the South shore to perform meditation for water. Brahma got impressed with his Tapasya and fulfilled maha muni’s wish. Gangadevi takes the form of Suwarnamukhari Sravanthi in the Agastya mountain, flows from South to North, and joins the sea in the East. Another interesting story attached to the Swarnamukhi river is that Lord Brahma took bath here and prayed to Lord Shiva to get rid of the sin of killing children. It is believed that the Swarnamukhi River is equivalent to the Ganga River, for all rivers “Pushkaralu” comes once in twelve years. But for this river, Pushkarulu is celebrated on the day of the full Moon in Maghamasam.

Swarnamukhi associated with Puranas - Swarnamukhi is associated with Mount Meru. It is said that there was an altercation between Adi Sesha the Serpent God and Vayu the God of Wind. Which caused three blocks to be separated from Mount Meru and they all fell at three different places. One of these places was next to the Swarnamukhi River. The other two places were in Trichy and Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. In Skanda Purana, it is said that this holy river once flowed with a sound resembling that of gold when struck with a hard piece and hence the name Swarnamukhi for this river. It is also believed that during the time of construction of the Sri Kalahasti temple, every evening, the laborers tired from hard days’ work, would wash in the waters of the Swarna Mukhi river near the temple. When they would dip their hands into the water, they would often find gold coins. The number would depend on the heaps of sand they carried from the river for constructing the temple. Swarnamukhi means ‘one with a golden face’.

During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, Syva Nayanarlu Appar, Sunder, Thirugnana Sambandar, and Manikya Wachakkar of Tamil Nadu visited this holy shrine and spread the temple’s importance and devotion through songs.

 

Shri Adi Shankara Charya also made this temple famous by illustrating Bhakta Kannappa in his Sivananda Lahiri and enshrined Bhuvaneshwari Devi Peetham in this holy place. Many kings contributed to this temple, they include Syva Nayanarlu Appar, Sunder, Thirugnana Sambandar, Manikya Wachakkar, Kulottunga Chola, Veera Narasimha Rayalas, Devadasi Bichchalu, Yadava Narasimha, Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Akkanna, and Madananna.