Srikalahasti Temple and its
prominence
Srikalahasti Temple is located in
the town of Srikalahasti, in the state of Andhra
Pradesh, India. It is one of the most famous Shiva temples in South India. Located nearly 40 km from Tirupati
City and can be easily reached through train, bus and air.
This ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is one of the
five Panchabhootha stalams (temples celebrating Lord Shiva as the embodiment of
the five primary elements), air (wind) being the element in Srikalahasti temple;
the other elements being water at (Jambukeshwarar Temple), fire at (Arunachalam
Temple), earth at (Ekambareswarar Temple) and space at (Chidambaram Temple)
that Shiva embodies.
Why the name is Srikalahasti?
Lord shiva has three devotees and all three uses to serve Vayulinga
here in their own ways. They are the the Spider (Sri), the Serpent (Kala) and
the Elephant (Hasti).
The elephant or Hasti used to clean the Shiva deity by
watering the idol with the help of river-water carried in his trunks and pray
for him by placing Bilva leaves. The spider or Sri tried to protect the deity
from external damage by weaving his web and to provide shelter for the Shiva
lingam. The snake or Kala used to place its precious gem on the linga to adorn
the lord. In this way, they all worshipped the Vayu linga separately without
knowing what the other was doing.
One day, the spider had built a very big and thick web around
the vayulinga to protect it from dust and weather while the snake places its
gem. The elephant not knowing this and assuming that this form of puja by Sri
and Kala is a desecration by the seeming miscreants, pours water on it and
cleans it up. This causes a fight between the three. The snake punishes the
elephant by entering its trunk and in the process kills itself while the
elephant runs amok and hits its trunk and head against the shiva linga. During
this struggle, the spider is squashed against the linga by the elephant's trunk
and the elephant dies due to the snake's poison. Lord Shiva then appeared and
gave moksha to all three of them for their selfless devotion. The spider takes
rebirth as a great king while the elephant and the snake reaches heaven for
satisfying all its karma.
Appeased with
their devotion, Lord Shiva gave them a boon that their names be merged with the Vayulinga and
called as Srikalahasteeswara going ahead.
Srikalahasti famous for?
Srikalahasti temple has
many stories linked to it.
1. Vayulinga, one of
the five Panchabhootha stalams
2. Patala Vinayaka
3. Story of tribal
devotee “Bhakt Kannappa” and his sacrifices
4. Sage Agastya in
Srikalahasti
5. Arjuna during his
Vanavasam
6. Rahu – Kethu
Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Puja, and many more
1. Vayulinga:
The Lingam here is swayambu , and it is white in colour. The Main lingam is untouched by the human beings , even by the priest. Abhishekam is done by pouring a mixutre of water , milk, camphor and panchamrita. Sandal paste , flowers, and the sacred thread are offerred to the Uthsava murthi , not the main Lingam. Even Kannappa has not offered his eyes to the main Lingam.
There is a lamp inside the inner sanctum that is constantly flickering despite the lack of air movement inside. The air can be observed even when the priests close the main deity room, which does not have any windows. When all the lamps in the sanctum glow steadily, one can notice two lamps flickering now and then, proving the Lord's inhalation and exhalation.
2. Patala Vinayaka:
Earlier there is not much water available at Srikalahasti. Sages and Pilgrims who use to visit Lord Shiva use to face lot of difficulties in performing poojas to Lord Shiva. Sage Agastya on his trip to Dhakseen Bharat was stopped at Srikalahasti and was asked to find a solution for the same.
Sage Agastya knowing that the fact that, Lord Vinayaka was relaxing near to temple after coming from Patala Lokam after killing Gajasura. Sage offers sincere prayers to Vinayaka so that he can put an end to this water problem.
Pleased with Agastya prayers, Lord Vinayaka removes sand from this place to the birth of Patala Ganga and soon turned into river.
3. Bhakt Kannappa:
Thinnan (later bhakt Kannappa) was a pure devotee of the Vayu linga of SriKalahasti which he found in the forest while hunting. Being a hunter, he did not know how to properly worship. It used to be said that he poured water from his mouth on the Shiva lingam which he brought from the nearby river Swarnamukhi. He also used to offer the Lord whatever animal he hunted, including swine flesh.
One day, Thinnan noticed that one of the eyes of the Shiva linga was oozing blood and tears. Sensing that the Lord's eye had been injured, Thinnan plucks one eye out with one of his arrows and placed it in the spot of the bleeding eye of the Shiva linga. This stopped the bleeding in that eye of the linga. Later, he noticed that the other eye of the linga has also started oozing blood. So Thinnan thought that if he were to pluck his other eye too, he would become blind to exactly know the spot where he has to place his own second eye over the bleeding second eye of the lingam. So he placed his great toe on the linga to mark the spot of the bleeding second eye and proceeded to pluck out his other and only eye. Moved by his extreme devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before Thinnan and restored both his eyes. Later then he was called as Kannappan or Kannappa Nayanar.
4. Sage Agastya:
When the hermits of Bilwaka grove pleaded with Sage Agastya on lack of water, he brought river Akash Ganga to the earth. As ordained by Lord Siva, Akash Ganga flowed as Swarnamukhi behind Sage slowly. The importance of this river is it flows from south to north direction, so also called as Uttara Vahini and sanctified the temple at Sri Kalahasthi.
5. Arjuna during his Vanavasam:
Before proceeding to Vanavasam, Krishna tells each of the pandavas to do something in the 12 years. Krishna suggests Arjuna to move south (Place nearby Srikalahasti) and mediate Lord Shiva for Pasupathastra. To test his mediation, Lord Shiva entered that forest as an animal hunter and due to word war between Lord Shiva and Arjuna, a battle took place between both and finally impressed by Arjuna's efforts, Lord Shiva gave him the Pasupathasthra which he uses in Mahabharat war.
However, for not recognizing Lord Shiva, he is born again as a devotee in the Kali Yuga as Kannappa Nayanar and finally got liberation.
6. Rahu - Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nirvarna Pooja:
Srikalahasteeswara Swamy Temple is reputed as the Rahu Kethu Kshetra, If the People who have Rahu Kethu Doshas and Sarpa Doshas, the un married and No children and those who are facing various problems for long period and perform the most effective Rahu – Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Puja in this Temple all the Doshas get removed and desired results occur.
1. Vayulinga:
The Lingam here is swayambu , and it is white in colour. The Main lingam is untouched by the human beings , even by the priest. Abhishekam is done by pouring a mixutre of water , milk, camphor and panchamrita. Sandal paste , flowers, and the sacred thread are offerred to the Uthsava murthi , not the main Lingam. Even Kannappa has not offered his eyes to the main Lingam.
There is a lamp inside the inner sanctum that is constantly flickering despite the lack of air movement inside. The air can be observed even when the priests close the main deity room, which does not have any windows. When all the lamps in the sanctum glow steadily, one can notice two lamps flickering now and then, proving the Lord's inhalation and exhalation.
2. Patala Vinayaka:
Earlier there is not much water available at Srikalahasti. Sages and Pilgrims who use to visit Lord Shiva use to face lot of difficulties in performing poojas to Lord Shiva. Sage Agastya on his trip to Dhakseen Bharat was stopped at Srikalahasti and was asked to find a solution for the same.
Sage Agastya knowing that the fact that, Lord Vinayaka was relaxing near to temple after coming from Patala Lokam after killing Gajasura. Sage offers sincere prayers to Vinayaka so that he can put an end to this water problem.
Pleased with Agastya prayers, Lord Vinayaka removes sand from this place to the birth of Patala Ganga and soon turned into river.
3. Bhakt Kannappa:
Thinnan (later bhakt Kannappa) was a pure devotee of the Vayu linga of SriKalahasti which he found in the forest while hunting. Being a hunter, he did not know how to properly worship. It used to be said that he poured water from his mouth on the Shiva lingam which he brought from the nearby river Swarnamukhi. He also used to offer the Lord whatever animal he hunted, including swine flesh.
One day, Thinnan noticed that one of the eyes of the Shiva linga was oozing blood and tears. Sensing that the Lord's eye had been injured, Thinnan plucks one eye out with one of his arrows and placed it in the spot of the bleeding eye of the Shiva linga. This stopped the bleeding in that eye of the linga. Later, he noticed that the other eye of the linga has also started oozing blood. So Thinnan thought that if he were to pluck his other eye too, he would become blind to exactly know the spot where he has to place his own second eye over the bleeding second eye of the lingam. So he placed his great toe on the linga to mark the spot of the bleeding second eye and proceeded to pluck out his other and only eye. Moved by his extreme devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before Thinnan and restored both his eyes. Later then he was called as Kannappan or Kannappa Nayanar.
4. Sage Agastya:
When the hermits of Bilwaka grove pleaded with Sage Agastya on lack of water, he brought river Akash Ganga to the earth. As ordained by Lord Siva, Akash Ganga flowed as Swarnamukhi behind Sage slowly. The importance of this river is it flows from south to north direction, so also called as Uttara Vahini and sanctified the temple at Sri Kalahasthi.
5. Arjuna during his Vanavasam:
Before proceeding to Vanavasam, Krishna tells each of the pandavas to do something in the 12 years. Krishna suggests Arjuna to move south (Place nearby Srikalahasti) and mediate Lord Shiva for Pasupathastra. To test his mediation, Lord Shiva entered that forest as an animal hunter and due to word war between Lord Shiva and Arjuna, a battle took place between both and finally impressed by Arjuna's efforts, Lord Shiva gave him the Pasupathasthra which he uses in Mahabharat war.
However, for not recognizing Lord Shiva, he is born again as a devotee in the Kali Yuga as Kannappa Nayanar and finally got liberation.
6. Rahu - Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nirvarna Pooja:
Srikalahasteeswara Swamy Temple is reputed as the Rahu Kethu Kshetra, If the People who have Rahu Kethu Doshas and Sarpa Doshas, the un married and No children and those who are facing various problems for long period and perform the most effective Rahu – Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Puja in this Temple all the Doshas get removed and desired results occur.
How to
reach:-
Air:-
The nearest airport from the place is the Tirupathi
which is at the distance of 40 kilometers from Srikalahasti. Tirupati is
connected to Madhurai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Taxis are available to
connect to the temple directly to Kalahasti.
Road:-
There are many such state owned buses that are
available from the nearby town like Vijaywada, Tirupati, Bangalore, Chennai and
Nellore. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation is operating
number of buses from the city.
Railways:-
Tirupati is the railway head that is connected to
almost all the major cities of the country as well as from the state.
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