South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

n traditions, Kannappa is a devotee of the Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. His story is closely connected with the

Srikalahasteeswara Temple The Srikalahasti Temple is located in the town of Srikalahasti in Tirupati district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Shiva, Siva in his aspect as Vayu is worshipped as Kalahasteeswara. The temple is also regarded as ''Rahu-Ketu kshetra'' a ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. He is a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the Saiva Siddhanta tradition. Originally a hunter, Kannappa offered his devotion to a Siva Lingam by making simple offerings and eventually sacrificing one of his eyes. As he prepared to offer the second, Shiva appeared and stopped him.

Life and legend

Kannappa was born in present-day

as Thinna into a hunter family from the Chenchu tribe. His birthplace is often associated with Uduppura near

Sri Kalahasti Srikalahasti is a town in Tirupati district located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the revenue division of Srikalahasti mandal and Srikalahasti revenue division. It is a part of the Tirupati Urban Development Auth ...

.Sekkizhar, ''Periya Puranam,'' Tamil Text Society, . Kannappa's devotion to Shiva began when he discovered the '' vayu linga'' (embodiment of air) while hunting in the forest. He offered the aniconic representation of Shiva whatever he could, including water from his mouth and meat from his hunts. These acts, while unconventional, were accepted by Shiva due to the hunter's sincerity and pure heart. Kannappa once noticed that the lingam was bleeding from one of its eyes. Without hesitation, Kannappa plucked out one of his own eyes and placed it on the lingam to stop the bleeding. When the other eye of the lingam began to bleed, Kannappa prepared to offer his remaining eye. To ensure he could correctly place his eye, he marked the spot with his foot. Moved by this act of devotion, Shiva appeared and stopped him, restoring his sight and granting him liberation. The ''vayu linga'' is worshipped at the Srikalahasteeswara temple in Andhra Pradesh.

Commemoration

The story of Kannappa's devotion is recounted in several literary works, including the '' Kalahastisvara Satakamu'' by Dhurjati (16th century) and the '' Basava Puranam'' (13th century) in Telugu, and the ''Ragalegalu'' by

Harihara Harihara (Sanskrit: हरिहर) is the dual representation of the Hindu deities Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). Harihara is also known as Shankaranarayana ("Shankara" is Shiva, and "Narayana" is Vishnu). Harihara is also sometimes used as ...

(12th century) in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

. In Tamil Shaivism, Kannappa is venerated for his devotion, and his story is documented in the ''

Periya Puranam The ''Periya‌ Purāṇa‌m'' (Tamil: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poet ...

,'' a 12th-century Tamil hagiography of the 63 Nayanars, in which he is also described as a reincarnation of

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

from the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. Kannappa is portrayed, along with other devotees, in the thousand-pillar corridor of the Meenakshi temple in

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

. The scene of Kannappa's sacrifice is portrayed in Shaiva temple pillar reliefs of early

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

.

Depictions in film

References
{{Authority control Telugu people People from Andhra Pradesh Nayanars