SriKalahasti temple

SriKalahasti temple is located 36 km away from Tirupathi in Chittoor district of  Andhra Pradesh,India.It is one of the most famous Shiva temples in South India, and is said to be the site where Kannappa, was ready to offer both his eyes to cover blood flowing from the Siva linga before the Lord Siva stopped him and granted him mukti.

Sri Kalahasti is named after the staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. They were the Spider (Sri), the Serpent (Kala) and the Elephant (Hasti). Appeased with their unflinching devotion, Lord Shiva gave them a boon that their names be merged with the Vayulinga and called as Sri Kalahasteeswara.

It is famous for its Vayulinga, one of the Panchabhoota Sthalams, representing wind. The inner temple was constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 12th century by the Chola kings and the Vijayanagara kings. Vayu is incarnated as Lord Shiva and worshiped as Kalahasteeswara.

TEMPLE :

This ancient temple dedicated to Lord Siva is one of the five Panchabhootha stalams.There is a lamp inside the inner sanctum that is constantly flickering despite the lack of air movement inside. The air-linga can be observed to move even when the priests close off the entrance to the main deity room, which does not have any windows. One can see the flames on several ghee lamps flicker as if blown by moving air. The linga is white and is considered Swayambhu, or self-manifested.

Kalahasti is surrounded by two sacred hills. The Durgama temple is on the northern hill. On the south hill there is the shrine of Kannabeswara, in memory of the Sage Kannappa, who offered his eyes to the Lord. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Subramanya on one of the surrounding hills.

The main linga is untouched by human hands, even by the priest. Abhisheka (bathing) is done by pouring a mixture of water, milk, camphor, and panchamrita. Sandal paste, flowers and the sacred thread are offered to the utsava-murti, not the main linga.

LEGEND :

According to Hindu mythology, 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 Vilva 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 deity 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 war 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.

This king continues his good work from his previous birth and builds a variety of temples that seeks to protect the underlying deity with tons of stones. It is interesting to note that all his temples, keep the deity beyond the access of an elephant. In this temple, access to the deity is through a narrow passage in the side of the building that prevents an elephant from extending its trunk over the lord from any side.

FESTIVALS :

Mahasivaratri is an important festival when lakhs of people offer prayers to seek the blessings of the Lord to attain Mukti.

Abhishekam :

Morning: 7:30 am, 9:30 am, 10: 30am
Evening: 5:30 pm everyday
Fridays: 4:30 onwards

The Abhishekams are performed to Lord Kalahasteeswara and Goddess Gnana Prasunambika four times a day.

Rahu - Kethu Sarpha Dosha Nivarana Puja :

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. Thousands of Devotees from the country and abroad perform this puja and fulfill their vows again and again after receiving good results.

Rahu – Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Puja can be performed daily between 6:30 A.M and 9:00 P.M. This is a popular puja undertaken by devotees at this temple.Sunday and Tuesday are the best days to perform pooja as Sunday and Tuesday are the days considered to be for Rahu and Kethu.

TEMPLE TIMINGS :

SATURDAY - MONDAY : 6AM - 9.30PM

TUESDAY - FRIDAY : 6AM - 9PM

HOW TO REACH :

  Through Airways: The nearest airport is in Tirupati Airport, which is just 25 kms. There are daily flights from Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore. Chennai International airport is the major closest airport to Srikalahasti at about 99 Kms. Bengaluru International Airport is about 230 km.

  Through Railways: Through railways there is a railway station at Sri Kalahasthi. Srikalahasti is on Tirupati-Vijayawada broad gauge rail route and all express trains have stop at Srikalahast. It is well connected to all major cities in South India directly. There are trains from Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Kolkata .The closest railway junction is Renigunta and all trains plying between Chennai and Mumbai stop at Renigunta.The Renigunta is just 25 kms from Sri Kalahasthi.

  Through Roadways: It takes about 5 hours by road to get to Tirupati from Bangalore. Both KSRTC and APSRTC operate buses during the day and night. It is about 3 hours by road from Chennai. Frequent buses are available from CMBT Chennai. APSRTC has buses plying very frequently (every ½ hour) from Tirupati.