THE EPISODE OF KANNAPPA NAYANAR

Amongst the legions of devotees who were blessed by the Lords in several ways, the Kananappa's life affords an interesting study; for, more or less his name became synonymous with this holy place by having a separate shrine over the nearby hill, besides having his image in the sanctum sanctorum, itself.

This illustrious bhakta was born as a cock in his purvajanma. He was reared by a hunter, who too was a Siva bhakta of a rare type. He used to offer very many kinds of edibles to the Lord as naivedyam including bits of meat. Once the cock ate a piece, more by accident than by intent. Deeming it as a great sacrilege, he killed it at once. Since the cock swallowed the naivedyam a bit, it was born to a hunter king, who was a yaksha in his past life and was assured by the Lord that he would be redeemed after the birth of a son. As promised by the Lord, he regained his original form after the birth of son, whom he called Kanna. So Kanna was an orphan, but grew up into a youth of exceptional bravery. His personality too was captivating.

As he grew up, he developed great devotion to the Lord Siva and was offering worship to the Vayulinga in a characteristic way - offering bits of meat every day only after testing by biting each one to find out its eat-worthiness. Moreover, he was making abhishekam to the Lord with the Swarnamukhi water brought in his mouth, and pouring it over the Linga. 

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