Kannapa Nayanar

There was, during the thirteenth century, a group of devout Shaivite saints called the Nayanars. They loved Lord Shiva with all their hearts and were given the title Nayanar because miraculous events occurred in their presence. Sixty three such saints existed. This is the story of the tenth saint: Kannapa Nayanar. 

There was once a hunter who knew nothing- he was both illiterate and uncivilized. It just so happened that one day by chance, when he was hunting in the forest,  he fell upon a small temple dedicated to lord Shiva. The instant he looked at the Lingam (a special stone dedicated to and representing the Lord) he fell insanely in love with it. He would sing, dance, and visit it everyday. 

One day, a thought struck him when he was playing with his Lingam (which he called Lord Shiva): he had never fed his lord. "My dear lord! I forgot all about your hunger! Please forgive me, my lord" he cried, and went searching for some food. Finding a boar, he slaughtered the beast and offered it to his lingam. "Why aren't you eating my lord? Is it because you are thirsty? Yes! That must be it! I will bring you some water my lord!" he exclaimed, and ran down to a nearby stream.Carrying the water in his mouth, the hunter spit it all over the Lingam. "You still havn't eaten my lord! I KNOW!! The food is not cut!! I shall sever it for you!!" He proceeded to defile the sanctity of the small temple with the flesh of the dead pig. The ignorant hunter then placed the dripping carcass all over the Lingam. "My Lord! You are STILL not eating! I know, you must be feeling shy about eating in front of me! I will come back tomorrow and you should have eaten by then!" 

Temple where Kannapa saw the Lingam

In the evening, a priest came and was utterly disgusted by what he saw. "MLECHAS!" He bellowed. "Disgusting barbarians! Animals! Who ruined my Temple?" He screamed out loud. No one answered. The priest proceeded to grumble and clean the entire temple, cursing the perpetrator of such a sacrilege.

The next day, the hunter returned and was over joyed to see that his god had eaten his food. He screamed "HARA HARA MAHADEVA!! (Another name for Shiva)" and danced around the temple. With tears of joy streaming down his face, the hunter killed another boar. Just as he had done the previous day, the hunter cleaned, cut and placed the meat on the idol and spat water onto the lingam. The sanctum sanctorum was left defecated with his spit and pig meat. 

As usual, the priest came to pray to the idol, and was furious, screaming and cursed obscenities before once again cleaning the entire temple as he had done the day before. This happened for 3 days, until finally the livid priest decided to notify the king and his guards. The king, shocked to hear this story, decided to personally accompany his guards and destroy this Asura. They hid behind a tree to wait for this maniac demon who keeps defiling this temple. As predicted, the hunter came and began his ritual of spitting on the tree, pouring boar meat and dancing around the temple. 

 

Kannapa, cutting his Eye

Horrified and devastated, the guards and the king lunged at the hunter but were suddenly stopped by a mysterious hand. Lord Shiva hmself had manifested infront them and refused them to touch the hunter. He then asked them to observe a little spectacle:a small drop of blood started to ooze from the eye socket of the lingam. The hunter started screaming in horror, "MY LORD!! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!? WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING?!? YOUR EYE MUST HURT! HERE, TAKE MINE!" And he swiftly cut his left eye and placed it on the Lingam. Instantly, the eye stopped bleeding.

Amar Chitra Katha: Depiction of Kannapa

   

 He was overjoyed and started singing praise in his lord. But then the second eye socket started bleeding! "HAA! I know what to do now! My Lord has an Eye disease." But the hunter was in a quandary: if he pulled out his remaining eye, how would he be able to see where to place the eye on the idol? So he placed his foot on the idol, marking the eye with his big toe, and slit his last remaining eye. Instantly, Lord Shiva manifested himself in front of the hunter and  carried him to heaven. The king, who witnessed this miraculous event, decided to bestow upon the hunter the honorary title of the Shaivite saints (Nayanar) and called him Kannapa- One who gave his eye. For years, he propogated the story of Kannapa Nayanar and made the temple a holy site.

Ancient Shaivite Inscription of Kannapa

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