Kannappa Nayanar is a legendary figure in Tamil folklore renowned for his unwavering devotion to the Hindu god Shiva. His legend is closely associated with the Srikalahasteeswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, India. According to folklore, Kannappa, a hunter, plucked out his eye as an offering to a Shiva Lingam. Before he could sacrifice his other eye, Shiva appeared.[1] [2]
Kannapa was born as Thinnan in a hunter's family, specifically from the Boya tribe, known for their hunting skills.
Kannappa Nayanar was born to Raja Naga Vyadha and his wife in Uduppura near Sri Kalahasti, in present-day Vutukuru, Rajampet, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a notable gerent among the hunting community or boya. He was named as Dinna or Dheera. His wife's name was Neela.
When Arjuna was meditating to Shiva for Pashupatastra, to test him, Shiva entered that forest as a hunter. Due to two arrows from Shiva and Arjuna killing a demon named Mooka, a war started between Shiva and Arjuna, and finally impressed by Arjuna's efforts, Shiva gave him the Pashupatastra. According to a folklore, Shiva also blessed him to be born as his greatest devotee in his next birth. So, he was born in the Kali Yuga as Kannappa and finally attained moksha.
Kannapa was a staunch devotee of the Vayu Linga of the Srikalahasteeshwara Temple which he found in the forest while hunting. Being a hunting tribe, he did not know how to properly worship Shiva. It is said that he poured water from his mouth on the lingam which he brought from the nearby river Swarnamukhi. He also offered Shiva whatever animal he hunted, including swine flesh. But Shiva accepted his offerings since he was pure at heart and his devotion was true. Once, Shiva tested the unshakable devotion of him. With his divine power, he created a tremor and the roof-tops of the temple began to fall. All the priests ran away from the scene except for kannappa who covered the linga with his body to prevent it from any damage. Hence he was named thereafter as Dheera (valiant one).
Dheera noticed that one of the eyes of the Siva linga was oozing blood and tears. Sensing that Shiva's eye had been injured, he proceeded to pluck his one eye out with one of his arrows and placed it in the spot of the bleeding eye of the Siva linga. This stopped the bleeding in that eye of the linga. But to complicate matters further, he noticed that the other eye of the linga has also started oozing blood. So Thinna 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 right 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, Shiva appeared before dheera, stopped him from plucking his only eye and restored both his eyes. He made dheera the 10th of the 63 Nayanars and he is referred to as Kannappa or Bhakta Kannappa. Kannappa merged into the lingam and attained moksha at last.
Kannappa has been featured as the major character in several Indian films. In 1954, Dr. Rajkumar appeared as Kannappa in the Kannada film Bedara Kannappa and in the Telugu film Kalahasti Mahatyam. In the following year, a Hindi film, Shiv Bhakta (1955), featuring Shahu Modak as Kannappa, was released. A second film in Telugu was made in 1976 as Bhakta Kannappa starring Krishnam Raju in the title role, and in Kannada again in 1988 as Shiva Mecchida Kannappa with Shiva Rajkumar as adult Kannappa and Puneeth Rajkumar as young Kannappa. In the upcoming 2024 film Kannappa, Vishnu Manchu appears as the title character.[3]
| 1938 | Kannappa Nayanar | Tamil | VN Sundaram | [4] | |
| 1954 | Bedara Kannappa | Kannada | Rajkumar | ||
| Kalahasti Mahatyam | Telugu | ||||
| Vedan Kannappa | Tamil | Dubbed version of Bedara Kannappa with an additional song | |||
| 1955 | Shiv Bhakta | Hindi | Shahu Modak | ||
| 1976 | Bhakta Kannappa | Telugu | Krishnam Raju | ||
| 1988 | Shiva Mecchida Kannappa | Kannada | Shiva Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar (younger version) | ||
| 2024 | Kannappa | Telugu | Vishnu Manchu |