KANNAPPA NAYANAR
Friends,
After writing about Bhaktha Nandanar and Kanaka Dasa, I am writing now about BAKTHA KANNAPPA who is considered as one among the 63 NAYANARS.This is also seen In PERIYA PURANAM compiled by SEKKAZHIYAR. He is known to Tamilians, Telugu people and Kannadigas as Boya Kannappa, Thinnappa, Kannan, Bedara Kannappa Dheeran, Kannabheshwara etc. It is widely said that Kannappa was born in a low caste “VEDAR” or traditional hunters. This can be inferred from his name Bedara Kannappa in Kannada Language. He was born in the present KALAHASTHI in Andhra Pradesh. His parents were the Hunter King NAGAN and his mother’s Name was THATHTHAI. NAGAN and THATHTHAI were very great devotees of Lord Subrahmanya, and due to His grace they got a son. They named him as THINNAN. There is a mention of this TINNAN in KALAHASTHI PURANAM. He is said to the incarnation of Arjuna. It is said that Arjuna went to KALAHASTHI TEMPLE to worship Lord SHIVA in order to get PAASUPATHAM an arrow. Lord Shiva gave Arjuna Darshan as a hunter and gave him PAASUPATHAM. Since Arjuna could not recognize Lord Shiva in Hunter’s disguise, it is said that he was to be reborn as a hunter before attaining salvation. It is said that THINNAN was Arjuna in his previous birth. This THINNAN had no formal education since he was born in such a low caste. However, his father taught him Archery. When Nagan became old , he crowned Thinnan as the King of Hunters. Although Thinnan was a hunter, he did not hunt on female animals or animals which were wounded or old or suffering from some illness. His qualities were highly spiritual.
Once, as customary , Thinnan went to hunt along with his dearest friends called NAANAN and KAADAN. They spread the net in the forest. One pig escaped from the net and started running away. Thinnan with his friends started pursuing it. The pig was tired and hence sttod near a tree. Thinnan and his friends easily killed the animal. They felt thirsty and in order to quench the thirst they climbed the nearby Hill. Naanan also accompanied him by saying that on KALAHASTHI hills there was a n idol of KUDUMI THEVAR. However, KAADAN went to cook the pork which was killed by them. When Thinnan was climbing the KALAHATHI HILLS, there was some change in his attitude most probably of his previous birth as Arjuna.
There he saw the Lord was staying alone and wanted to stay with the Lord. The feeling also came in his mind that Lord must be hungry. He came back to the base and took some best pork pieces cooked by KAADAN to feed the Lord. In the meantime NAANAN told him that the Lord used to be given bath and then worshipped with flowers and there after fed with feast. Since all of them were hunters they never knew more about how to worship etc. Thinnan, therefore, took water from the base in his mouth and plucked some flowers to worship and took them to KALAHASTHI HILLS, gave a bath to the Lord with water which he carried in his mouth and worshipped the Lord with the flowers which he brought. Afterwards he placed the PORK pieces in front of the deity and went outside the temple to guard the Lord from wild animals, thieves etc. The next day when Thinnan went inside, he did not find the pork pieces and thought that Lord might have eaten it. Indeed, it was eaten by the Lord.
Since THINNAN did not go with his friends to his house, Thinnan’s father enquired about his absence to which both of them answered that THINNAN refused to go to his house. They came to THINNAN and tried to persuade him to go back to his house but to no avail. So they left him there and went back sadly.
Brahma Shri. SHIVA GOCHARAIAR was the temple priest. When he went to the temple he saw the mess created by THINNAN. He immediately went down the hills, brought pure water in a covered pot and some flowers and some Prasadam and came back to the temple and cleared all the mess created by Thinnan and performed again POOJA ( WORSHIPPED THE LORD ). Thinnan came after bringing some fresh meat and saw the mess created by the priest and removed everything the priest had done and again performed Pooja as he thought was correct. This was going on for a week or so.
It is said that Lord PARAMESHWARA appeared before the PRIEST SHIVA GOCHARYA in dreams and told him to stay behind the Idol and watch the devotion of the person who was performing POOJA after the priest went out.
The next day, Thinnasn went to collect fresh Meat for the LORD as prasada and to fetch water to give a wash to the IDOL and flowers to perform Pooja. While returning to the temple THINNAN saw very bad omens. However he went to the Temple and saw blood oozing out from the right eye of the Lord and tried to put some herbs he knew in the eye of the Lord. Still the blood was coming out from the eye and Thinnan pulled his one eye and placed it on Lord Shiva’s bleeding eye. Lord , seing the devotion of THINNAN blessed him and gave him back his eye and told him that from that day he would be known to the world as KANNAPPA NAYANAR. FRIENDS, to this day he is one among the 63 NAYANMARS.
Regards to one and all,
P.R.RADHAKRISHNAN