Kaṇṇappa Nayanar
Kaṇṇappa Nayanar, the hunter-saint of Srikalahasti, is the Nayanar canon’s archetype of unlettered, absolute devotion. The name Kaṇṇappa (“eye-father”) commemorates the gift of his eyes.
Life/Legend
The hagiography relates that Thinnan, a hunter chief, discovered a forest linga and, knowing no ritual, offered it the best he had: water carried in his own mouth, meat he had tasted, flowers from his own hair. The temple priest was scandalised by the “polluted” offerings, and Shiva arranged a test: in the priest’s vision the linga’s eye bled, and remedies failed. The hunter, seeing the wound, struck out one of his own eyes with an arrow and set it on the linga; when the second eye began to bleed, he planted his foot on the eye to mark the place before striking. Shiva stopped his hand, restored his sight, and named him Kaṇṇappa.
Legacy
Kaṇṇappa is the standard of devotional purity beyond ritual in Shaiva teaching. The Srikalahasti temple venerates him in a separate shrine, and his story entered Lingayat and Telugu traditions.
Verification notes
- The narrative is hagiographic (Periya Puranam, with earlier allusion in the Tevaram); no independent historical record exists.
- His community is given variously in the sources; dating is traditional.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).