1. Bharadwaja Thirtham: It is situated to the east of Sri Kalahasthi temple. It is amidst three hills. It is a pilgrim centre. To the south of the temple, atop a hill there is the sannidhi of Panchamukheswara. Some sculptures can be seen there. Maharishi Bharadwaja is said to have meditated here in the Krtha Yuga.
2. Suka Brahmaashramam: Bhakta Kannappa hospital, and westward from the temple, Kumaraswami temple. Varadarajasami temple in the centre of the town and Chakreshwara temple are some of the important places.
3. Dhakshina kailasam : (The hill with thousand lingas): Here there is a big linga on which thousand lingas can be seen. It is located about 7 km south of Sri Kalahasthi
4. Durgamba Temple : North of the temple is the Durgambika hill it is located with in wakable distance from Srikalahasti Temple it is famous hill In the season of Navaratri(Dasara), as per the history the main worship was installed by Adi sankaracharya.
5. Sri Subrahmanya Swami Temple : Ease of the temple is the Subrahmanya Swami. The worship situated on a hill which is in wakable distance from Srikalahasti Temple.
6. Sri Kalika mata Temple : Here the main worship named as Kalika mata the worship is around a pleasant nature. It is located at Vedam Village about 5 Kms south from Srikalahasti.
7. Sri Prasanna Varadaraja swami Temple : At the center to Srikalahasti the worship Sri Prasanna varadaraja Swami situated.
8. Other temples : Also other temples like Mutyalamma Temple, Manikhanteswara Temple, Bangaramma Temple, Ponnalamma Temple are located in Srikalahasti, And Neela Khanteswara swami Temple, Chennakeswara Swami temple are located in Urandur Village 2 Km from Srikalahasti.
Other places to visit
Tirthas
1. Harahar Tirtham, which is three miles from Kalahasti
2. Kalinga Tirtham, which is five miles from Kalahasti towards the east
3. Sahasra Linga Tirtham which is five miles southwest of Kalahasti
4. Markandeya Tirtham, six and a half miles from Sahasra Linga Tirtham
5. Mayura Tirtharn, named after Mayura Maharshi
6. Bharadwaja Tirtham, which is three and a half miles from the main temple
7. Narada Tirtham in the entree of the town
8. Saraswati Tirtham, which is said to have the property of making the dumb people speak if they take the water of this as Prasada for forty days
9. Suka Tirtharn after Suka Maharshi
10. Brahma Tirtham
11. Manikarnika Tirtharn
Kannappa
There is another very interesting and devotional legend connected with Kalahasti, namely the story of a great Saivite Bhakta called Kannappa. Kannappa was a hunter who was called Tinnappa before he became a saint, and be lived in the forest hunting animals. He was a great Bhakta of the Lord, and he used to offer the flesh of the animals to the Lord first as sacrament after tasting if they were good enough to be offered to the Lord. To test his sincerity and devotion, the Lord one day made it appear as if water was dropping from the eye of the Lingam. Tinnappa. Thought that some one had harmed the Lord, and immediately without any hesitation removed one of his own eyes and offered it to the Lord in place of the one from which water was flowing. The water from the eye of the Lord stopped at once. After some time Tinnappa noticed that the other eye of the Lord was also affected. He at once began to remove his other eye also to offer it to the Lord as he did with his first.Since on removal of both his eyes he would become blind, and would not be able to locate the Lord's eye, he with his left foot marked the place of the Lord's eye, so that by feeling the eye of the Lord with his leg he could locate the exact spot where the Lord's eye was and replace it with his own eye. At that time the Lord, pleased with the strength of his devotion, gave him Darsan and restored his eyesight and also gave him the name "Kannappa," that is, one who gave his eyes to the Lord. Pleased with his devotion the Lord also ordained that be should be near the Lingam permanently.
Therefore we find the idol of Kannappa near the Lingam and Pujas are first offered to him and then only to the Lord. On the top of the hill there is another temple of Kannappa Nayanar.
Legend of Sri-Kala-Hasti
Sri Kalahasti is named after the staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. They were the Spider (Sri), the Serpent (Kala) and the Elephant (Hasti). Appeased with their unflinching devotion, Lord Shiva gave them a boon that their names be merged with the Vayulinga and called as Sri Kalahasteeswara.
According to Hindu mythology, the elephant (Hasti) used to clean the Shiva deity by watering the idol with the help of river-water carried in his trunks and pray for him by placing Bilva leaves. The spider (Sri) tried to protect the deity from external damage by weaving his web and to provide shelter for the Shiva lingam. The snake (Kala) used to place its precious gem on the linga to adorn the lord. In this way, they all worshipped the Vayu linga separately without knowing what the other was doing.
One day, the spider had built a very big and thick web around the deity to protect it from dust and weather while the snake places its gem. The elephant not knowing this and assuming that this form of puja by Sri and Kala is a desecration by the seeming miscreants, pours water on it and cleans it up. This causes a war between the three. The snake punishes the elephant by entering its trunk and in the process kills itself while the elephant runs amok and hits its trunk and head against the shiva linga. During this struggle, the spider is squashed against the linga by the elephant's trunk and the elephant dies due to the snake's poison. Lord Shiva then appeared and gave moksha to all three of them for their selfless devotion. Lord Siva gave Mukti to all the above three, being satisfied with their devotion, and hence it is that the Kshetra is called Sri Kalahasti. The Linga contains in it traces of these three also.
Goddess (Gnana Prasunambika devi Ammavaru)
The Goddess here is called Gnana Prasannamba and is said to be the sister of Lord Venkateswara. of Tirupati. who was cursed by Lord Shiva to discard her heavenly body and assume the human form. To get rid off the above curse Parvati did a long penance here. Pleased with her deep devotion Lord Shiva again restored her body - a hundred times better than her previous heavenly body and initiated various mantras including the Panchakshari. Consequent of this, Parvati gained Shiva-Gnanam.
So she is called Gnana Prasannamba, because she bestows Gnana. or the Supreme knowledge of reality, on those who worship her with devotion. She was the first to inform Indra, king of Devatas, of the nature of Parabrabma and hence she is so named. There is a small story about this in the Gnana Upanishad.
Sacred spot of Goddess Jnana Prasunambika signifies Jalandhara. It is said that she also represents an aspect of Santanalakshmi. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu had created 108 sacred spots devoted to Sakti with the Sudarshana chakra.When Satidevi gave up her body in the fire during Daksha's Yajna and Lord Siva was carrying her body on his shoulder, Lord Vishnu with his Sudarshana chakra divided the body into 108 parts and the places where these fell have, it is believed, transformed into these 108 sacred spots. It is said that the skull portion was brought by Vishnu to Sri Kalahasthi in Dakshin.
God Shiva (Vayu Lingeswara swami varu)
The main Lingam has a pedestal and is in the shape of the trunk of an elephant with tusks on either side or a figure of the spider at the bottom. Looked at from the top, it presents the appearance of a snake with five hoods. The name of the spider is 'Sri', the serpent is called 'Kala' and the elephant is called 'Hasti'. Hence these three forms combined into one goes by the name, Srikalahasti which is held to be one of the Panchabhutalingas of the South. As stated above, the Pancha Bhutas is the Earth, the Water, the Fire, the Wind, and the Ether. Corresponding to these there are five Lingas, which are worshipped, in five famous Kshetras of which Kalahasti is one, representing the element of Vayu. The Pancha Bhuta Kshetras are Kanchipuram representing Prithvi or earth, the Jambukeswara representing Appu or water, Arunachala representing Tejas or light, Sri Kalahasti representing Vayu or air, and Chidambaram representing Akash or ether. There is a light in the innermost Garbhagriha of the temple, which is always flickering, as if it is being blown by wind, even though there are no holes or windows anywhere there. This is said to represent the Vayu element from which the temple is derived.
The main Lingam in the shrine is untouched till today even by the priest. Abhisheka is being performed with Panchakarpura, or camphor mixed with water, milk and Panchamruta. The Linga is said to be Swayambu or selfmanifest and hence has not been touched by human hand up to now. Even this Panchakarpura Abhisheka to the main Linga is to be performed only by the priests belonging to Bharadwaja Gotra of Apastambha Sutra and who have undergone the prescribed Diksha initiation in the temple. Flowers, sandal paste and the sacred thread are being offered only to the Utsava murthy but not to the main Linga.
History of Architecture
This temple is one of the most impressive Siva temples in India. Vishwakarma brahmin Sthapthis who sculpted this temple need to be eulogized for their excellent architectural cognizance
The Temple was built the temple at the foot of Kailasagiri. Kings and later by Tondaman Chakravarti. The Chola kings renovated and built the main temple. Kulottunga Chola, the great Chola king, superintended an enormous, ancient gopuram (entrance tower) over the main gate The tower is 36.5m (120 ft) high now its being called as “Galigopuram”, Which is the main entrance facing south, in the Eleventh Century A.D. In the Twelfth Century A.D., King Veeranarasimha Yadavaraya built the present outer Prakaras, and the four Gopurams connecting the four entrances of the temple.
The Vijayanagar rulers developed the Mantapams inside the temple and, from an inscription of Krishandevaraya, we find that be built in 1516 A.D. the Hundred Pillared Mantapam and the Galigopuram, which are facing west t o east. Sri Achutaraya, of the Vijayanagar dynasty, got his ceremony performed in the presence of Lord Kalahastiswara in 1529 A.D., before he finally celebrated it for the third and last time at Vijayanagar, his capital City. Finally, the Natukottai Chettiars of Devakottai who are famous for their charity gave the final shape to the temple in 1912 at a cost of nearly nine lakes of rupees. Tamil saints Nayanars like Appar , Sundarar and Sambanthar praised to Sri Vayulingeswara swami the deity in their hymns. After its complete structure during the subsequent years today the Govt. and Trust board smoothly organising this temple.
The Manikanteswarar temple, also in Kalahasti dates back to the period of Raja Raja Chola I (early 11th century), and it was reconstructed in stone in 1196 by Kulottunga III. Shiva here is also referred to as Manikkengauyudaiya Nayanar. There is also a Vishnu shrine in this temple.
