Sri Swayambhu Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy in Kanipakam, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh.
Vakratunda Mahaa Kaaya Koti Soorya Sama Prabhaa
Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvadaa!!
Oh Lord, having a curved trunk, bigger body and glooms like a crores of suns
Please remove the obstacles in all my activities.
God is in Well - Strange!!
Kanipakam is a small village on the bank of Bahuda River. "Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland. According to the legend of the temple there were three brothers and each one had a handicap. Viz., Dumb, Deaf and Blind. They were earning out their livelihood by cultivating a small piece of land.
In olden days water was drawn from the well by way of 'Piccota System'. As one of them used to irrigate the field through the channels, the other two used to ply on the Piccota. On one such operation they found that the water in the well got dried up and they could no longer continue their job. One of them got into the well and started digging it up. He was taken aback to see the iron implement hitting a stone like formation.
Later, he was shocked to see blood oozing out from it. Within in a few seconds the entire water in the well, turned blood red in colour. Thus, startled by this divine sight, all the three became normal getting rid of their deformities. As soon as the villagers came to know about this miracle, they thronged to the well and tried to deepen the well further. But their attempt proved futile because the 'swayambhu' idol (the self-manifested) of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling waters.
Ultimately they offered many number of coconuts with all prayers- modesty kneeling before the new idol afford “MANGALA HARATHI” etc. They declared the ideal of “SWAYAMBHU” and tendered number of coconuts. The coconuts water flowed into the channel to a distance of more than one and a quarter acres. The indication of this led to the modification in the usage of the Tamil word “KANIPARAKAM” and later pronounced as KANIPAKAM. Even today the idol is in the original well and the springs of the well are perennial and the eternal. During the rainy season, the holy water from the well overflows even today.
The temple was constructed in the early 11th century CE by the Chola king Kulothunga Chola I and was expanded further in 1336 by the Emperors of Vijayanagara dynasty.
KAANIPAAKAM - Place of Justice
Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka as up-holder of 'Truth'. Day to day disputes between people is resolved by taking a 'special oath'. The people in the dispute take a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the lord. It is taken as gospel truth. There are instances when the person who committed that sin voluntarily agrees as soon as he had the dip and much before entering the temple itself. It seems the Lord lawns invisibly on the sinner and makes him repent and feel guilty for his sinful deeds.
Thus the glory of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka spread far and wide and the honorable courts uphold the 'special oath' in their judicial pronouncements.
BAAHUDAA River - Cheyyeru
The Cheyyeru is formed by the confluence of the rivers Bahuda and Puncha that originate in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. This is monsoon river and is a tributary of the Penna river. Attirala is a temple town on the Cheyyeru that is associated with several myths. It is believed that the sage Parasurama did penance for his sin of matricide here.
Once upon a time, there were two brothers Shankha and Likhita, who were Munis and used to live in their Aashramams. One day, the younger brother, Likhita, went to the Shankha’s aashramam and on not finding his brother, sat under a mango tree. He started eating one of its mangoes, without taking the permission of the owner of the tree (Shankha).
Shankha returned to his aashramam and found Likhita eating the mangoes. Shankha then told Likhita that, one must never take the things which do not belong to them. He said “You should have eaten it only after taking my permission”. He further told Likhita to go to the King, Sudyumna, tell him the mistake he did and take the appropriate punishment, according to the Danda-neeti-shaastram. Likhita adheres to the word of his brother and immediately goes to Sudyumna. The King warmly welcomes the Muni and upon being asked the reason for coming, Likhita tells what had happened and begs the King for punishment.
The King who knows all the Dharma shastras, replied that “O great Muni! You leave all the pleasures of normal humans and do Tapas for the welfare of everyone. How can I give you punishment?”. Likhita replies saying that a King must never deviate for his duty and hence, must punish him. The King accepts and orders that Likhita’s hands must be cut-off (following Danda-neeti for stealing).
Likhita then returned to Shankha after experiencing the punishment. Shankha was very happy to see his brother and said “O dear! you did a good thing. Because of you our entire vamsham will be saved. Dip in this monsoon river and do Deva, Muni, Pitru Tarpanam and come. Suraapaanam, Guru Bhaaryaa Vyaamoham, Vipra-hatya, Vipra-Dhana-apaharanam and doing friendship with these four kinds of people are the Pancha-mahaa-paatakas (5 main sins). You became punyaatma because you experienced Dandanam (punishment) from Raaja.”
Likhita immediately goes and takes a dip in the near by river and to his surprise sees that he gets back his hands. Knowing that his hands came back due to the power of Shankha, he asked his brother that if he has so much power why did he ask him to go to the King for punishment, instead he himself could have given it. The elder brother said that everyone must do his own duty. Our duty is to do Tapas for the benefit of the society and the King’s duty is to punish the bad. Hence, he said, he had no right to punish his younger brother.
This story was told by Maharshi Veda Vyasa to Dharmaraaja when he was worried that all relatives, friends etc. are killed in the battle happend at Kurukshetra. Veda Vyasa says Dushtas must be punished, Duty of the King is to do that. So there is nothing wrong in Yudhishthira for doing the Maha bhaarata Yuddham, to kill the bad.
As Likhita, the brother of the sage Sankha had his severed hands restored to him after bathing in the river, the river is being called as BAAHUDA (Baahu means Hands + Da means Giver or Given by). The same is being called as Cheyyru in Telugu (Cheyyi means Hand and Yeru means Monsoon River).
The Ever Growing Lord :")
Another striking and strange feature of the deity's idol is that it is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Fifty years ago Smt. Lakshmamma, an ardent devotee had offered a 'Kavacham' (Armour) to the Lord whereas today it is out of size and doesn't fit the idol. The holy water from the well is offered to the devotees as theertham and we can see that armour kept in Garbhalaya. The water level of this holy well always to the level of land and strangely we cannot find any well nearby at this place having this much of plenty water that is being there whole year.
Festivals and Other Temples
The annual Brahmotsavam commences from Ganesh Chaturthi. It goes on for 20 days with all traditional pomp and gaiety. The utsavamurthi (Festive idol) is taken out in procession on all the days colourfully decked on different vahanams (Carriages). The soulful participation of the devotees is praise worthy. The float festival attracts pilgrims from all over the country.
Travel from Tirupati is 75 Kms, Katpadi is 44 Kms, Chennai is 171 Kms and Bangalore is 185 Kms. Now a days almost eveybody who visits Tirupati are making thier visist to this Beautiful place. We can see two more temples next to Ganesha Temple are Sri Manikenteswara Swamy Temple and
Sri Varadaraja Swamy Temple.
Many people might think that how come the one who himself is stuck in well, can save us from the obstacles or settle our disputes?! ; But the truth is "He settled in the well of SAMSAARA, to save us from not being trapped into the same cycle of life, SAMSAARA".
Gajaananam Bhoota Ganaadi Sevitham
Umaa sutam Soka Vinaasa Kaaranam
Kapittha Jamboo Phala Saara Bhakshitam
Namaami Vighneswara Paada Pankajam !!
Salutations to the Lotus feet of the one, who carries an elephant head, who is always saved by all divine beings, Who is the beloved son of Goddess Parvati, Who removes the mental grief and who likes to eat wood apple and Indian Blackberry is the remover of obstacles.
May the Son of Goddess Shakti bless you all with worldly cognition (Buddi) and eternal knowledge (siddhi).
Vakratunda Mahaa Kaaya Koti Soorya Sama Prabhaa
Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvadaa!!
Oh Lord, having a curved trunk, bigger body and glooms like a crores of suns
Please remove the obstacles in all my activities.
Kanipakam is a small village on the bank of Bahuda River. "Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland. According to the legend of the temple there were three brothers and each one had a handicap. Viz., Dumb, Deaf and Blind. They were earning out their livelihood by cultivating a small piece of land.
In olden days water was drawn from the well by way of 'Piccota System'. As one of them used to irrigate the field through the channels, the other two used to ply on the Piccota. On one such operation they found that the water in the well got dried up and they could no longer continue their job. One of them got into the well and started digging it up. He was taken aback to see the iron implement hitting a stone like formation.
Later, he was shocked to see blood oozing out from it. Within in a few seconds the entire water in the well, turned blood red in colour. Thus, startled by this divine sight, all the three became normal getting rid of their deformities. As soon as the villagers came to know about this miracle, they thronged to the well and tried to deepen the well further. But their attempt proved futile because the 'swayambhu' idol (the self-manifested) of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling waters.
Ultimately they offered many number of coconuts with all prayers- modesty kneeling before the new idol afford “MANGALA HARATHI” etc. They declared the ideal of “SWAYAMBHU” and tendered number of coconuts. The coconuts water flowed into the channel to a distance of more than one and a quarter acres. The indication of this led to the modification in the usage of the Tamil word “KANIPARAKAM” and later pronounced as KANIPAKAM. Even today the idol is in the original well and the springs of the well are perennial and the eternal. During the rainy season, the holy water from the well overflows even today.
The temple was constructed in the early 11th century CE by the Chola king Kulothunga Chola I and was expanded further in 1336 by the Emperors of Vijayanagara dynasty.
KAANIPAAKAM - Place of Justice
Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka as up-holder of 'Truth'. Day to day disputes between people is resolved by taking a 'special oath'. The people in the dispute take a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the lord. It is taken as gospel truth. There are instances when the person who committed that sin voluntarily agrees as soon as he had the dip and much before entering the temple itself. It seems the Lord lawns invisibly on the sinner and makes him repent and feel guilty for his sinful deeds.
Thus the glory of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka spread far and wide and the honorable courts uphold the 'special oath' in their judicial pronouncements.
BAAHUDAA River - Cheyyeru
The Cheyyeru is formed by the confluence of the rivers Bahuda and Puncha that originate in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. This is monsoon river and is a tributary of the Penna river. Attirala is a temple town on the Cheyyeru that is associated with several myths. It is believed that the sage Parasurama did penance for his sin of matricide here.
Once upon a time, there were two brothers Shankha and Likhita, who were Munis and used to live in their Aashramams. One day, the younger brother, Likhita, went to the Shankha’s aashramam and on not finding his brother, sat under a mango tree. He started eating one of its mangoes, without taking the permission of the owner of the tree (Shankha).
Shankha returned to his aashramam and found Likhita eating the mangoes. Shankha then told Likhita that, one must never take the things which do not belong to them. He said “You should have eaten it only after taking my permission”. He further told Likhita to go to the King, Sudyumna, tell him the mistake he did and take the appropriate punishment, according to the Danda-neeti-shaastram. Likhita adheres to the word of his brother and immediately goes to Sudyumna. The King warmly welcomes the Muni and upon being asked the reason for coming, Likhita tells what had happened and begs the King for punishment.
The King who knows all the Dharma shastras, replied that “O great Muni! You leave all the pleasures of normal humans and do Tapas for the welfare of everyone. How can I give you punishment?”. Likhita replies saying that a King must never deviate for his duty and hence, must punish him. The King accepts and orders that Likhita’s hands must be cut-off (following Danda-neeti for stealing).
Likhita then returned to Shankha after experiencing the punishment. Shankha was very happy to see his brother and said “O dear! you did a good thing. Because of you our entire vamsham will be saved. Dip in this monsoon river and do Deva, Muni, Pitru Tarpanam and come. Suraapaanam, Guru Bhaaryaa Vyaamoham, Vipra-hatya, Vipra-Dhana-apaharanam and doing friendship with these four kinds of people are the Pancha-mahaa-paatakas (5 main sins). You became punyaatma because you experienced Dandanam (punishment) from Raaja.”
Likhita immediately goes and takes a dip in the near by river and to his surprise sees that he gets back his hands. Knowing that his hands came back due to the power of Shankha, he asked his brother that if he has so much power why did he ask him to go to the King for punishment, instead he himself could have given it. The elder brother said that everyone must do his own duty. Our duty is to do Tapas for the benefit of the society and the King’s duty is to punish the bad. Hence, he said, he had no right to punish his younger brother.
This story was told by Maharshi Veda Vyasa to Dharmaraaja when he was worried that all relatives, friends etc. are killed in the battle happend at Kurukshetra. Veda Vyasa says Dushtas must be punished, Duty of the King is to do that. So there is nothing wrong in Yudhishthira for doing the Maha bhaarata Yuddham, to kill the bad.
As Likhita, the brother of the sage Sankha had his severed hands restored to him after bathing in the river, the river is being called as BAAHUDA (Baahu means Hands + Da means Giver or Given by). The same is being called as Cheyyru in Telugu (Cheyyi means Hand and Yeru means Monsoon River).
The Ever Growing Lord :")
Another striking and strange feature of the deity's idol is that it is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Fifty years ago Smt. Lakshmamma, an ardent devotee had offered a 'Kavacham' (Armour) to the Lord whereas today it is out of size and doesn't fit the idol. The holy water from the well is offered to the devotees as theertham and we can see that armour kept in Garbhalaya. The water level of this holy well always to the level of land and strangely we cannot find any well nearby at this place having this much of plenty water that is being there whole year.
Festivals and Other Temples
The annual Brahmotsavam commences from Ganesh Chaturthi. It goes on for 20 days with all traditional pomp and gaiety. The utsavamurthi (Festive idol) is taken out in procession on all the days colourfully decked on different vahanams (Carriages). The soulful participation of the devotees is praise worthy. The float festival attracts pilgrims from all over the country.
Sri Varadaraja Swamy Temple.
Many people might think that how come the one who himself is stuck in well, can save us from the obstacles or settle our disputes?! ; But the truth is "He settled in the well of SAMSAARA, to save us from not being trapped into the same cycle of life, SAMSAARA".
Gajaananam Bhoota Ganaadi Sevitham
Umaa sutam Soka Vinaasa Kaaranam
Kapittha Jamboo Phala Saara Bhakshitam
Namaami Vighneswara Paada Pankajam !!
Salutations to the Lotus feet of the one, who carries an elephant head, who is always saved by all divine beings, Who is the beloved son of Goddess Parvati, Who removes the mental grief and who likes to eat wood apple and Indian Blackberry is the remover of obstacles.
May the Son of Goddess Shakti bless you all with worldly cognition (Buddi) and eternal knowledge (siddhi).
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