Sri Kalahasti is one of the most sacred Siva kshetras. It is in Srikalahasti mandalm of Chittoor district. It is about 60 kms from Tirupati . The presiding diety is Srikalahasteeswara. The temple is connected by train and it halts at Srikalahasti railway station. The A.P.S.R.T.C has provided number of buses from different routes to reach Kalahasti. Private taxis also take the pilgrims to the devasthanam.

History of the temple in Brief

SriKalahasti 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 SriKalahasteewara. There are several other legends connected to the glory of the temple. Prominent among them is of Parvati who was cursed by Lord Shiva to discard her heavenly body and assumed the human form. To get rid off the above curse Parvati did long penance here. Pleased with her deep devotion Lord Shiva again restored her body hundred times better than her previous heavenly body and initiated various mantras including Panchakshari. Consequent of this, Parvati gained Shiva Gnanam and came to know as Gnanaprasunamba. Cursed to became a ghost Ghanakala prayed at Srikalahasti for 15 years and after chanting Bhairava Mantra many times Lord Shiva restored her original form. Mayura, Chandra and Devendra were also freed from their curses after taking bath in Swarnamukhi and prayed at Srikalahasti. To Bhakta Markandeya, Lord Shiva appeared in Srikalahasti and preched that a Guru alone could make esoteric teachings and, therefore he is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. At Srikalahasti, Lord Shiva tested the unshakable devotion of Kanna (Later became Bhaktha Kannappa) before the sages gathered at Srikalahasti. With his divine power, Lord Shiva created a Tremour and the roof tops of the temple began to fall. All the sages ran away from the scene except Kannappa who covered the Linga with his body from any damage. In another incident, Kannappa plucked out one of his eyes and placed in the eye of Linga which was oozing with blood and tears. When the tears and the blood were still trickling from another eye, Kannappa decided to remove his second eye and placed one of his feet on the spot of the right eye of the Shiva Linga. Before he could pull out his second eye with the arrow, Lord Shiva appeared and restored his eye while granting him a boon to occupy a place close to him.

Importance of the temple

Srikalahasti is a very sacred Kshetram where the Lord Shiva's consort Parvati did penance and gained with his blessings a body hundred times better than her previous heavenly body and learned Panchakshari Mantra to become Gnanaprasunamba. It is the place where Sri(Spider), Kala(Serphant) and Elephant(Hasti) were granted boons by Lord Shiva to merge their names with Vayu Linga and called the place as Srikalahasteeshwara. In this holy place Ganakala, Mayura, Chandra and Devendra washed off their sins after taking bath in Swarnamukhi and offerrd prayers. Bhakta Markendeya was taught by Lord Shiva that a Guru could make esoteric teachings and therefore he is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. Bhakta Kannappa was granted a boon by Lord Shiva in this Kshetra who occupy a place close to him. Mahasivaratri is an important festival when, Lakhs of people offer prayers to seek the blessings of the Lord to attain Mukti.