Source: beta.thehindu.com
TIRUPATI, INDIA, June 12, 2010: It was the end of a legacy when the Rajagopuram came crashing down.
The Sri Kalahastiswara temple, situated on the banks of River Swarnamukhi, is surrounded by a chain of hills with massive rocky formations everywhere. The temple is considered as “Dakshina Kailash” and one of the Panchabuta sthalams, standing for “vayu” (air) among the five basic elements. Legend has it that it is called Sri Kalahasti because a spider (Sri), a serpent (kala) and an elephant ((hasti) worshipped Lord Siva here and attained salvation.
According to R. Nagaswamy, former Director of Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department, Sri Kalahastiswara temple has a recorded history that goes back to a minimum of 1600 years and is closely associated with the “unparalleled devotion” of hunter-prince Kannappa to Lord Siva. “Kannappa’s devotion is an outstanding story in the Saivite literature and he is venerated as one of the 63 Saivite nayanmars (saints),” said Dr. Nagaswamy, who is a scholar in Tamil and Sanskrit, and an epigraphist of international repute.
According to him Srikalahastiswara temple held a special appeal for the Chola kings, who lavished it with gifts and kept expanding it with additional structures and converted it into a big complex that it is today. The temple complex abounds in lithic records (stone inscriptions) of Chola kings such as Rajaditya (regnal years 947-949 CE), Raja Raja Chola (regnal years 985-1014 CE), his son Rajendra Chola (1012-1044 CE), his son Rajadhiraja (1018-1054 CE), Kulottunga I (1070-1120 CE) and Kulotunga III (1178-1218 CE).
The temple is also replete with the inscriptions of later Pandyas and almost all the rulers belonging to the Vijayanagara dynasty. While the inscriptions of the Chola and the Pandya kings are in Tamil, those of the Vijayanagara dynasty are in Telugu. The story of Kannappa is fully told in a long inscription of the Cholas. The inscriptions of the Chola and Pandya rulers provide a wealth of information on the donations they made to the temple for its maintenance, for performing pujas and celebrating festivals.
During the Chola rule, Sri Kalahasti fell under the revenue division of Attrur Nadu of Perumbanaipadi, which was a sub-division of Tiruvenkata Kottam (Tiruvenkata Circle) under the larger division of Jayamkonda Cholamandalam. Raja Raja Chola had a soft corner for the Srikalahastiswara temple, and according to Dr. Nagaswamy, the emperor sent a golden diadem to the deity from his capital of Thanjavur, which was carried with veneration by his army commander and officials. The temple has bronze portrait sculptures of Chola Mahadevi, one of the queens of Raja Raja Chola, and of Kulotunga III, with inscriptions on their pedestals.