Srikalahasti Temple

Deity

Kalahasteeswara (the element of air) and Gnana Prasunambika, with the Rahu–Ketu sannidhi

Where

Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh · 13.75N 79.70E

Usual hours

5.30 am – 12.30 pm, 4 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?

Grahas

Rahu Ketu

Visited for

Vayu, air, and the classic kshetram for Rahu–Ketu and Sarpa dosha nivarana pooja, booked for the same morning. Rahu kalam and Amavasya are its hours; the parihaaram most astrologers name for Kala sarpa.

The name carries the sthala purana whole. Sri is the spider, kala the serpent and hasti the elephant, and all three are said to have worshipped the linga here. The spider wove a canopy over it, the serpent laid a jewel on it, and the elephant washed it with water and swept off whatever the other two had left.

Each took the others’ worship for desecration. The sthala purana has it that they fought and died at the linga together, and that Sivan gave all three release and took their names.

The story the temple is best known for is Kannappa’s. A hunter of these hills is said to have worshipped the linga in his own way, with meat and water carried in his mouth; when the linga’s eye began to bleed he is said to have taken out one of his own and set it in place, and to have been reaching for the second when he was stopped. He is counted among the sixty-three Nayanmars.

Srikalahasti is a Tevaram Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the few in what is now Andhra Pradesh. There is Chola and Vijayanagara work in the fabric of the temple.

The tall entrance gopuram collapsed in 2010 and has since been rebuilt. The Rahu–Ketu pooja for which the temple is known today is conducted on a large scale by the temple administration, with a schedule of slots through the day.

The linga stands between the hills on the bank of the Swarnamukhi. It is not touched: abhishekam is done without the priest’s hand on it, and it is dressed rather than bathed directly.

A lamp in the sanctum is seen to flicker although the cell is closed and there is no draught. That is taken as the sign of the element here, vayu, air.

Gnana Prasunambika has her own shrine. The Rahu–Ketu sannidhi, where the sarpa dosha poojas are performed, is in the outer part of the complex and has its own hall and its own queue.

Rahu kalam on any day and amavasya are the busiest hours, because that is when the Rahu–Ketu and Kala Sarpa poojas are booked. The pooja is done in batches from early morning.

Maha Sivaratri brings a Brahmotsavam that runs for several days and is the largest gathering of the year.

Also called

Kalahasteeswara Temple, Dakshina Kailasam, Vayu Sthalam

Period

Chola and Vijayanagara work, with later rebuilding

Reaching it

Srikalahasti is about 36 km east of Tirupati and roughly 110 km north of Chennai. It has its own railway station on the Chennai–Renigunta line, and buses run from Tirupati through the day.

• Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Tiruchanur 31.2 km · Vaishnava
• Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple 38.6 km · Vaishnava
• Thiruthani Subramanya Swamy Temple 64.1 km · Murugan
• Vadaranyeswarar Temple, Thiruvalangadu 67.6 km · Saiva
• Veeraraghava Perumal Temple, Thiruvallur 71.5 km · Vaishnava
• Sholingur Yoga Narasimha Temple (Ghatikachalam) 76.3 km · Vaishnava

Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.

• Were the hours right when you went?
• Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
• A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board

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