Kannappa Nayanar was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva, who offered his eyes to him. He is believed to be a reincarnation of Arjuna in the Mahabharata. Kannappa is also considered one of the 63 Nayanars (holy Shaivite saints).

Different Names of Kannappa:

1. Thinna.

2. Dheeran.

3. Dinna.

4. Kannayya.

Who was Kannappa in his Previous Birth?

Kannappa was Arjuna in his previous birth. Before the Mahabharata War, Arjuna undertook penance on the advice of Lord Krishna to obtain Pashupatastra from Lord Shiva. To disturb his penance, Duryodhana sent a demon named Mukasura. To protect his devotee, Lord Shiva appeared as a hunter and shot an arrow toward Mukasura, who was in disguise as a wild boar. But at the same time, Arjuna also shot an arrow. Both the arrows pierced the boar, and it died.

The two argued about who had slain the boar, and the argument soon turned into an exchange of arrow-fire. Soon Arjuna’s quiver was depleted of arrows, but the hunter was untouched. He then realized that the hunter must not be a common person; otherwise, an average hunter couldn’t stand before him.

Therefore, he started mentally worshiping Lord Shiva and offered a garland to a Shiva lingam. When he opened his eyes, he saw the same garland around the neck of the hunter. Therefore, he realized the hunter was Lord Shiva and was testing him. So, he fell at his feet and apologized for his misbehavior.

Pleased with Arjuna’s penance, Lord Shiva gave him Pashupatastra he desired. According to folklore, Lord Shiva also blessed him to be reborn as one of his greatest devotees in Kali Yuga as Kannappa and to be liberated from the cycle of birth and rebirth.

Family:

Kannappa was born in a hunter family. His father was Raja Naga Vyadha, a ruler in the Vyadha community. He was also a Shaiva devotee. Kannappa’s original name was Thinnan. His wife’s name was Neela.

The Story of Kannappa Nayanar:

Thinna was a hunter, and one day while hunting, he found a Shiva lingam in the jungle. He did not know the correct way to worship it. So he used to pour water from his mouth on it. He also used to offer flesh as naivedyam (food offered to a Hindu deity as part of a worship ritual) to Lord Shiva, which is prohibited in Hinduism. Lord Shiva accepted whatever he offered because his devotion was as pure as gold. One day to test his devotion, Lord Shiva created a tremor, and the temple roof began to fall. Everyone, except Kannappa, ran away from the scene. He covered the lingam with his body to protect it from damage. Hence, he got the name Dheera (valiant).

He noticed that one of the eyes of the Shiva lingam was bleeding. Therefore, he plucked his eye and replaced the bleeding eye with this one. After that, he noticed that the other eye of the lingam was also bleeding. He thought that if he plucked out his other eye, he would become blind and unable to see where another eye is. So, he placed his great toe at the spot of the second eye of the lingam and replaced it with his eye.

Lord Shiva was pleased by seeing the pure devotion of Kannappa. He appeared before him and restored both his eyes. He also made him a Nayanar. The Nayanars were a group of 63 saints living in Tamil Nadu during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to Lord Shiva. Hence, Thinna is also known by the name Kannappa Nayanar.

Kannappa merged into the Shiva lingam along with Lord Shiva and attained liberation.

Watch the Telugu movie Bhakta Kannappa on YouTube.