Kannappa

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Kannapa, a tribal hunter, was a devoted follower of Lord Siva and one of the 63 Nayanars. Once a priest at the temple objected to his offering meat to a Siva linga. Lord Siva wanted to test the extent of Kannapa's devotion. Blood issued from the right side of the Linga. Kannapa tried to treat it with herbs but failed. So he gouged out his right eye and used it to cover the bleeding wound. Then the left eye of the linga began to bleed. Kannappa was about to gouge out his left eye when he realized that if he did so, he would be able to find the location of the eye. Placing his leg on the idol at the left eye, he proceeded to gouge out his other eye, but was stopped by Siva, who took him, placed him on his right side and granted him mukti (salvation).

According to Swami Sivananda's book, Sixty-Three Nayanar Saints, pg. 44, some Saivite traditions believe that Kannappa was the reincarnation of Arjuna. Arjuna, worshipped Siva for seeking the Pasupatha Astra and failed to recognize Him in the form of a hunter. Thus, according to this tradition, Arjuna had to be born as a hunter and adore the Lord before attaining final liberation.

The famed Kalahasti temple, located near the renowned Tirupati temple is the site of this incident.

The First film of legendary kannada film star Dr. Rajkumar, Bedara Kannapa was based on this story.