Kannapa, a tribal hunter, was a devoted follower of Lord Siva and one of the 63 Nayanars. Once when he offered meat to a Siva linga, a priest at the temple objected to that practice. The Lord 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 gauged out his right eye and placed the eye to cover the bleeding. Then the left eye of the linga began to bleed. He was about to gauge out his left eye when he was stopped by Siva, who took him, placed him on his right side and granted mukti.
The famed Kalahasti temple, located near the renowned Tirupati temple is the site of this incident.
References and External Links
Cited from Swami Sivananda's Sixty-Three Nayanar Saints;
http://www.dlshq.org/download/nayanar.htm#_VPID_13
