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According to ancient Tamil sources Sri Kalahasti has been known as the ‘Kailash of the South’ for slightly more than two thousand years and the small river on whose banks it sits, the ‘Ganges of the South.’

The claim that Kalahasti is the ‘Kailash of the South’ simply means that the small hill near the temple is to be taken as the spiritual equivalent of the Himalayan Kailash. Likewise, the small river flowing in a northerly direction beside the temple is to be taken as the mighty Ganges. 

At Kalahasti, the Goddess Gnanaprasoonamba (the giver of knowledge or the mother of all knowledge) represents the ‘wealth’ i.e. freedom from limitation conferred by self knowledge. The deity Kalahastiswarar (the lord of Kalahasti) faces west and symbolizes liberation.

SriKalahasti got its name because in the days of yore, a spider (sri), serpent (kala) and elephant (hasti) elephant worshipped Shiva with great devotion. A spider lived in the inner sanctum and worshipped the Lord by weaving elaborate temples and images of Shiva. 

One day, a breeze came up and caused the altar fire to destroy the spider’s offerings. It became angry and was about to extinguish the flame. In appreciative of its devotion, Shiva appeared and granted the spider a boon. The spider requested moksha, release from the cycle of births and deaths. Accordingly, it became one with Shiva, the Self. 

A cobra worshipped Lord Shiva by offering rare gems, pearls and rubies that it brought from Nagaland, a place where Nagas (serpents) dwell. 

After the snake had worshipped, an elephant, fresh from its purifying bath in the nearby river, came to worship. In preparation, it sprayed the altar with water from its trunk, scattering the gems. It then proceeded to decorate the altar with leaves from a holy tree. When the cobra returned, it was angered to see its offerings disrespected and replaced by mere leaves. So it replaced the leaves with gems.

This charade repeated itself every day until the cobra got fed up and decided to punish whoever was destroying its offerings. When the elephant returned to worship with its leaves, the cobra slithered up its trunk and bit the elephant, injecting its venom. In agony, the elephant dashed its head on the stone altar in an attempt to kill the snake. 

The snake fell out of the trunk and died from its wounds and the elephant succumbed to the poison. Understanding that both had sacrificed their lives for the sake of their love of the Lord, Shiva resurrected them, gave them liberation and took them into his own body. 

At the foot of the linga one can see a spider, two elephant tusks, and a five-headed (the five elements) serpent to remind the devotee of these acts of supreme devotion.

 The inner temple was constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 12th Century by the Chola kings and the Vijayanagara kings.

The main linga remains untouched by human hands; even the priests do not touch it. Abhishek (bathing) is done by pouring a mixture of water, milk, camphor and panchamrita. Sandal paste, flowers, and the sacred thread are offered to the utsava-murti, and not the main linga.

Patala Ganapati temple is a small underground temple located in the temple complex. One has to climb down carefully to worship this Ganapati 20 feet below the ground level on a very narrow staircase.

This is the place where the famous devotee of Lord Shiva, Kannappar got darshan of Lord Shiva! Kannappar was a hunter and one day he found blood and tears were flowing from a Shiva Linga.

Kannappa plucked out one of his eyes and placed it in the eye of the Linga that was oozing blood and tears. When the tears and the blood were still trickling from the other eye, Kannappa decided to remove his second eye and placed one of his feet on the spot of the right eye of the Shiva Linga. 

Before he could pull out his second eye with the arrow, Lord Shiva appeared and restored his eye while granting him a boon to occupy a place close to him. Thus, he became Kannappa Nayanar, on of the 64 Saints of Lord Shiva!

Srikalahasti is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalam and represents the Vayu Sthalam .

Lord Vayu performed penance for thousands of years to "Karpoora lingam" (Karpoora means camphor). Pleased with his penance, Lord Shiva manifested before him and said, "O Vayu Deva, though you are dynamic in nature, you stayed here without movement and did penance for me. I am pleased with your devotion. I shall grant you three boons". 

Lord Vayu said, "Swami! I want to be present everywhere in this world. I want to be an integral part of every Jiva who is none other than the manifestation of Paramatma. I want to name this Karpoora Linga, which represents you, after me”. Shiva said," Your are qualified for these three boons. As per your wish, you will be spread throughout this world. Without you, there will be no life. This linga of mine will forever be known all over through your name”. 

Lord Shiva disappeared after granting these boons. Thereafter, this Karpoora Vayu Lingam is worshipped by everyone.

The temple is also associated with Rahu and Kethu (of the nine Grahams or celestial bodies in the Indian astrological scheme) and special Pujas are performed here to appease Rahu – Kethu and Sarpa doshas.

The temple address and contact details: Sri Kalahastiswarar Devasthanam, Kalasathi, Chithoor District, AP 517644. Telephone: +91 8578 221655 / 222787. 

Kalahasti is about 40 Km from Tirupati and good hotel accommodation is available in Tirupati.

Sri Krishnadevaraya built a huge gopuram in 1516, a few feet away from the entrance to the temple. The entrance to the temple is crowned with a smaller tower. 

There is an underground Ganapati shrine in the outer prakaram, while in the innermost prakaram are the shrines of Shiva and Parvati.

The vast west facing Kalahastiswara temple is built adjoining a hill, and on the banks of the river Swarnamukhi. At some points, the hill serves as the wall of the temple. 

The temple prakarams follow the contour of the adjoining hill and hence the temple plan is rather irregular. North of the temple is the Durgambika hill, south is the Kannappar hill and east is the Kumaraswamy hill.

The present structure of the temple is a foundation of the Cholas of the 10th century, as testified by inscriptions; improvements and additions were made during the subsequent years of the Chola rulers of Tamilnadu and the Vijayanagar emperors.