Does anyone know history/mystery of Srikalahastee temple situated near Tirupati? I saw many poster for Rahu-Ketu Puja ( Pandit told me its for Kal Sharp Dosh) here. Also, I saw image of Sri (Spider) – Kala ( Snake) – Hastee (Elephant) worshiping Shiva lingam.
So elephant is Jupiter, Snake maybe Rahu-Ketu, which planet signifies for Spider? This made me curious and I’m looking for to learn more about its history. Thanks
Ref –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikalahasteeswara_temple
nice query amankishu7ji …this is one of the 5 important temples in south region and Srikalahasti is located in Andhra Pradesh. this is a vayu lingam temple and similarly there are rest of the 4 tatva lingam temple like fire lingam, water lingam etc…the rahu-ketu Puja is performed here by devotees whose charts are afflicted by rahu ketu..also there is a sequence to be followed while visiting the temples chain and also to perform the puja…native cannot visit anywhere post the puja and has to go home directly also devotees are supposed to visit tirupati chain of temples before visiting this temple…sequence is important to be followed…about the story of why spider (Shri) , snake (kala) and hasti(elephant) comes into picture is below also there are different versions of the story as well…
As per many Hindu scriptures the temple is associated with the story of the three ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. The name Sri kalahasti itself is derived from the name of all three devotees; Sri has been taken from spider, kala from serpent and Hasti from Elephant. It is believed that all the three were ardent worshippers of Lord Shiva and they offered pooja to Lord Shiva in their own way. While the elephant offered Abhishek to Lord Linga with water which he used to bring from the nearby river, the spider used to wrap around the linga, the strong thread so as to protect it from getting deteriorated. The Serpent on the other hand used to decorate the lingam by placing Naga Manikyam, his dear stone near the lingam. Once, while each of the three were trying to do the pooja in their own way, they crossed each other’s path and the elephant considered the method of worshipping of the spider is disrespectful and so, he splashed the thread the spider had weaved with his trunk full of water. At the act of elephant, the serpent and spider got angry and to take revenge the serpent entered the trunk of the elephant and spread its venom. The rage continued and the elephant smashed its trunk against the lingam and killed the serpent and in between the fight the spider also dies. Lastly the elephant dies because of the effect of the poison on its whole body. Looking at the sacrifice of his devotees, Lord Shiva was very much pleased and he gave salvation to elephant and the serpent while the spider got rebirth as King to serve the divine task. jai mahadev maa gauri
very insightful and informative, I was looking forward to know this part. thank you Rupaliji.
spider is mercury, ur things r thoughtful , happy to share what knows.
it’s one of the best temple in South India if possible try to visit.
thanks a lot Srichandana, I didn’t knew spiders are represented by mercury. I visited this temple last week. very calming it was. when I was on the way to this temple in bus, I heard someone saying to me when I was napping to not go empty handed in this temple. when I arrived, I purchased sweets, flowers and bel Patra.
ha ye tino shiv bhakt the hai aur amr hai rhenge
maine suna hai kahani…makda ka alaga kahani hai aur hathi aur saap ka ek saath….
inki bhi murti hai wha. shiv ji ke mandir me