Kanipakam Temple….

This is my 25^th post. So, I thought to tell something about my very favourite God Lord Ganesha (Vinayaka)…

Kanipakam is a small village in Chittoor district on the bank of Bahuda River. In the word Kanipakam, “Kani” means wetland and “Pakam” means flow of water into that wetland.

The story of the temple says that there were three brothers each one had a handicap. One was dumb, one was deaf and one was blind. They lived by irrigating a small piece of land. For that they used to get water from a well using Piccota system. One day the well got dried up. So they started to dig it. While doing, one had hit a stone like formation. He was shocked to see blood oozing out from it. Within few seconds, the entire water turned into red colour.

Thus, startled by this divine sight, all the three became normal getting rid of their deformities. When villagers came to know about this miracle, they dig deep and found a swayambhu idol of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling water. Ultimately they offered many number of coconuts with all prayers- modesty kneeling before the new idol. The indication of this led to the modification in the usage of the Tamil word "Kaniparakam" and later pronounced as Kanipakam.

Even now, the idol is in the original well and the springs of the well are perennial and the eternal. During the rainy season, the holy water from the well overflows even today. 

Another striking and strange feature of the idol is that it is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Smt. Lakshmamma, an ardent devotee had offered a 'Kavacham' (Armour) to the Lord, fifty years ago but today it is out of size and doesn't fit the idol. The holy water from the well is offered to the devotees as theertham. 

When my brother came in leave from London during this March 2011, we went to Kanipakam for my son’s first head shave. We even named my son after Lord Ganesha.  Actually, my son’s name is Sri Avaneesh in that Sri denotes “Sri Sai Ram” and Avaneesh denotes “Lord Ganesha”. We were so happy to name him. Enjoy the Snaps…

Two snaps were my little one with my bro…

After, we visited a nearby Lord Shiva temple. It’s under construction. Still, we got some snaps…