The Life
Thinnan, a hunter-chieftain of Uduppur, discovered a Shiva lingam upon the hill of Kalahasti and was overcome with love. Untutored in ritual, he worshipped in his own way: he bathed the Lord with water carried in his mouth, offered roasted meat tasted for the choicest portions, and adorned the lingam with wildflowers taken from his own hair. Each day the Brahmin priest Sivagochariar cleaned away what he thought defilement, until Shiva showed him the hunter's boundless love. To test Thinnan, the Lord made the lingam's eye stream with blood. Without hesitation Thinnan gouged out his own eye and pressed it to the spot; when the second eye bled, he marked the place with his foot and began plucking out his other eye. Shiva stayed his hand, naming him Kannappan, 'he who gave his eyes.'