Kanipakam – Get real in Water Worship

How often have you ever thought of doing something and then suddenly providence lays its hand on you and you find yourself escalated to that thought? Something very similar to this happened to me sometime back. I was sitting on my armchair and wishing that something exciting and interesting happened in my life when my sister landed and just showed me tickets for a train journey.

“Kanipakam” she said, with finality and I realized she had planned our quarterly tour destination. Very soon, we reached Chittoor. We alighted at Tirupati and then took a bus to Chittoor which is around 70km from here.

So this village lying on the banks of the River Bahuda, Kanipakam was our destination this time. We always embarked on a journey to any place that either of us felt like. So what exactly is this village Kanipakam? Kani means wetland and Pakam meant a flow of water into a wetland.

Legend has it that there were three brothers who lived together. One was deaf, the other was dumb and the third was blind. They cultivated land as a means of their livelihood. Piccota was a system of drawing water from the well in olden times. One used to irrigate the field and the other used to operate the piccota system. During one such operation, the three brothers found that the well water got dried up and they couldn’t continue with their work. So one brother started digging the dry well and soon hit upon a stone. They got intrigued and further shocked when they saw blood oozing out of this tone. Soon the well filled with water and the whole well water became red with the blood oozing out of the stone. Suddenly the three brothers became normal and were rid of their disabilities. The villagers came to know about this strange miracle and they tried to dig deeper into the well. This didn’t work as there was an idol of Lord Vinayaka which had emerged out of the well waters. This was the stone that the three brothers had struck.

The people offered many coconuts and bowed in reverence to the idol. The coconut water that the villagers offered started flowing into a channel and down some acres of land. Thus the land came to be called Kanipakam.

So as we went towards the temple, we saw that the idol was indeed in the same well and the funniest fact was that the springs around the well were there all the year around. My sister told me that there was another amazing fact about this idol. This idol over the years has been growing in size. When we went we were able to see the abdomen and the knees of the idol. It is said that there was a female devotee Smt.Lakshmamma who had offered armour to the idol around 50 years back. Today the armour doesn’t fit the idol. The devotees who come here are given the holy water of the well as Prasad or theertham.

This place had no dearth of legends. While the temple had a story behind it, the river was no less. It is said that once there were two brothers Likhita and Sankha. They came on a pilgrimage to Kanipakam. They were very tired after their journey. So Likhita plucked a mango from a tree here much against the advice of Sankha. This displeased Sankha and he reported this matter to the ruler around there. He asked for punishment as they had sinned by taking a fruit without permission. Likhita was severely punished and his arms were cut off.

Then they had bath in the river near the temple at Kanipakam and what a miraculous thing happened. Likhita got his arms back. So Bahuda River got its name where Bahu means arm. It is beloved to have miraculous powers.

The self arisen idol or the swayambhu Kanipakam idol is believed to be an upholder of truth. Everyday disputes are resolved here by taking an oath. The people who are in discord take a dip in the holy river and promise before the idol that they wouldn’t fight and this is considered as the ultimate truth.

The festival of Brahmotsavam is celebrated here every year. It starts from the time of the Ganesha Chaturthi. It is a 20 day festival and goes on, with a lot of celebration and gaiety. The festive idol is taken out and everyone decorates the vehicle extravagantly and celebrates with a lot of enthusiasm. We were here in Kanipakam during this festival. The sheer beauty of the whole place at such times is something to be seen to be believed. The colour, pomp, grandeur, the beautiful vehicle with its decorations all lent a certain enjoyment which I cherish till today.

Temples are a form of worship in India. But the Kanipakam temple was something different. It had the mystery of a fantasy land and the devotion of a religious centre.