EXPLORE
Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Telmple
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Period : 11th Century
Deity : Ganesha
District : Kanipakam
Info: Kanipakam famous for a temple dedicated to Varasiddhi Vinayaka, a swayambhu sculpture is known as the up-holder of truth. Disputes are resolved between people by taking a ‘special oath’ at the temple after a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the Lord. The Vara Siddhi Vinayaka is known as upholder of the truth and people who committed sins agree their mistakes soon after they had a dip in the river and much before they enter the temple. Thus, the glory of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka spread far and wide, as bestowers of boons. The temple became so popular that even toady most of the wishes of the devotees are fulfilled.
The word “Kani” in Tamil means wetland, and “Pakam” means, flow of water. Kanipakam means flow of water into wetland.
Legend has it that there were three brothers, the first one was Dumb, the second one was Deaf and the third one was Blind. They were earning out their livelihood by cultivating a small piece of land, with the waters of a well. After some time, the water in the well got dried up and one of them got into the well and started digging it up. He was taken aback to see the iron implement hitting a stone formation all of a sudden, a ‘swayambhu’ self-manifested idol of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling waters. He was shocked to see blood woozing out from the swayambhu stone and the water in the well-turned thick red in colour. From that moment, all the three brothers lost their deformities and became normal. Knowing the miracle, the villagers tried to deepen the well further. They could not succeed because of the Devine self-manifest stone. The overwhelmed villagers out of great devotion and dedication broke hundreds of coconuts and the coconut water started flowing into a channel that irrigated one and quarter acres. The people around who saw the continuous flow of the water uttered ‘Kani Parakam’. ‘Kani Parakam’ which later corrupted into ‘Kanipakam’.
Another legend has it that the self-manifest Idol of Vara Siddhi Vinayaka has been growing in size in the well whose waters overflow during the rainy season. The water of the well is considered holy and distributed to the devotees as ‘Thirtham’.
There is another interesting story associated with the temple. According to it there were two brothers namely Sankha and Likhita, who took to pilgrimage to Kanipakam. During their journey the younger brother was hungry and plucked a mango from the nearby grove, disregarding the advice of his elder brother. The local ruler punished him for committing the crime by cutting his two arms. Both the brothers took a bath in a river near Kanipakam temple. It was wonder that the younger brother got his both the arms restored well before they visit the temple. After knowing the incident, the ruler named the river as ‘Bahuda’ the giver of arms and even still today it is called with the same name.
The local people believe that the idol is still growing in size day by day. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol.
The temple was constructed by Kulothunga Chola I, the Chola king in the early 11th century CE and some structures were added by the Emperors of the Vijayanagara dynasty during the 15th -16th centuries as the area was under their rule.
Apart from organising the daily Archana’s and calendar of events on regular basis, annual Bramotsavam is celebrated during the Ganesh Chathurti. The God in his festival form is taken out in a procession, well decorated on different vehicles like Hamsa (Swan), Mayura (Peacock), Mooshika (Rat), Sesha (Serpent), Vrishabha (Bull) and Gaja (Elephant) and finally in a temple car (Rathotsavam) after the wedding ceremony of the god is over.
5AM-10PM
