When [[Arjuna]] was meditating to Shiva for [[Pashupatastra]], to test him, Shiva entered that forest as a hunter. Due to two arrows from Shiva and Arjuna killing a demon named Mooka, a war started between Shiva and Arjuna, and finally impressed by Arjuna's efforts, Shiva gave him the Pashupatastra. According to a folklore, Shiva also blessed him to be born as his greatest devotee in his next birth. So, he was born in the [[Kali Yuga]] as Kannappa and finally attained [[moksha]].
KannapaKannappa was born as Thinna and was a staunch devotee of the ''Vayu Linga'' of the Srikalahasteeshwara Temple which he found in the forest while hunting. Being born into a low-caste hunting tribe, he did not know how to properly worship Shiva. It is said that he poured water from his mouth on the lingam which he brought from the nearby river Swarnamukhi. He also offered Shiva whatever animal he hunted, including swine flesh. Offering non-vegetarian food to deities is traditionally considered a sin in Hindu rituals. But Shiva accepted his offerings since he was pure at heart and his devotion was true. The priests which used to conduct daily worship for the lingam saw the non-vegetarian offerings everytime they came from their lunch break. They used to throw the offerings, purify themselves, clean the lingam and offer vegetarian food to it. Once, Shiva tested the unshakable devotion of him. With his divine power, he created a tremor and the roof-tops of the temple began to fall. All the priests ran away from the scene except for kannappaKannappa who covered the linga with his body to prevent it from any damage. Hence he was namednicknamed thereafter as ''Dheera'' (the valiant one).
Dheera noticed that one of the eyes of the Siva lingalingam was oozing blood and tears. Sensing that [[Shiva]]'s eye had been injured, he proceeded to pluck his one eye out with one of his arrows and placed it in the spot of the bleeding eye of the Siva linga. This stopped the bleeding in that eye of the lingalingam. But to complicate matters further, he noticed that the other eye of the linga hashad also started oozing blood. So ThinnaDheera thought that if he were to pluck his other eye too, he would become blind to exactly know the spot where he has to place his own second eye over the bleeding second eye of the lingam. So he placed his right toe on the lingalingam to mark the spot of the bleeding second eye and proceeded to pluck out his other and only eye. Moved by his extreme devotion, Shiva appeared before dheerahim, stopped him from plucking his only eye and restored both his eyes. He is referred to as ''Kannappa'' or Bhakta ''Kannappa'' (the man of the eyes). Kannappa merged into the lingam and attained mokshaliberation at last.
