THIS devotee of Lord Shiva fed him meat and sacrificed his eyes in devotion

The transformer of the Universe, Lord Shiva, is worshipped, respected, and revered, all around India, especially by people of the Shaiva sect. From Indians reciting the Mahamrityunjay mantra, to foreigners covered in Rudraksh mala, everyone has their own way of worshipping and devoting themselves to Lord Shiva.
He is the Adiyogi, the Mahadev, the Bholenath, and the epitome of simplicity and supreme power.

A way of worshipping Lord Shiva is through the Shivling, or the Shivlingam. It is neither a statue nor a photograph, but a symbolic representation of his presence in the form of a smooth, black stone with a rounded top.
People worship a Shivling through Abhishekam rituals where they pour milk, water, curd, sandalwood, and more on Lord Shiva in order to receive his blessings.

But in between this, there was a devotee of Lord Shiva who worshipped the Shivling not with milk or curd, but rather with meat, water, and the likes.

Kannappa, also known as Kannappa Nayanar, was a tribal hunter who became one of the most famous and dedicated devotees of Lord Shiva. It is said that Kanappa had an unshakable love for Lord Shiva, and even though he did not know the typical temple rituals or scriptures, or know how to chant prayers, his feelings and faith were pure. (Image: Ramana Hridayam/Facebook)

Unlike traditional devotees who offered fruits and flowers to the deity, Kannappa worshipped Lord Shiva in a way that felt natural to him. Being a hunter, he would bring fresh meat from the animals he had hunted and place it before the Shivling, not knowing it was forbidden or considered taboo.
Every day, Kannappa would go into the forest, hunt for food, and bring the best portion as an offering to Lord Shiva. He would also clean the area around the Shivling using water from his mouth when he couldn't find any other clean source, and while this sounds impure to people, for Kanappa, it was the epitome of devotion.

Another point in Kanappa’s devotion was the time he was ready to offer both his eyes to Lord Shiva. It is said that one fine day when Kanappa went to worship the Shivling, he saw blood flowing out of the Shivling’s eye, and it brought him great pain. In order to stop the bleeding, Kannappa took a knife and took his own eye out to stop the blood coming from the Shivling. And while the blood stopped, soon after, the other eye of the Shivling also started to bleed.
In a moment of great devotion, Kanappa got ready to sacrifice his other eye as well, but Lord Shiva came before him, pleased with his devotion, and blessed him.

Kannappa’s story is remembered not because of his wealth, riches, grand offerings, or perfect rituals, but because of the purity with which he devoted himself to Lord Shiva. When he knew nothing about the rituals of the ordinary man, he worshipped Lord Shiva with whatever he had and thought was right, and was ready to sacrifice both his eyes, even though he was a skilled and famous warrior, all for his Lord in the form of a Shivling.