Srikalahasthi

Name Srikalahasthi means Sri(Spider), Kala(Snake), Hasti(Elephant) this name came into existence with the story that these three creatures together worshiped Shiva Lingam and attained moksha,  it is a holy town in Chittoor district  of Andhra Pradesh of the Indian state, this town is a part of Tirupati urban Revenue Division, urban development authority, srikalahasthi town is situated near the banks of "SWARNAMUKHI" River.

Srikalahasthi town has a famous temple of Lord Shiva which is one of the most famous and ancient temples of Lord Shiva, it is believed that the people who are suffering from  various doshas can get here and solved their problems by doing Shanthi poojas, and get revealed of these doshas  this temple was originally built during Pallava rule, but the current infrastructure was built by kulothunga 1,2,3 in the 11th century who were chola kings.

During Tamil Sangam dynasty, the works of Tamil poet named Nakeerrar, have references to the temple proving its existence, Nakeerrar, and another famous poet wrote countless poems praising Srikalahasteswara.

During the 16th century, Srikrishna Devaraya of Vijayanagara dynasty built a huge Hundred pillar Mandapam which is an important feature of this holy place.

Arts And Economy

Srikalahasti economy depends mainly on Agriculture and Tourism besides this it became the production hub for famous handy dyed painted fabric textile which is known as Srikalahasthi Kalamkari, main crops which are grown in Srikalahasti are Paddy, wheat, Sugarcane, And Groundnuts.

Pilgrims who are visiting Thirumala also visits Srikalahasthi lord Shiva temple which earns economy for the town in the form of tourism. Srikalahasthi kalamkari is one of the major sources of the economy for this town in India there are only two production hubs for kalamkari textiles one among them is Srikalahasti.

which produces textiles having hand dyed and painted cloth fabric having motifs of epics and patterns of Hindu mythological designs.