As per legend, it is believed that the deity is Swayambhu. The deity is seen in the well, full of water always.The history of this temple is worth knowing fact. About a 1000 years ago, there lived three physically-disabled brothers. While one of the brothers was blind, the other was dumb and the third was deaf.
They earned their modest living by cultivating a small piece of land close to Viharapuri village.On a certain day, when one of the brothers was irrigating the land and the other two were drawing the water from a well using the Piccota System.During the task, to their utter dismay,they discovered that the water of the well had dried up.
One of the brothers got down the well and began digging its bed with an iron spade. Soon after commencing this job, he was awe-struck to realise that his spade has been floundering about in the waters and hitting a stone-like object underneath. Whent he brothers saw blood oozing out from the stone formation, they were astounded to behold the miracle.
In no time, the blood mixed with the entire water in the well in such a way that there was no difference between the two.Meanwhile, the brothers got blessed by the divine sight and got rid of their former physical defects. When the news of these events reached the ears of the villagers, they rushed towards the well and tried hard to deepen the well.
Their endeavour, however, bore no fruit because a self-manifested idol of LordGanesha showed itself to them.Stunned beyond words with the divine revelation, the villagers offered loads of coconuts and other love offerings to the self-manifested idol,along with their humble prayers.The coconut water started flowing into a stream, to a distance of more than one and a quarter acres.
This phenomenon led to the coinage of the word “Kanipakam” where"Kani" means wet land and "Pakam" means flow of water into wet land.Till this day, the idol lies in its original place, that is, in the well from beneath it had sprung. The waters of the holywell never dry up,thus signifying the immortality of the Divine Power. In the monsoons, the well overflows with the sanctified water, and it is offered to the devotees as theertham.