Near Thirupathi was the town of Kuravapuram and there lived Kuravanambi with his wife, both being an ardent devotee of Lord Balaji in Tirumala. He was a potter and out of his love and devotion to the Lord, he provided mud pots daily, for free, to the temple for serving food to the Lord. He even made an idol of Lord Srinivasa with mud and prayed to Him everyday. He would make flowers out of mud and present them to the Lord every day. Even in the night, before going to sleep, with the left over clay, he would make flowers and chants the Lord’s name and place it in front of the Lord. Our acharyas called this mud flower as "paNippU".
Srinivasa enjoyed the love of this devotee, just like how he enjoyed the devotion of King Thondaimaan. King Thondaimaan who built “Anandha Nilayam”, the current temple of Lord Srinivasa in Tirumala, being an ardent devotee would present golden flowers to the Lord every morning. Taking the secret path between the Tirumala temple and his palace, every morning, he would present those golden lotus flowers to the Lord by chanting mantras, before starting his day. Every night, after his day’s work, he would visit the temple before going to sleep, taking the secret path.
One day, the Lord decided to show the devotion of Kuruvanambi to the world. One such night, when the King visited the temple, instead of his golden flowers, he noticed mud flowers lying near the lotus feet of the Lord. Seeing this, the king was surprised. He prayed to the Lord to understand what happened. After continuous compulsion from the King, Lord Srinivasa made him realize the greatness of Kuravanambi and said him that the Lord sees only the devotion and the heart and not the offerings.
King Thondaiman went to Kuravapuram and reached the hut of Kuruvanambi. Surprised at the unexpected visit of the King, Nambi gave a warm welcome and received him with honor! King Thondaimaan spoke – “I am really surprised and pleased to meet you, Kuravanambi! Your devotion to the Lord is what brought me here! Lord Srinivasa accepted your mud flowers and your flowers are seen daily near the lotus feet of Lord Srinivasa in Tirumala!”
Thirukkolur Ammal is asking "Did I pray to the Lord using mud flowers with devotion and love like Kuravanambi?”
