Kapila Theertham, Hindu temple at the foot of Tirumala hills, India.

Kapila Theertham is a small Shaivite temple and theertham in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, set at the entrance to a mountain cave on a steep face of the Seshachalam Hills. A mountain stream falls about 20 feet directly into the temple tank, the Kapila Theertham pushkarini. A stone statue of Nandi, Shiva's bull mount, stands at the entrance.

The temple was built in the 11th century under Rajendra Chola I, with the Chola officer Rayan Rajendra Chola as its constructor. In the 16th century the Vijayanagara emperor Achyuta Raya added stone steps and a mandapa around the tank. The devadasi Sevvusani from Vijayanagara served the temple and installed its Vinayaka idol.

The temple is also called Chakra Theertham or Alwar Theertham: Vaishnavas set four Sudarshana stone slabs at the tank's corners and added stone steps and evening lamps. A ruined shrine in front is said to be that of the Alwar saint Nammalvar. In the 16th century the devadasi Sevvusani from Vijayanagara served the temple and is credited with installing its Vinayaka image.

The temple sits north of Tirupati, below Alipiri at the foot of the Tirumala hills, reached by road rather than a mountain trail. The stream feeding the tank runs strongest in the rainy season, when the waterfall from about 20 feet above drops into the Kapila Theertham tank. The tank is ringed by stone steps and lit by sandhya vandana lamps.

The belief is not that waters physically flow in, but that all the sacred waters of the three worlds merge into the Kapila Theertham tank at noon for ten ghatikas, about four hours, on the Kartika full moon. Bathing then is held to grant release from rebirth, and the tank is also called Alvar Theertham by Vaishnavas.