Karaikkal Ammaiyar: The Skeletal Form Devotee of Lord Shiva

Karaikkal Ammaiyar means ‘the venerated mother of Karaikkal’. Karaikkal was a trading hub of a city in present day Tamil Nadu. A pretty girl with goddess like scintillating aura was born to an affluent trader of Karaikkal named Dhanadattan. The pretty child was named Punitavati, who later became Karaikkal Ammaiyar – the respected mother of Karaikkal city. The anecdote and odyssey from Punitavati to Karaikkal Ammaiyar is quite intriguing, for she took the form of a skeletal and ardently kept worshipping Lord Shiva till her last breath. Karaikkal Ammaiyar is one of the only three women among sixty-three Nayanmars. She is one of the earliest and consequential figures of Tamil literature.

Karaikkal Ammaiyar’s original moniker is Punitavati. She was born in 5^th century AD to an opulent trader, Dhanadattan, of the Karaikkal town. Punitavati proved very auspicious to her father. She was like a goddess to her father, who loved her immensely. She was the apple of her father’s eye. She was born with divine qualities and had deep faith for god. Punitavati was loved by everyone in the town for her devotional qualities.

With time, she grew into a radiant girl. Everyone was smitten by her beauty. She began receiving plethora of marriage proposals. She was eventually married to the son of a famous trader named Nidhipatihad of Nagapattinam. She was tied the knot with Paramadattan on an auspicious day.

But her father, Dhanadattan, who doted on her didn’t want to live so far from his daughter so he proposed an idea to his son-in-law. He set up a house in Karaikkal for his daughter and her husband and provided them with everything and huge wealth. This way his daughter could live near him and happily.

Paramadattan was an ingenious man so he incisively utilized his father-in-law’s money and grew his business manyfold and lived happily with his loving and beautiful wife. Punitavati was a great wife. She dutifully did all the household chores, served her husband, cooked delectable food, and also served the wandering devotees who lived as celibates by providing them with food. The couple was having the time of their life.

One day some visitors who had stopped by at Paramadattan’s shop gifted them two mangoes. He asked his servant to go and handover those mangoes to Punitavati. She received those mangoes and kept them carefully for his husband. After a few hours, a servitor of the serpent who embellished Lord Shiva came to her house in the form of an old starving devotee asking for food. The magnanimous and benevolent Punitavati served him delicious food along with one of the two mangoes. The old devotee relished the food and blessed her taking his leave.

Later that night, when Punitavati’s husband came home, she served him the same delicious food along with a mango. The mango was so luscious that he asked her to get the other one also. Punitavati went towards the kitchen masquerading she was going to get it but deep down she was quacking in her boots, for there was no second mango. She had already served that mango to the famished old devotee.

To escape her husband’s disappointment, she prayed to the Lord and a mango appeared in her hand. When her husband ate it, he was delighted and over-joyed by the taste of the marvelous mango. He enquired from where she had got it. Punitavati couldn’t fib to her husband so in lieu of making mendacious excuses, she came clean to him telling him everything from the arrival of old ravenous devotee to her supplicating the Lord for those mangoes.

Paramadattan was not convinced and ergo he asked her to prove it to him by getting another mango by beseeching the Lord. Punitavati again meditated and supplicated god for another mango and indeed a mango appeared in her hand however as soon as Paramadattan proceeded to touch it, it vanished.

Seeing this, he was scared and convinced that Punitavati was no ordinary woman. She was a goddess with divine powers. From that day he never laid hand on her and started treating her as a goddess. After a few days, he left the town saying he needs to travel to far-off places in order to make hefty amount of money. He settled in a new town and married another girl. He had a daughter from his new wife, whom he named Punitavati after his first wife whom he considered a goddess.

Here in Karaikkal, chaste Punitavati kept working dutifully completely unaware of her husband’s deeds. One day she got to know from someone that her husband was residing in Pandya Kingdom making a lot of money. Her relatives took her to her husband in Pandya Kingdom where they found that he had married again and even had a daughter. As soon as Paramadattan spotted Punitavati his wife, daughter, and he himself bowed at her feet seeking her blessings.

He told everyone that she wasn’t an ordinary woman but a goddess. Taken aback by what her husband had done she prayed to the Lord Shiva to give her the form of a skeleton. The lord transformed her into a skeletal form, which is worshipped even now.

She went to the Mount Kailash to meditate and sing for her Lord. Impressed by her devotion Lord Shiva appeared in front of her and asked her to make a wish. She requested him to liberate her from this cycle of life and death. She danced with Lord Shiva and took eternal bliss under his holy feet and settled there forever.

Achievement

The notable achievements of Karaikkal Ammaiyar are:

1. She has contributed to the Tamil literature with her mystic songs and poems. She has composed Arpudha Tiruvanthaadi.
2. She also has cultural significance. Punitavati aka Karaikkal Ammaiyar is a household name in Tamil Nadu where she is worshipped as a goddess for her devotion and cultural richness.
3. She is also an embodiment of female devotion. She is one of the only three women among sixty-three Nayanmars.

Legacy

Karaikkal Ammaiyar is no more but her name still resonates deeply with Tamilians. She is a household name in Tamil Nadu and everyone from adult to kid knows about her great devotion. Karaikkal Ammaiyar has popularized her town Karaikkal. Moreover, she was also an epitome of great female devotion, a dutiful wife, and a radiant woman. Her morals and principles will keep inspiring posterities to come.