Lord Shiva and the STORY OF KARAIKAL AMMAIYAR
Karaikkal Ammaiyar is one of the three women saints
among the 63 Nayanmars. She is considered one of the
greatest being in Tamil Literature. It is believed that
Lord Shiva himself called her Mother and hence was
known as Karaikkal Ammaiyar. She was originally named as Punithavathi.
She was born in the town of Karaikkal,
in the family of a rich merchant, who was also a devotee
of Lord Shiva. She grew up in an atmosphere of divine
devotion at home, from a very young age she used to
worship Shiva. She used to make beautiful Shiva Lingam
out of sand, chant “Om Namah Shivaya” several times in
a day, serve the devotees who would come to her town
with food and clothes.
After a certain age, She was married to a merchant’s son
Paramathathan from Nagapattinam.
After the marriage,
the couple stayed in Karaikkal as per girl’s father’s wish.
One day a visitor came to see Paramathathan at his
workplace and gifted him two mangoes which he sent it
to home. A devotee came home asking for food.
Ammaiyar wanted to give lunch, but that day it was not
ready. So she gave the devotee some curd rice and one
of the mangoes.
Later, when Paramathathan came
home for lunch, he asked for a mango. She gave him
the last mango, which he enjoyed eating and started
asking for the other one also. Ammaiyar went inside the
kitchen and prayed to Lord Shiva for help. Miraculously,
she got a mango in her hand. She took that mango and
gave it to her husband.
Paramathathan was
flabbergasted by the divine taste of the mango. He
started asking about it to his wife. Since her husband
was not a proper devotee, Ammaiyar was afraid of revealing God's grace.
The rule is that God's grace
should not be revealed to non-devotees. But there is
one more rule that when a husband is asking
something, the wife has to truthfully answer his
questions. Subsequently, Ammaiyar worshipped Lord
Shiva and revealed the truth to her husband.
Her
husband didn't believe it. He asked her to produce
another mango with divine help. Ammaiyar prayed to
Lord Shiva for another mango and said to her Lord that
if He didn't give her another Mango, his name will get
affected.
Immediately Lord gave her a similar mango,
which she gave it to her husband. The mango then
disappeared, and Paramathathan realised the divine
nature of his wife. Paramathathan understood that
Ammaiyar was worthy of worship and Ammaiyar cannot
be treated as his wife. Disserted Ammaiyar, prayed to
Lord Shiva to take away her youthful and beautiful body
and make her look ugly so that she can worship Shiva
undisturbed for the rest of her life.
Her prayer was
answered, she became a fiery form of Kali.
In her prayers, Shiva asked her to visit Him on Mount
Kailash by walking on her hands only. She did it with
great devotion. Hence walking on hands is associated to
Karaikkal Ammaiyar from then onwards. When Goddess
Parvati inquired about her to Lord Shiva,
He addressed
her as the mother who is taking care of them and
named her Ammaiyar. When Lord asked her for a wish, She mentioned that she wants to be free from the cycle
of mortality and be beneath his holy feet, when He
performs holy dance, and sing His praise in joy. The
Lord granted the wish and asked Ammaiyar to come to
Thiruvalangadu, where He is performing one of the
holy dances (oordhuva thandava). Ammaiyar visited
Thiruvalangadu, walking on her hands. Ammaiyar sang
'Thiruaalangaatu Mootha Thirupathigam 1' and
'Thiruaalangaatu Mootha Thirupathigam 2'. Ammaiyar
blissfully sings under the feet of Dancing Lord.
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