Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a Shaiva Saint

This emaciated figure is a caricature of a real woman who lived in the mid-sixth century C.E. and became an important Hindu saint. Karaikkal Ammaiyar was once a beautiful young bride. Filled with piety and devotion to the Lord Shiva, she daily filled the rice bowls of the shaiva ascetics who knocked at her gate. One day she gave one of these ascetics a mango destined for her husband. When it was time to feed her own husband, she prayed to Shiva and another mango appeared miraculously in her hand. When her husband learned of this, he rejected her, as he did not wish to be married to someone with such divine qualities. The young woman then prayed to Shiva, saying that her youth and beauty now no longer were of value and begged him to give her the body of the goblins and demons who worshipped at his feet. She spent the rest of her life worshipping Shiva, writing poetry and songs in his praise and beating time with her cymbals as he danced his celestial dance.