Kalikamba Nayanar

Kalikamba Nayanar is the washerwoman of the canon — the Nayanar whose whole family served the god through her trade.

Life/Legend

The hagiography relates that Kalikamba, a washerwoman, washed the garments of devotees without fee and served the shrine with her household; the tale honors her as the canon’s exemplar of the servant castes’ devotion. When her sight failed, the tradition says the god restored it — the washerwoman’s service received as worship.

Legacy

Her story is told with Satti’s and Tirukurippu Thonda’s — the laundry trade’s three witnesses in the canon — as bhakti’s indifference to station.

Verification notes

• Narrative is hagiographic (Periya Puranam); dating traditional.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).