Om Namah ShivayaVetrivel Muruganukku AroharaHar Har Mahadev Om Namah ShivayaVetrivel Muruganukku AroharaHar Har Mahadev
Home / Nayanmars / Kalikamba Nayanar
who severed his wife's hand for hesitating to serve a devotee

கலிக்கம்ப நாயனார்Kalikamba Nayanar

Native placePennagadam (Thirupennagadam / Pennadam), near Virudhachalam
Associated templeSudarkozhundeesar (Pralayakaleshwarar) Temple, Pennadam
Guru PujaThai — Revathi
In the sixty-threeNo. 43

The Life

Kalikamba Nayanar was a prosperous merchant of Pennagadam wholly devoted to serving the adiyars of Shiva; he and his wife would together wash the feet of every visiting devotee and feed them. One day a Shaiva devotee arrived who had once been their own household servant, now fallen on hard times. As Kalikamba poured the water and asked his wife to hold the vessel and wash the man's feet, she drew back in pride, unwilling to touch a former servant. Regarding any slight to a devotee of Shiva as an unbearable sin, Kalikamba instantly struck off her hesitating hand with his sword and completed the sacred service himself. Pleased by his absolute reverence for his devotees, Shiva granted him grace and a place at his feet.