The Life
Punithavathi, beautiful daughter of a Karaikkal merchant, married the trader Paramadattan and devoted herself to serving Shiva's devotees. When a Shaiva ascetic came hungry, she gave him a mango meant for her husband; later, pressed for the second, she prayed and a divine mango appeared in her hand, which vanished when her husband questioned its unearthly sweetness. Realising his wife was no ordinary woman but a divine being, Paramadattan reverently left her and settled elsewhere. Freed, Punithavathi asked Shiva to strip away her beauty and grant her the gaunt form of a pey (ghoul-devotee). She journeyed to Thiruvalangadu, ascending the sacred hill upon her head, and there witnessed the Lord's dance of bliss, pouring out rapturous hymns. She is honoured as one of the three women among the sixty-three saints.