Karaikkal Ammaiyar, was a devotee of which deity?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Shiva
Karaikkal Ammaiyar was one of the women saints of the early bhakti movement in Tamil Nadu, a devotee of Shiva who took the path of extreme asceticism to reach her goal. Her compositions were preserved within the Nayanar tradition, the tradition of the Tamil saints devoted to Shiva. Like Andal, the woman Alvar who saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu, she gave up her social duties without becoming a nun, and so challenged patriarchal norms.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.3 Women devotees … Perhaps one of the most striking features of these traditions was the presence of women. For instance, the compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, were widely sung (and continue to be sung to date). Andal saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu; her verses express her love for the deity. Another woman, Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adopted the path of extreme asceticism in order to attain… her goal. Her compositions were preserved within the Nayanar tradition. These women renounced their social obligations, but did not join an alternative order or become nuns. Their very existence and their compositions posed a challenge to patriarchal norms.…” |