page_title: Karaikkal Ammaiyar
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Karaikkal Ammaiyar / Early life
caption_attribution_description: தமிழ்: காரைக்கால் நகரில் அமைந்திருக்கும் காரைக்கால் அம்மையார் திருக்கோயில்.
context_page_description: Karaikal Ammaiyar, one of the three women amongst the 63 Nayanmars, is one of the greatest figures of early Tamil literature. She was born at Karaikal, South India, and probably lived during the 6th century AD. She was a devotee of Shiva.
context_section_description: Karaikal is a maritime trading city in Chola Nadu. Karaikal Ammaiyar, whose original name was Punithavathiyar,  was born to Dhanathathanar in a merchant community known as Nattukottai Nagarathar (also Known as Nattukottai Chettiar)  She was married to Paramadattan, a wealthy merchant from Nagapattinam.
caption: Karaikkal Ammaiyar,Karaikkal
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