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Name
sake
Several
explanations are offered for the name Karaikal. There is no
doubt that it is a combination
of two words,'karai' and 'kal'. Both 'karai' and 'kal' have several meanings,
of which the more plausible one being "a canan made
of lime mixture". According to Julien Vinson, the town is said to have been known
as Karagiri in Sanskrit. The Imperial Gazetteer gives to the name of the town
the meaning of a 'fish pass'. This Karaikal area formed an integral part of the
Pallava kingdom in the eighth century(C 731-796). Poet Sekkizhar (992-1042) describes
the town as "vanga malik kadar karaikal", the 'Karaikal of many vessels on
the coast' in his Peria puranam. In that the poet relates the life story of
one Punithavathiar
who abandoned the pleasures of material life and devoted herself entirely to
a life of prayer and penance to signify her devotion to Lord Siva. He called
her 'Karaikal Ammayar', conveniently after the town which must have been famous
already. |
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