Avvaiyar (Sangam poet)

She travelled from one part of the country to another and from one village to another, sharing the gruel of the poor farmers and composing songs for their enjoyment.

At great ancient temple of Thillai Chidambaram she sang Vinayakar Thiruakaval when Lord Ganesha displayed his dancing form to her.

Soon after the presentation and the subsequent acceptance by the scholars and the Pandiyan King, Idaikkadar praised Valluvar and the Kural text thus:[7] The Cural contains much in a little compass.

Such is the ingenuity of its author, that he has compressed within its narrow limits all the branches of knowledge, as if he had hollowed a mustard seed, and enclosed all the waters of the seven seas in it.

[Emphasis in original]On hearing this, Avvaiyar remarked to him that it would be more appropriate to liken the Kural text to an atom, which is even smaller than a mustard seed.

She was then met by a disguised Murugan (regarded as one of the guardian deities of the Tamil language; the god of war, victory, and knowledge), who jousted with her wittily.

Another legend has it that once the great king Athiyaman gave an "eternal" gooseberry (Nellikani in Tamil) fruit to Avvaiyar.

[8] While on a visit to Ceylon, Avvai was caught up in torrential rain, and took shelter in the house of two women of lower caste, Angavay and Sangavay.