There are many instances where Goddess Parvathi has come to the rescue of Her devotees, said M.A. Manickavelu in a discourse. Vallalar was not interested in formal lessons at school. Having lost his parents, Vallalar was under the care of his elder brother Kanakasabapathi Pillai, who was afraid that if Vallalar continued to neglect his studies, then it would be taken as a case of bad upbringing by the brother. So Kanakasbapathi Pillai was strict with Vallalar.
One day, Vallalar returned home late at night and not wanting to wake the household, decided to sleep on the pyol outside the house. But he had not eaten anything, and Ambal was not going to let Her devotee sleep on an empty stomach. Vadivudai Amman, the Goddess of Thiruvottriyur, came in the guise of Kanakasabapathi Pillai’s wife and gave Vallalar a dish of rice and lentils to eat. A little later, Vallalar’s sister-in-law brought him some food, and Vallalar realised that the One who had fed him was the Goddess.
In Vikramasingapuram, near Tirunelveli, lived a devotee of Siva, called Singai Namasivayar. Every day he would go to the Papanasam temple to worship Siva. One day, while he was away, his daughter attained puberty, and asked her neighbour to serve her father some food. When Namasivayar returned, the Goddess, in the guise of his daughter, served him food. When his neighbour told him that his daughter had not cooked and had asked her to serve him, he knew it was Ambal who had served him food. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s consort Sarada Devi and her father were on their way to Calcutta. They spent the night in a rest house, and that night Sarada Devi developed a fever. In her dream, she saw a lady of dark hue stroke her and she was cured at once. The lady was none other than Goddess Kali.
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