She seems like a deity meant for the Gen Z. But Her temple has been in our city, if local legends are to be believed, for more than three centuries. It was news to me, and I am thankful to Ganesh Ramaswamy, who via email enquired if I knew anything about the Nimishamba Temple in George Town. The name stands for She who grants wishes within a minute. He had just returned from a visit to the Nimishamba Temple in Ganjam, Mysore (and not to be confused with the erstwhile Princely State in Odisha), and wondered if there was any connection between the two shrines. That set me off on a long chase, which ended in conjectures.

The tiny shrine, with shops flanking it to an extent that they have left space only for the narrow entrance, is located in Kasi Chetty Street, George Town. Plenty of sub-shrines have come up within the precinct, hiding whatever there may have been of the past. The sanctum reveals a four-armed goddess. The present trustees are local traders, and the temple comes under the HR&CE Department. The worshippers have no information about the temple’s past. In recent times, a legend has sprung up that the nucleus of the temple is the processional icon which was found when the plot was dug around three hundred years ago for building a house. But since that is a story behind many other temples in the city, we can discount it. But why Nimishamba?