The Tamil text N??lakeci , dated around the 5th century CE (debated), is an unusual literary creation. It retrieves a violent, vengeful p??y (female possessing spirit) of Palayanur, transforming her into a Jaina philosopher. It was a profoundly subversive idea of its time, using the female persona and voice (for a hitherto disembodied being) to debate with preceptors of different schools of thought/religions of the time, all male, barring the Buddhist nun, Ku??????alakeci. N??lakeci 's debates focus on questions of non-violence, existence of the soul, authorship and caste, among others. However, in order to truly appreciate this alter-texting, one has to unravel layers of other texts and traditions: the lesser known villupp??ttu (bow-song) and n??takam (theatrical) versions of the p??y N??li stories, as well as the story of Ku??????alakeci's own transformative journey. Umamaheshwari situates these in a comparative context, while maintaining the centrality of the debates within N??lakeci, using translation of selected excerpts.