After Bhattar attained paramapadam and the last rights were performed by his brother Sri Ramappillai, Nanjeeyar covered his head with a cloth and left Bhattar's household through the back door for his mutt.

When his disciples asked him why, he said "Will a woman who has just become a widow leave through the front door?"

That is, the relationship of a true disciple to his acharya is the same as that of a wife to her husband.