[radikal]

Bhaktha Markandeya, this story just as other saivite works is clearly tamil. The word Markandeya clearly illustrates the tamil(hindu) concept of creation/destruction. According to mythology this guy was given the boon of immortality by Siva. Creation/destruction is defined as a cycle in our mythology(ofcourse it is also translated to sanskrit). Every thing comes from nothing and then becomes nothing and so the cycle continues. When every thing becomes nothing even the gods die a natural death, just to rise again. But since our Markandeyan has immortality even in this nothingness, he is levitating some where. He has seen the other side (the side of nothingness) that even the gods did not see. So he is the one who has seen(kanda) the other(mar) side, so he is called as Markandavan, markandeyan. Nice story buy etymology says its tamil origin.