- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singer
- Seerkazhi Govindarajan
- Music director
- Shankar Ganesh
- Movie name
- Akka Thangai
- Movie release year
- 1969
- Lyrics added on
- 18 May 2022
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This poignant song explores the painful conflict between legal duty, marital ties, and sibling love. The lyrics depict justice as an unyielding force (a 'mad elephant') that operates coldly without regarding blood relations or familial duty. Kannadasan uses powerful metaphors comparing family to a temple, where the husband/brother is the deity and the sister is the sacred lamp, questioning the tragic consequences when law forces these sacred bonds into opposition.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Uvamai (Simile / Metaphor)
“Needhi madhayanai needhi vazhi sendrathamma”
Compares justice to a mad elephant ('Needhi madhayanai') that trample delicate human emotions and relationships.
Uruvagamb (Metaphor)
“Samsaara kovilukku avanae dheivam... avalae deepam”
Compares domestic life to a temple ('Samsaara kovil'), the husband to God ('dheivam'), and the sister to a sacred light ('deepam').
Ezhukai (Second-letter Rhyme)
“Pattoda raagam ingae modhudhamma”
The second consonant sound 't/dd' matches in 'Pattoda' and 'Thaalam' rhyming scheme patterns across musical stanzas.
Rhetorical Question (Vinaa)
“Kula dharmamae sattathukku adimaiyaa”
Kannadasan asks profound ethical questions about whether human laws should override sacred family duties.
Did you know?
Trivia
Akka Thangai (1969) is a classic Tamil drama directed by M. A. Thirumugam. The legendary lyricist Kannadasan wrote emotional allegorical songs for this film that highlighted the legal and moral dilemmas between siblings and spouses. The musical score was composed by the duo Shankar-Ganesh.
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