- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singers
- T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela
- Music director
- Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy
- Movie name
- Anandha Jodhi
- Movie release year
- 1963
- Lyrics added on
- 16 Sept 2025
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
Pani Illadha Margazhiya is a romantic duet expressing the profound sense of incompleteness that arises when an essential element or emotion is missing. Kannadasan uses a series of poetic metaphors—comparing incomplete situations to the month of Margazhi without mist, a king without an army, sweet fruits without sweetness, or youth without love—to demonstrate how vital love and connection are to human life.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Rhetorical Question & Anaphora
“Pani illadha margazhiya”
The recurring construction using '-illadha' (without) paired with the interrogative '-a' emphasizes through negative framing that life, art, and youth lose their intrinsic purpose without their defining qualities.
Metaphor
“Inippilladha mukkaniya”
The lyrics metaphorically compare love and union to foundational pairings in Tamil culture, such as music to Mutthamizh (the threefold Tamil arts) and sweetness to the Mukkani (three royal fruits).
Did you know?
Trivia
Featured in the 1963 film Anandha Jodhi starring M. G. Ramachandran and Devika, this iconic Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy composition is celebrated for its intricate classical-based melody and Kannadasan's evocative imagery.
Keep listening
Songs with a similar feeling
From the same album
More songs from Anandha Jodhi
View albumSpot an issue?
Help us improve the lyrics or English translation.