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Aayirathil Oruvan (2010) album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Pemmane

From Aayirathil Oruvan (2010) · 2010

Lyricist
Vairamuthu
Singers
Bombay Jayashree, P. B. Sreenivas
Music director
G. V. Prakash Kumar
Movie name
Aayirathil Oruvan (2010)
Movie release year
2010
Lyrics added on
29 Sept 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Ooo….ooo…aaa…..aaa…
Hoo…ooo….aaaa….aaa…
Haa haa aaaa…aaa…aaa…
Pemmaanae
Perulagin perumaanae
Aanda inam
Maandazhiya arulvaayo ooo o oo
Peiyonae
Mei urugi vizhgindrom
Venthalinthu vazhgindrom
Vithithano… 000 oo
Kulam peyarnthom
Polivizhanthom
Pulan kazhinthom
Azhuthazhuthu uyir kizhinthom
Arulkonae…ae…ae…
Pemmaanae
Perulagin perumaanae
Aanda inam
Maandazhiya arulvaayo ooo o oo
Sor illai
Sottu mazhai nerillai
Thondayilum paal illai
Kundraiyonae
Mooppaanom
Uruvazhindhu mudamaanom
Moochu vidum pinam aanom
Mukkalonae
Oondaithom
Oonurugi uyir oyinthom
Or izhaiyil vaazhgindrom
Udhaikonae
Neeraaghi
Aimpulanum veraaghi
Pon udalum seraghi
Pogamaatom
Em thanjhai
Yam pirantha pon thanjhai
Viral ainthum theendaamal
Vegamattom
Thazhnthaalum
Sandaiyil veezhnthaalum
Thaai mannil sagaamal sagamattom
Ohooo hooo ooo
Hooo ooo hooo oooo
Hooo ooooo hooo ooooo
Ponnaar meniyanae
Vem puli thol uduthavanae!
Innor thol karuthi
Nee em thol uripathu vo…
Munnor paar kadalil
Andru muzhu nanjundavanae
Pinnor emmavarkum
Nanju pirithu vazhanguthiyo ooo ooo
Pemmaanae
Perulagin perumaanae
Aanda inam
Maandazhiya arulvaayo
Oh... Oh... Ah... Ah...
Ooh... Oh... Aah... Aah...
Ha ha aah... aah... aah...
Oh Lord,
Great Lord of this vast universe!
The race that once ruled—
Will You allow us to perish and be destroyed?
Oh wild Lord of spirits,
Melting in agony, we collapse,
Scorched and suffering, we live on...
Is this our fate? Oh...
We were uprooted from our homeland,
We lost all our splendor,
We lost our senses,
Weeping endlessly, our very souls are torn apart.
Oh merciful King!
Oh Lord,
Great Lord of this vast universe!
The race that once ruled—
Will You allow us to perish and be destroyed?
There is no food,
Not a single drop of rain reaches us,
There is no moisture even in our throats...
Oh Lord of the sacred mountain,
We have grown old and withered,
Our bodies deformed, we are crippled,
We have become breathing corpses!
Oh three-eyed Lord,
Starved and wasted away,
Our flesh melting, our life force is exhausted,
We hang on to life by a single thread...
Oh Lord who conquered death!
Dissolving like water,
Our five senses falling apart,
Our golden bodies turning into mud,
We will not simply perish!
Our Thanjavur—
The golden Thanjavur where we were born,
Without touching it with all five fingers,
We will not burn on the funeral pyre!
Even if we are brought low,
Even if we fall in battle,
Without dying on our motherland, we will never die!
Oh... Oh... Oh...
Oh... Oh... Oh...
Oh... Oh... Oh...
Oh Lord of the golden form,
You who wear the hide of a fierce tiger!
For the sake of another,
Are You stripping our own skin away?
In the ancient ocean of milk,
You swallowed all the deadly poison that day...
Now, to us who came later,
Are You portioning out that poison for us to drink?
Oh Lord,
Great Lord of this vast universe!
The race that once ruled—
Will You allow us to perish?
Female
Male
Male
Male
Male
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Male
Male

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This poignant, classical hymn from Aayirathil Oruvan expresses the agonized plea of an ancient Chola royal lineage trapped in exile and dire suffering. Addressing Lord Shiva with sacred epithets, the people lament their extreme starvation, physical decay, loss of ancestral land, and fading existence. Despite being reduced to living corpses, they display fierce, unbroken pride in their heritage, declaring that they will not succumb completely until they reclaim their native soil.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor

Moochu vidum pinam aanom

Compares starving, frail survivors to living corpses that merely breathe.

Mythological Allusion

Andru muzhu nanjundavanae

Refers to the ancient legend of Lord Shiva drinking the cosmic poison (Halahala) to save creation, contrasting it with the present plight of His worshippers.

Anaphora

Kulam peyarnthom / Polivizhanthom / Pulan kazhinthom

Repetition of the rhythmic end-rhyme structure and grief-laden lamentations to emphasize intense despair.

Did you know?

Trivia

This track features legendary playback singer P. B. Sreenivas alongside Bombay Jayashree, marking one of his final prominent vocal recordings in Tamil cinema under G. V. Prakash Kumar's composition for Selvaraghavan's epic adventure film.

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