- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singers
- A. L. Raghavan, Kausalya
- Music director
- S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
- Movie name
- Kalyaniyin Kanavan
- Movie release year
- 1963
- Lyrics added on
- 3 Sept 2020
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
Written by poet Kannadasan for the 1963 film Kalyaniyin Kanavan, this song explores the mystifying and overwhelming experience of romantic love. Through a series of poetic riddles and answers, the narrator questions what mysterious force resides in the heart, disrupts sleep, and causes the world to shift. Love is portrayed as both a gentle comfort and a turbulent, consuming emotion that alters one's mind. The lyrics use evocative imagery to answer these emotional riddles, comparing love and the beloved to water-lily eyes, a blossoming flower, and an intoxicating nectar embodied by a young maiden. Kannadasan captures the duality of passion—how it can feel like a boiling river or a killing moon, yet ultimately brings deep joy, enduring vitality, and fulfillment to one's existence.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Uvamai (Simile)
“Vandu nilai pola manathu thadumaara”
Compares the restless, wandering state of the human mind in love to the erratic movement of a honeybee (vandu).
Uruvagam (Metaphor)
“Ilam kumari enbathor madhu”
Metaphorically describes the young maiden as an intoxicating nectar or wine (madhu).
Uruvagam (Metaphor)
“Iru kuvalai vizhiyaagum adhu”
Compares beautiful eyes to water lilies (kuvalai).
Edukku (Second-Letter Rhyme)
“Solli theriyaathu solla mudiyaathu”
The second consonant 'l' (ll) rhymes between 'Solli' and 'Solla', establishing a musical rhythm.
Vina-Vidai Structure (Riddle and Answer)
“Ullaththil iruppathu edhu / Varum urakkaththai keduppathu edhu”
A traditional poetic motif where questions about emotional distress are posed first and answered in subsequent lines.
Did you know?
Trivia
Kalyaniyin Kanavan (1963) starred Sivaji Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi, directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. The music for the film was composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. Kannadasan's lyrical style in this song reflects classical Tamil literary traditions of using 'Vina-Vidai' (question and answer) structure to describe romantic feelings.
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