- Lyricist
- K. D. Santhanam
- Singers
- M. R. Vijaya, P. Radha
- Music director
- Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
- Movie name
- Agathiyar
- Movie release year
- 1972
- Lyrics added on
- 18 May 2020
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This devotional song from the 1972 movie Agathiyar is a glorious hymn of welcome and praise dedicated to Sage Agastya. It celebrates his boundless divine virtues, his legendary musical duel on the harp against Ravana, and his divine attributes as a mountain of virtue and ocean of grace. The song highlights his mythological feats including drinking the ocean, taming the pride of the Vindhya mountains, vanquishing the demon Vatapi, and codifying Tamil grammar. Agathiyar is venerated as a short-statured sage possessing mountain-like wisdom, who serves humanity and grants divine boons through the grace of Lord Murugan.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Metaphor (Uruvagham)
“Undhan thaamarai thaal panindhen vaazhgavae”
Comparing Agathiyar's feet to lotus blossoms ('thaamarai thaal'), his virtue to a mountain ('guna kundru'), and grace to a flood ('arul vellam').
Antithesis (Muran)
“Uruvil kural neeyae arivil malai neeyae”
Contrasting small physical stature ('uruvil kural') with vast mountain-like intelligence ('arivil malai').
Second-letter Rhyme (Edugai)
“{Alaikadal ezhaiyum kudithu / Arundhamil ilakkanam padithu...}”
Rhyming pattern created using 'l' in Alaikadal, Arundhamil, Malaiyin, and Vathapiyin.
Did you know?
Trivia
The soundtrack of the 1972 film Agathiyar was composed by Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Sage Agathiyar is traditionally revered in Tamil tradition as the father of Tamil grammar (Agathiyam) and the head of the First Tamil Sangam.
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