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Bangalore Naatkal album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Thodakkam Maangalyam

From Bangalore Naatkal · 2016

Lyricist
Pazhani Bharathi
Singers
Vijay Yesudas, Sachin Warrier, Sri Divya
Music director
Gopi Sundar
Movie name
Bangalore Naatkal
Movie release year
2016
Lyrics added on
1 Dec 2016

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Malligaiyil oru maalai
Thanga jarigaiyil oru selai
Aah malligaiyil oru maalai
Thanga jarigaiyil oru selai
{Thodakkam maangalyam
Thandhunanena
Pinbu jeevitham
Thundananena} (3)
Adada nee azhagi endru
Aarparippan un kanavan
Vetkathil neeyum ketpaai
Nijama endru
Thaali pon thaali adhu
Unnai kattum veli
Koodaikkulla moochu muttum
Kalyana kozhli
Thozha en thozha
Naan aagayathin mele
Parandhukonde thean kudippen
Thean chittu pole
Ninaikira vaazhkaiyellam
Ninaipadhupol iruppadhillai
Siraginai adagu vaithaal
Paravai vaazhvil sugamillai
Anaipadhum adangi nindru
Thavippadhum oor mayakam thaane
Ninaithadhum inippadhenna oru sorgam
Thodakkam maangalyam
Thandhunanena
Pinbu jeevitham
Thundhananena
Malligaiyil oru maalai
Thanga jarigaiyil oru selai
Aah malligaiyil oru maalai
Thanga jarigaiyil oru selai
{Thodakkam maangalyam
Thandhunanena
Pinbu jeevitham
Thundananena} (6)
A garland made of jasmine,
A saree woven with golden thread,
Ah, a garland made of jasmine,
A saree woven with golden thread,
It all begins with the wedding knot,
Thanthunanena,
And then life becomes,
Dhunthananena!
Saying, "Oh wow, you look so beautiful!"
Your husband will shout with joy!
Blushing shyly, you will ask,
"Is that really true?"
The thali (sacred wedding thread), that golden chain,
is a fence that traps you!
Suffocating inside a basket,
like a chicken caught for a wedding feast!
My friend, oh my friend,
High up in the sky,
I will sip sweet nectar as I fly,
just like a hummingbird!
The life you dream of
never turns out the way you imagine.
If a bird gives away its wings,
there is no joy left in its life.
Embracing each other and holding back,
pining in longing is just the world's madness!
Yet why does just thinking of it feel like sweet heaven?
It all begins with the wedding knot,
Thanthunanena,
And then life becomes,
Dhunthananena!
A garland made of jasmine,
A saree woven with golden thread,
Ah, a garland made of jasmine,
A saree woven with golden thread,
It all begins with the wedding knot,
Thanthunanena,
And then life becomes,
Dhunthananena!
Male
Male
Male
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male
Male

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

The song 'Malligaiyil Oru Maalai' offers a witty and reflective contrast between romanticized marital expectations and individual freedom. It depicts traditional wedding symbols—such as jasmine garlands, gold sarees, and the sacred mangalsutra—and playfully highlights how marriage can sometimes feel like a restrictive fence, comparing a domesticated partner to a bird confined in a basket.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Simile (Upamai)

Thean chittu pole

Compares flying freely in pursuit of happiness to a hummingbird ('Thean chittu pole').

Metaphor (Uruvagam)

Thaali pon thaali adhu / Unnai kattum veli

Metaphorically describes the sacred wedding thread (thaali) as a constraining fence ('kattum veli').

Metaphor (Uruvagam)

Koodaikkulla moochu muttum / Kalyana kozhli

Compares a person bound by marital domesticity to a suffocating chicken under a basket.

Edhugai (Second-letter Rhyme)

Ninaikira vaazhkaiyellam / Ninaipadhupol iruppadhillai

Matching second consonants in 'Ninaikira' and 'Ninaipadhupol'.

Did you know?

Trivia

Bangalore Naatkal (2016) is the official Tamil remake of the blockbuster Malayalam movie Bangalore Days (2014). The soundtrack for the film was composed by Gopi Sundar, who also scored the original film.

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