Kural Chronicles

Avvaiyar

The word Avvaiyar in tamil means ‘venerable old lady’. The real name of the saint Avvaiyar is not known; she lives in the minds of all tamil people as a fond grandmother – tamil paati.

The time period she lived in is again not clear. It is said there were three tamil poets going by the epithet Avvaiyar, who lived in different ages. The first one in the sangam age around 3BC; the second in the 8^th century and another in the 12 th century. There are many stories that abound of her interaction with tamil chieftains, kings and even Gods. In the mind of people all these stories get attributed to one single Avvaipaati. The magnificent tamil movie, S.S.Vasan’s magnum opus ‘AVVAIYAR’ in large measure contributes to this.

It is the third Avvaiyar who is said to have authored the tamil index for good behavior- the Aathichudi, the four word Konraivendhan and the four line venbas of Moodhurai and Nalvazhi. It is these I am going to take up first.

The common thread in these works is the simplicity of language uncommon in those days. She sang for the masses, especially the children. As any grandmother would say – teach them early. Every grandmother and mother feeds a child with food for the stomach and simultaneously with food for thought as well.  To this day, the tamil alphabet is taught to little children along with Avvaiyar’s  Aathichudi .

The Aathichudi consists of 109 two worders. The Konraivendhan has 91 four worders.  Moodhurai mupathu, Nalvazhi naarpathu.  Moodhurai has 30 venbas or verses, Nalvazhi has forty.  I will start with the Aathichudi. Maybe 10 a day and take it from there. Happy Reading.