Avvaiyar

The Story

The tradition speaks of Avvaiyar with reverence and affection: a poet of the Sangam age whose verses appear in the ancient anthologies, a woman of humble life and matchless wisdom who wandered Tamil Nadu teaching children and princes alike. Some traditions also tell of a second, later Avvaiyar — the tradition cherishes both as one beloved grandmother.

Her Aathichoodi — a garland of single-line maxims beginning with each letter of the Tamil alphabet — is the very first text taught to Tamil children: 'Do not do what you will regret; speak sweetly; give to the deserving.' Her longer works add counsel on friendship, work, and the duties of a good life.

The legends of her wit are as loved as her verse: she is said to have fed a bandit king with fruit she had denied herself, turning him from his ways, and to have been saved from death itself by the boy god Murugan, who came disguised to test her kindness. She remains the eternal grandmother of the Tamil people — wise, funny, and fearless.