Avvaiyar Aathichudi — English meaning & translation

What a great way for kids to learn the Tamil alphabet!

Think about this. While English teaches “A for Apple”, “B for Boy”, Avvaiyar’s Aathichudi teaches good habits and morals with every letter in Tamil! What a great way for kids to learn a language! No wonder this is a culture filled with high morale and values!

But wait, do you know why this poem was called “Aathichoodi” in the first place? The poem starts with a invocation which begins with the word “Aathi-choodi” which means the one who wears an aathi flower garland (Lord Shiva is meant here).

Well, we’re not done! She continues with uyirmei letters and so on..

Aathichudi extended

By the way, did you know that we need to understand that there were at least 3 Avvaiyars?!

1. Avvaiyar I — Legendary Avvaiyar, with who Murugan played pranks (“Sutta pazhama sudaadha pazhamaa”)
2. Avvaiyar II — Sangam poet (200BC — 100 AD). Friend of Adhiyamaan (who gave her nellikkani)
3. Avvaiyar III — (12th century AD) who wrote Aathichoodi and Kondraivendhan.