முப்பந்தல்

Muppandal

By Avvaiyar · The Grandmother Poet

The Muppandal — "the three halls" — is a short but celebrated work attributed to Avvaiyar, consisting of three verses. Each verse meditates on one of the three halls of a great household: the hall of the learned, the hall of the brave, and the hall of the prosperous. Together they form a portrait of the three pillars on which Tamil social ideals rested.

Each verse is presented in five layers: the original Tamil, a romanized transliteration, an English meaning, a Tamil prose commentary (உரை), and an alternative English rendering.