Reader’s choice. Song from ‘Saivam’. Only transliterated lyrics of original song is given here.
Azhage azhage edhuvum azhage
anbin vizhiyil ellaam azhage
mazhai mattumaa azhagu
sudum veyil kooda oru azhagu
malar mattumaa azhagu
vizhum ilai kooda oru azhagu
Graceful, anything is!
Through eyes of love, everything seems beautiful
Is only rain beautiful?
Scorching heat is indeed beautiful
Is only a blooming flower beautiful?
A leaf that drops is also beautiful
punnagai veesidum paarvaigal azhagu
vaarthaigal theergayil mounangal azhagu
nanmaikku sollidum poigalum azhagu
unmaiyil adhuthaan meiyaai azhagu
Beautiful,a look that smiles
Beautiful, the silence that follows loss of words
Beautiful, lies uttered for goodness sake
Beautiful, such lies are, truly!
kuyil isai adhu paadida
swara varisaigal thevayaa
mayil nadanangal aadida
jadhi oligalum thevayaa
To sing, does Koel need notes?
To dance, does peacock need patterns?
nadhi nadandhu sendrida
vazhi thunaithaan thevayaa
kadal alai athu pesida
mozhi ilakanam thevayaa
To flow along, does river need an escort?
To speak out, do waves need grammar?
iyarkkaiyodu inaindhaal
ulagam muzhudhum azhagu
kavalai yaavum marandhaal
indha vaazhkai muzhudhum azhagu
azhage azhage edhuvum azhage
Unite with nature, world becomes beautiful
Forget worries, life becomes beautiful
idhayam oru oonjale
idam valam adhu aadidum
inbathil adhu tholaindhidum
thunbathil adhu moolgidum
Heart, a swing, goes left and right
It gets lost in happiness & immersed in plight
nadandhadhai naam naalume
ninaipadhil porul illaye
nadapathai naam enninaal
adhiavida uyarvillaye
To think of past, makes no sense
To think of future, gives more essence
pookkum poovil veesum
vaasam enna azhagu
adhayum thaandi veesum
nam nesam romba azhagu
Fragrance of flowers that wafts, how beautiful!
Our love that wafts around, much more beautiful!!
azhage azhage edhuvum azhage
anbin vizhiyil ellaam azhage
mazhai mattumaa azhagu
sudum veyil kooda oru azhagu
malar mattumaa azhagu
vizhum ilai kooda oru azhagu
Graceful,anything is!
Through eyes of love, everything seems beautiful
Is only fall of rain beautiful?
Scorching heat is indeed beautiful
Is only a blooming flower beautiful?
The leaf that drops is also beautiful
punnagai veesidum paarvaigal azhagu
vaarthaigal theergayil mounangal azhagu
nanmaikku sollidum poigalum azhagu
unmaiyil adhuthaan meiyaai azhagu
Beautiful, a look that smiles
Beautiful, the silence that follows loss of words
Beautiful, lies uttered for goodness sake
Beautiful, such lies are, truly!
Thoughts in Words!! 
Nice song, and you did a great job transliterating it 🙂
Thanks much!! You meant the translation right?
Yes 🙂
🙂 Thanks, again! Hope I got the essence of the song in the right manner for you to understand!
nice work. lovely meaning..
Thanks much, Aparna! 🙂
excellent…there are times in life in words are meaningless…have been listening to the song n times ..the one by uthara and the other instrumental…..sometimes i felt there was no need for lyrics….but sometimes i felt there was no need for a tune..coz the lyrics itself was musical…..
gem of a song….n great translation tooo…without losing the beauty of poem…
god bless do continue god efforts
Thanks for your comments and motivation, Abhi. You’re right. There are songs whose lyrics are much more beautiful than the song itself. For eg., Pachai kiligal tholodu. Azhage is one such!
Hi, lovely translation. Could you also post info about the poet?
Thank you, Sweety! Na. Muthukumar is the lyricist. He has given numerous chartbuster hit songs in Tamil films. He is also a National Award winner. To know more about him, here you go.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na._Muthukumar
Beautiful song with much more beautiful meaning…i cannot understand tamil but when i listened to it…i found it really beautiful.
Congratulations to Uttara Unnikrishnan for winning the national award for this.
So true, Bharti. To enjoy the music, language isn’t a barrier. Uttara truly deserves all the accolades. Thanks for stopping by.
Dear manasaa,
You did a great job and commendable effort, but i need to say something about the lyrics. In the line ‘ nanmaikku sollidum poigalum azhagu, unmai”yil” adhuthaan meiyaai azhagu’ there is “yil” missing. This changes the meaning of the line completely. These two lines are linked, so i think ” Beautiful, the truth itself is! ” might not be right fit there. “Beautiful, truly that (lie) is.”might be. I don’t know if “vazhi thunai” can be translated as armour, may be escort/chaperone might fit there. ‘Through eye”s” of love, “s” is missing. I really liked the usage of “blooming flower”. I might have just used flower, but you got the essence right by using blooming flower. “To speak to world, do waves need grammar?” , but “to world?”. you did change the translated words of the pallavi which comes after the charanam.
I just want to people to understand the full essence of the song. Sorry if i have said something wrong. Continue you great work.
Thanks a lot for your words of appreciation, Sharan. Means a lot to me. More than this, thanks for pointing out things that I missed. You’re right with everything you said. I have made the necessary changes and updated the post. Kindly go through once and let me know if it is fine. You’re so right in wishing that people should get the essence of the song. Which is what I too wish for. Thanks for stopping by. Do verify other translated songs. Would love to know your take on it. Cheers 🙂
Your translation itself is a poem. Great !
This is too huge a compliment. Thanks much Abhi. Such words motivate me to do better 🙂
The best lyrics translated so well thank you Manasaa. I don’t know Tamil but your translation helped me to understand the essence of the song. thank you very much 🙂
Also can you please let us know the name of the poet/lyricist .. of this song.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Subramanya! Credits go to the wonderful words of the song, penned by Mr. Na. Muthukumar. He is one of the renowned lyricists in Tamil Film Industry. Also, for this song, he was bestowed with National Award as well. Here is his Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na._Muthukumar
Song azhage
Voice azhage
Visuals azhage
Lyrics azhage
And u r translation is also azhage
Thanks much for your appreciative words, Naresh!!
Very well translated – thanks for sharing
Thank you for your appreciative words! 🙂