Tiruppaavai

The Tiruppavai belongs to the pāvai genre of songs. This genre referred to the Tamil tradition of unmarried girls performing rites and upholding a vow (vrata) of their performance throughout the month of Margaḻi.^[5] This practice assumes special significance during Margaḻi: each day of this month gets its name from one of the thirty verses. There are references to this vow in the late-Sangam era Tamil classic anthology called Paripatal.^[6]