Mango
The Tamil name for Mango is "Mangai".
The fruit form is called "Mampazham". Pazham means Fruit.
In Tami language, just "Maa" alone will denote "Mango".
Note: "Amma" is "Mother" in Tamil language. People shorten "Amma" to "Ma" these days.
In classic Tamil literature it is said (and hence traditionally we say), the following 3 fruits (KANI) are supreme, incomparable fruits as they are rich in nutrients and taste.
They are:
1. Maa
2.
Palaa
3.
Vazhai
These are the 3 VIP fruits.
They are called Mukkanigal in Tamil language.
"Mu" means 3.
"Kani" means "Fruit" and
"gal" is suffix for plural form.
This is one of the traditional fruit of Tamils.
Mango is eaten in fruit form as well as in non-ripe form called Mangai.
It is a summer fruit.
There are plenty of varieties of Mango.
The most famous are:
1.
Neelam
2. Malgova
3. Banganapalli
4. Rumani
5. Alphonso
Mango un-ripe:
We eat the unripe form of Mango too.
They are called Mangai and we have a separate page for that.
Spelling variations in Tamil name for Mango:
Maa, Manpazham, Maampazham, Maam pazham
Some people cannot pronounce the Tamil letter "Zha" and hence some people will pronounce Pazham as Palam.
So the variations of name will include Manpalam, Maampalam, Maam palam