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About this tool
Search 23 Malayalam proverbs with script, transliteration, the literal image, everyday meaning and the closest English proverb.
Malayalam Pazhamchollu Explorer is a searchable collection of 23 Malayalam proverbs, each given in Malayalam script with a Roman transliteration, the literal image behind it, how speakers actually use it, and the nearest English proverb. A pazhamchollu is an inherited saying compressed into one sentence — Malayalam even has a proverb about proverbs, പതിരില്ലാത്ത പഴഞ്ചൊല്ലില്ല, 'there is no proverb that is entirely chaff'. It suits students answering Malayalam language questions, writers hunting for the right saying, and anyone who wants the picture inside the proverb rather than a flat translation.
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The literal reading is listed separately from the working meaning, so the metaphor survives translation.
Malayalam text, Roman transliteration, meaning and the English equivalent are all searched together.
From wisdom and folly to power and the weak, themes let you gather a set of proverbs on one topic quickly.
Pazhamchollu (പഴഞ്ചൊല്ല്) literally means 'old saying' — pazham, old, plus chollu, saying. It is the Malayalam word for a proverb: a short inherited sentence stating a general truth, such as അധികമായാൽ അമൃതും വിഷം, 'in excess even nectar is poison'.
It means the weaker side loses either way. Literally 'whether the leaf falls on the thorn or the thorn on the leaf, it is the leaf that is damaged', it is quoted when someone in a weak position is caught in a dispute with a stronger party, whoever started it.
It covers 23 proverbs grouped into eight themes: wisdom, folly, speech, character, family, consequences, greed and power. Each is a saying still used in ordinary Malayalam conversation rather than a purely literary one.
Yes. Kerala Malayalam language papers regularly ask students to explain a pazhamchollu or use one in composition, and the expected answer gives the proverb in script followed by its meaning and a context. Check your prescribed textbook too, since specific proverbs are usually named in the syllabus.