film produced by Hameed, who died on 20 May 1965, a few days after filming ended. Neither he nor Nagarajan were credited in the film as producers. Themes The film's title is explained in an introductory voiceover. Greeting the audience, it quotes Shiva's literary epic of the same name. According to the narrator (Nagarajan), Shiva does what he does to test the patience of his disciples; the god plays games, which evoke more devotion in the hearts of his worshippers. Therefore, the film's title refers to the games played by Shiva. According to Hari Narayan of The Hindu, Thiruvilaiyadal celebrates the deeds of a god (in this case, Shiva) by depicting miracles performed by him. R. Bharathwaj wrote for The Times of India that the story of the competition between Hemanatha Bhagavathar and Banabathirar is comparable to a contest between Carnatic music composer Shyama Shastri and Kesavvaya, a singer from Bobbili. Sastri had sought divine intervention from the goddess Kamakshi to defeat Kesavayya, mirroring Banabathirar's plea for Shiva's help. Mana Baskaran of Hindu Tamil Thisai notes that the film, despite being a mythological, also depicts contemporary social issues. Music K. V. Mahadevan composed the film's soundtrack and score, Kannadasan wrote the song lyrics except for the first portions of "Pazham Neeyappa", which were written by Sankaradas Swamigal. Nagarajan initially wanted Sirkazhi Govindarajan to sing "Oru Naal Podhuma", but he refused and M. Balamuralikrishna sang the song. Each line in the song is from a different raga, including Darbar, Todi, Maand, and Mohanam. "Pazham Neeyappa" is based on three ragas: Darbari Kanada, Shanmukhapriya and Kambhoji. "Isai Thamizh", "Paattum Naane" and "Illadhathondrillai" are based on the Abheri, Gourimanohari and Simhendramadhyamam ragas, respectively. Vikku Vinayakram and Cheena Kutty were the ghatam and mridangam players, respectively, for "Paattum Naane". Subbiah Asari made the Macha Veena seen in "Paattum Naane", and the crew of Thiruvilaiyadal purchased it from him for . Songs from the album, including "Pazham Neeyappa", "Oru Naal Podhuma", "Isai Thamizh", "Paarthal Pasumaram" and "Paattum Naane", became popular with the Tamil diaspora. Film historian Randor Guy, in his 1997 book Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema, said "Pazham Neeyappa" (performed by Sundarambal) was the "favourite of millions". Singer Charulatha Mani wrote for The Hindu that Sundarambal produced a "pure and pristine depiction" of the Neelambari raga in "Vaasi Vaasi", and praised Balamuralikrishna's rendition of "Oru Naal Podhuma". Release Thiruvilaiyadal was released on 31