Vishnuchitta, a devout Brahmin priest residing in Srivalliputtur one day found a baby girl under the tulasi plant. Vishnuchitta and his wife who were childless were overjoyed and raised the baby as their own child, naming her Godhai gift of mother earth. Godhai grew up in an atmosphere of love and devotion, her father taught her all the stories and the philosophy he knew and most importantly, shared with her his love for Tamil poetry. Godhai, even as a child made up her mind to marry none other than Lord Ranganatha, imagining herself to be his bride. Her father was at first perplexed, but after the Lord came in his dreams and requested that the girl be sent to him in all her bridal finery and thus the girl Andal came to marry her beloved Lord Ranganatha. Andal was only a teenager when she composed the Thiruppavai, consisting of thirty verses, but these display a literary and religious maturity far beyond her years. Her other work is the Nachiyar Thirumozhi, a poem of 143 verses that speaks of her longing for Lord Vishnu. Andal is the only female of the twelve Alwars and probably the only female poet of her time. Songs from the Thiruppavai are sung at all occasions in vaishanava temples all over Tamilnadu especially in the month of Margazhi which is associated with Andal, her having married the Lord in that month.