A By P.T. Bopanna Team Ammanichanda is the new kid on the block. The Kodava family hockey is dominated by over half a dozen families. After a successful run for about 22 years, Kodagu’s (Coorg) biggest hockey tournament being conducted by the Appachettolanda family this season, has the participation of a record 336 families. One […]
R By P.T. Bopanna Renowned researcher and an authority on Kodava culture, Boverianda Chinnappa (in picture) passed away on Friday night at Mysuru. He is survived by his wife and partner in his research works Dr Nanjamma Chinnappa. The cremation of B.M. Chinnappa (89) was held on Saturday morning at Mysuru where the couple was […]
By P.T. Bopanna I have been working on putting together all my Kodagu-related papers, documents and article clippings with a view to hand them over to the library at Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa Government College, Madikeri in Kodagu (Coorg) district. My papers include official documents relating to Kodagu’s Jamma land tenure, firearms exemptions given to […]
By P.T. Bopanna Sadguru Appaiah Swami (Palanganda), founder of Kaveri Ashrama in Virajpet, Kodagu district, inspired a generation of Kodavas (Coorgs) with his spiritual discourses. Appaiah Swami (in picture) had committed followers, both Kodava men and women, who were involved in running hostels at Virajpet, where thousands of Kodava children stayed as boarders over the […]
B By P.T. Bopanna Vivekananda Sharana Swamiji (Palanganda) of the iconic Kaveri Ashrama, Virajpet in Kodagu district of Karnataka is celebrating his birth centenary on January 12. The Swamiji (in picture), is the son of Sadguru Appaiah Swami who founded the Kaveri Ashrama in 1941. The senior Appaiah Swami was born as Palanganda Appaiah in […]
C By P.T. Bopanna Kodavas, a microscopic minority community hailing from Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka, were once known for their leadership qualities. This Kodava trait of being natural leaders was very much in evidence in the Defence services and Kodagu came to be known as the ‘Land of the Generals’. However, in the last few […]
A By Maj Gen Codanda K Karumbaya, SM (Retd) I am glad that Justice (Retd) P.P. Bopanna agrees with me that Kodavas are not Hindus. He has rightly pointed out that we presently come under Hindu laws. This anomalous situation has arisen because the Union government decided to bracket small communities like Kodavas, who do […]
A By P.T. Bopanna This is the season of the year when Kodavas (Coorgs) in Kodagu district of Karnataka perform the annual ritual of Karanang Kodpo held in memory of ancestors. A lamp is kept in the nellakki nadu bade (central hall in the ancestral home). The sacred area around the lamp is empty and […]
S By Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa* The second edition of the Kodava reference book Pattole Palame will be launched on October 1. The second edition has all the songs, ballads, proverbs, stories etc. in Kodava thakk with the corresponding English translation presented side by side. The book will be launched at the Madikeri Press Club at 2 p.m. […]
S By Dr Veena Poonacha* Background of Ethnography Frozen in Time My review essay, ‘Ethnography Frozen in Time,’ written in 2003, for the Economic and Political Weekly was born out of my discomfort with Prof. M. N. Srinivas’s book Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. This book, first written in 1952 and […]