Water Resources Minister M B Patil, Adichunchanagiri mutt seer Nirmalanandanatha swami, MLA P M Narendraswamy offer baagina at Triveni Sangama in Bhagamandala, Madikeri taluk on Sunday.
To propitiate the rain gods, the officials of Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Ltd (CNNL) chanted Parjanya japa at Talacauvery, the birthplace of River Cauvery on Sunday.
As there was stiff opposition for conducting parjanyahoma using government funds, homa was not performed. Only Parjanya japa and special prayers were held. CNNL Executive Engineer Basavaraj and his wife took part in the special prayers held under the guidance of priest Prashanth Achar. Water Resources Minister M B Patil did not take part in the japa.
Patil, who arrived at Bhagamandala at 3 pm along with the Adichunchanagiri Mutt seer Nirmalanandanatha Swami, offered baagina at the Triveni Sangama in Bhagamandala. Later, he offered prayers at the Bhangadeshwara Temple and Talacauvery.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said “if offering prayers to motheris wrong and a superstititious belief, then I am ready to conduct such prayers several times. Some offer prayers to lifeless stones. Why should one oppose offering prayers to the river Cauvery, the lifeline of crores of people,” he asked.
“The Krishna and the Cauvery are the lifeline of the state. I have offered prayers to mother Cauvery for good rainfall. Offering prayers to rivers is part of our tradition,” he said.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah does not believe in Parjanya homa and japa and termed it a superstitious belief. Doesn’t his wife offer prayers at temples? Has he not benefited from it?” Patil retorted.
Though the visit was termed as private, the itinerary given to local elected representatives mentioned it as a government programme. MLA P M Narendraswamy, MLC Veena Acchaiah, Patil’s wife Asha Patil, Water Resources department principal secretary Rakesh Singh, officials Gurupadaswamy, Manjunath and Rangaswamy and Kodava Sahitya Academy President B S Thammaiah were present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / DH News Service / Madikeri – June 05th, 2017
Tribals congregate to celebrate, make music and some harmless ribbing. Body painting, cross-dressing and ‘abusing’ passersby are all part of the one-of-a-kind festivities
Kunde” “Kunde” “Kunde”.. they shout, howl and whistle all day long, walking in the streets of Thithimathi and Devarapura in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu. If you have seen the pictures, you will understand that this is a festival that is as colorful and lively as any other celebration.
Cross-dressed men who adorn any attire irrespective of whether it is fashionable or not, is the idea behind this theme. Personalities that are chosen for aping are deities, young girls, demons and anything under the sun.
The most funny part of the festival is the music. They use drums made of buckets which are used to store water, as well as metals and Dish TV antenna receivers, adding to the noise of the parade.
Kunde Habba or the Bodu Habba has been a century-old tradition in Kodagu celebrated by tribals. A tribal man who was dressed up like a fierce deity said, “This is a festival where we abuse gods and the divine power. Our forefathers have told us that Lord Aiyappa who was living in this region betrayed our tribal clan and from that day, once in a year, and especially on the last Thursday of May, we celebrate this festival.”
All these men are not from one place. They come from various places marching along, shouting Kunde…Kunde..Kunde to meet at the Aiyappa Temple at Devarapura by afternoon. All the sects and clans of tribal men reached the place where the “Bhandara Takka” or the keepers of the temple wealth, the Sannuvanda family members, were present.
The festivities come to a close when all of them dance around the temple and meet and greet each other. There were close to a thousand people who participated in this festival, which was held under police vigil.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Kaushik JN, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 28th, 2017
Nammaradio starts services in dialects of Karnataka
Among the unique characteristics of Karnataka are the distinctness of its regions and the tongues spoken within the State. Yet, for long, what people heard on the radio were Kannada, Hindi and English. In contrast, one radio channel — Nammaradio, the state’s first Kannada radio station on the internet launched in February 2016 — has started airing programmes in eight languages and dialects of the State. It’s likely the only web radio in India to air programmes in Kodava, Konkani and Tulu, and some of the lesser known dialects of Karnataka. These include Byari and Nawayathi, spoken by sub-sects of the Muslim community bearing the same names in coastal Karnataka, and Sankethi and Havyaka, spoken by Brahmin subsects.
Making waves: Pavan Bhat anchors programmes in Tulu
Avnidhar Hawaldar, CEO, Nammradio.com, said that the target audience are Kannadigas living outside the state, and extensive interaction with them revealed that while there were avenues for Kannada content, there was nothing for people speaking the dialects. “It’s a true embracing of Kannada in all its diversity,” said Mr. Hawaldar.
Making waves: Varsha anchors programmes in Havyaka .
In February 2017, at the Nammaradio studios in Bengaluru, in-house radio jockey Varsha started the first such show in Havyaka, a dialect spoken by Havyaka Brahmins. “The response was huge, and our listeners were elated when they heard a show in their mother tongue. That set the tone for the rest,” said Raj Malleswaram, programming head of the channel.
Since there is no history of radio programming in these languages and dialects, trained jockeys are hard to come by. So housewives, students and working professionals fill the need. Ashutosh Dikshit who works as senior innovations manager with a leading firm in the UK has a second career now, hosting a weekly radio show in Sankethi language from his house in London. “Our community may be less than 30,000 across the world and we are very concerned about our language, which is a large part of our heritage. The radio show has been welcomed widely in our community,” Mr. Dikshit said. He added that the channel viewed dialects like Sankethi or Nawayathi as not community linked, but as a linguistic heritage to be preserved.
When it comes to film songs, however, the one-hour radio shows through the weekend play Kannada songs. Except for Tulu, no films have been made in the other tongues. The Tulu show will soon start playing Tulu film songs.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by K.V.Aditya Bharadwaj / Bengaluru – May 29th, 2017
Women will be drawn from local villages and tribal hamlets as they know the terrain better. The women are being identified and shortlisted by local forest officials and panchayat members. dh file photo
The Forest department is planning to set up an all-women trekking guides group. Said to be the first such initiative in India, these women groups will help trekkers on the dedicated trekking trails identified by the Forest department. To start with, women guides will be introduced on three eco-trails of Kodagu district. Women will be drawn from local villages and tribal hamlets as they know the terrain better. Such women will be trained and recruited by Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board (KETDB).
Vinay Lutra, Chairman of KETDB told DH that they had received a special request from Kodagu CEO and Chief Conservator of Forests to have all-women trained trek guides.
“The demand for trekking trails is very high and so is the demand for women guides. Based on the response and success rate, more such teams will be formed in the coming days,” he said.
The idea of involving them is to make the women of this section and region employed and independent. The women are being identified and shortlisted by the local forest officials and panchayat members. The KETDB is only training the women.
Vijay Mohan Raj, Chief Conservator of Forests, Chikkamagalur, and member of KETDB, said that earlier 70 women were trained to be a part of the certified women volunteer programme.
These are women from various civil societies. But, this will be for the first time where 30 women will be trained to be trekking guides.
“The difference is that the volunteers are not paid, but these guides will be given permanent employment and a monthly salary. Guides will be trained professionals,” Raj said.
Though dates of the training and their recruitment is not yet decided, board members hinted that it is most likely to start from June. Guides will undergo a week-long training on the trekking routes, the dos and dont’s in the forest, identification of the birds, plants, insects and animals and health safety.
After this, KETDB is also planning to introduce a mixed group of trained guides in Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / by Bosky Khanna / DH News Service / Bengaluru – May 26th, 2017
Hotbed for hockey. Nikkin Thimmaiah with his Chendanda team at the Kodava Hockey Festival final.
The Kodava Hockey Festival is testimony that the game is still thriving in Kodagu, feels internationals Nikkin Thimmaiah and SK Uthappa
A crowd of 30,000 people turned out to watch the Kodava Hockey Festival final between Chendanda and Pardanda on May 14, an eye brow-raising statistic to the uninitiated. This wasn’t an international event, not even a national championship. The average spectator turnout for an Indian Premier League game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was 25,000 but this hockey contest — played between families in Kodagu district — beat even the IPL. Cricket, they say is religion in the country. In Kodagu district, it’s hockey that gets the adrenaline pumping.
“Every player from Kodagu begins his career in this tournament, including me,” Nikkin Thimmaiah, India forward and a member of the Chendanda winning team, said.
“I watched my father play in this tournament as a six-year-old. That was one of the catalysts that spurred me to take up the sport.”
The tournament is unique in many ways. A team comprises members of a family and there is no distinction between either age or gender. The festival itself has been conducted annually since 1996. The game, though, goes on through the year as youngsters are encouraged to make it a career. “It’s the most talked about sport in Kodagu and even now, kids are still enthusiastic about the game,” Thimmaiah added. “Kids generally place hockey on a priority.”
Over the years though, the number of players from Kodagu making it to the international level has fallen. Currently, there are only three — Thimmaiah, SK Uthappa and SV Sunil — in the Indian squad. There’s no player from Karnataka in the junior team, but Uthappa insists hockey is not dead. The sport is now alive, more than ever, and tournaments like the Kodava Hockey Festival keep it ticking. “I began playing hockey seriously after watching my brother play,” Uthappa said. “I played badminton first, but in Coorg, everything is about hockey. Hockey is in our blood and that’s why we start playing. The next influential factor is your family. It depends on how they support and encourage you to play hockey as a child. Thanks to that tournament, it’s a tradition that everyone participates in it.
“Even now, that culture of developing the sport remains. You often hear that gadgets have taken the fun out of outdoor games. There are kids who use iPads in Coorg but they know how to balance it with the game. I think that love for the sport is influential in getting everyone to play it. Imagine you have to play this sport in every school. You will naturally be inclined to it.”
But it’s not just this tournament which gets Kodavas hooked to the sport. Uthappa says everyone is interested in playing some sport, but what cricket is to the entire country, hockey is to a Kodava. “We Kodavas follow, discuss and dissect hockey just as other people in the country do with cricket,” Uthappa said. “Families here are aware of everything that we do. Over the years, they have become more educated about hockey, thanks to the promotion and media exposure hockey is getting. Now, everyone’s involved in an educated discussion. For example, they tell me I played well in the first quarter, but my dribbling went awry in the third quarter and so on. Earlier, it was only the basic question of whether you won or lost and by what score.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Sports> Others / by Aravind Suchindran / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 23rd, 2017
Rashmika Mandanna is a Kannada heroine out to conquer the south Indian film industry. This model-turned-actress was roped in for the runaway hit Kirik Party, a college drama, after her photos caught the eye of producer and hero of the movie Rakshit Shetty and director Rishab Shetty. She played the teacher, Anannya.
Following the success of her first film, Rashmika became one of the most sought after actresses in the Kannada movie industry, and started getting offers from other film industries, including Telugu and Tamil. The actress, who is taking her first steps in Tollywood, has been offered movies with some of the top heroes of the Telugu film industry such as Prabhas, Allu Arjun and Nani.
The actress has picked a Naga Shourya-starrer for her Telugu debut, and is shooting for it. This will be followed with another Telugu project with hero Ram under Kishore Tirumala’s direction. Rashmika was also approached for Prabhas’ next film, Saaho, but she refused as it clashed with dates of her other movies. She is now busy shooting for Chamak with Ganesh, and is also working on Anjaniputra, directed by A Harsha, starring Puneeth Rajkumar in the lead.
Rashmika says acting was always on her mind, even when she started her career on the ramp. She learns the language before signing any movie. Her language classes come handy on the sets of her first film, a yet-to-be-titled one, with Naga Shourya.
“I have been offered movies from other industries. Most are from the Telugu industry. I have been going through a few scripts and I thought the best among them was the one with Naga Shourya. It should be great for a debut, and I will follow that up with a project with Ram, for which the shooting will start in September,” she says.
Although the young actress is excited to try other regional languages, she says Kannada movies will remain her priority. “I will never forget the overwhelming response I got for my first film in Sandalwood. Movies don’t have a language barrier, and good ones are remade for other regions. I will try to do good films in all languages,” she gushes.
Rashmika, who always scored a distinction percentage in academics, has to ensure that she completes her graduation and has just written her final year exams for BA in journalism. The Virajpet beauty credits her mother for helping with her career. “She makes sure that I devote all my energy to acting, which helps a lot. I can make a career in another field, besides acting simply by showing my marksheet,” she smiles.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Kannada / by A Shardhaa / May 22nd, 2017
What do you do when you have a long weekend at hand and you wish to escape from the hustle and bustle of the IT capital? Driving to Coorg, the ‘Scotland of India’, is definitely not a bad option. That’s precisely what we did on one such weekend that had a public holiday attached. We decided to make the most of it by driving to that part of the world, where one can be at peace at the Buddhist Monastery, be one with nature at the vast coffee estates sipping a hot cup of filter ‘kaapi’, play Peeping Tom to bathing elephants and relish some delicious local delicacies.
How did we go?
The drive from Bengaluru (Whitefield) can take around six hours with a couple of breaks, so we decided to leave office early post lunch on a Friday with the intention of beating the weekend traffic that piles up on Mysore Road. The drive from Whitefield until the Mysore Road exit can be taxing and no sooner had we entered Bidadi that we started our countdown to the restaurant. We regularly halted on Mysore Road for some nice ‘thatte idli’ and filter coffee. Post our refreshment break, we drove non-stop until we reached Aishwarya Suites (at New Bamboo Bazaar Road, Mysuru City) for our overnight stay. On day two, we got off at around 7 am and headed towards Coorg.
The stay
We stayed at the Leisure Vacation’s Brook Stone Villas at Thalatmane village on the Mysuru-Mangaluru highway. The location is around six km from Gen Thimmaiah Circle as one turns towards Mangaluru. One has to traverse through acres of coffee estates on a ‘kuccha’ road, giving the driver a semi off-roading experience.
What did we do?
Driving through the scenic road flanked by tobacco farms, we visited the Buddhist Golden Temple. After paying homage at the temple, our next port of call was Nisargadhama Island on the Kaveri river. Here one can visit the island via a hanging bridge, suspended over the river. Later in the day, we visited Abbey Falls and called it a day after visiting Raja’s Seat — a picnic spot that offers a West facing beautiful valley and sunset view, a nice flower garden and a musical fountain treat.We covered Talakad on the second day. At Talakad, one can visit the temple and the higher altitude offers some good sights of the valley beneath. On day three, post breakfast, we headed back to Bengaluru albeit with lots of lovely memories.
(The author can be contacted at srikanthmenon@yahoo.com)
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Srikanth Venugopal / May 11th, 2017
Kannada medium schools in the district have been doing Kannada implementation in an appreciable manner, said Kannada Development Authority chairperson Prof S G Siddaramaiah.
“The implementation has been carried out by running the schools in spite of lack of student strength, maintenance of libraries and conducting Kannada programmes,” he said.
Siddaramaiah was chairing the review meeting at the deputy commissioner’s office in connection with Kannada implementation. The Department of Public Instruction of Kodagu has used novel measures, which are examples for other districts, said the chairperson. He said that he will go on a tour of the district and visit Kannada schools in this regard during the reopening.
Many new programmes have been mentioned in the report submitted by the Department of Public Instruction. Even though 114 schools are running short of students, the schools are being run.
Malliswamy, acting deputy director of the Department, said that the students of 12 schools that were closed, have not got admitted to private schools, but have joined the nearby government schools.
Siddaramaiah said that the block education officers should carry out sudden visits to schools to assess the quality of Kannada teaching. Kannada should be introduced as the first or the second language in CBSE schools as per the government circulars.
“The website of the Kodagu district administration is in Kannada. The website is designed using Unicode. Other districts should follow the same. The nameplates and notifications of government departments in the state should be in Kannada,” Siddaramaiah suggested.
Kannada Sahitya Parishat district unit president Lokesh Sagar that Malayalam nameplates dominate in Virajpet, Kutta and Makutta regions. Discussions related to Kannada language are taken up in the last part of Zilla Panchayat meetings. The Authority chairperson directed Deputy Commissioner Richard Vincent D’Souza to take action in this regard.
“Only 550 Kannadigas are employed in the 138 industries of the district. Instead, 100% of C and D grade jobs should be given to Kannadigas, while 50% and 80% of reservation should be provided in A and B grade jobs,” he said.
Superintendent of Police P Rajendra Prasad and Authority secretary Muralidhar were present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / DH News Service – Madikeri, May 12th, 2017
Around 4,800 players will participate in Kodava community’s event
The Kodava community’s craze for hockey is as legendary as their participation in the Indian army.
This love for the sport is celebrated by the people of Kodagu with an annual hockey festival, where family teams from the community get together to test each other’s dribbling skills.
This year’s festival will have a special resonance as the organisers are making a bid to enter the Guinness World Records for the most number of participants at a hockey event.
The festival which started in 1996 with 60 teams will see the participation of 306 hockey family teams this year.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Ramesh, the organizer of the festival, said, “This year, we have more than 300 teams, which means that 4800 players will be articipating. Theirs is a Guinness Record for 4000 players taking part in a tournament. This event will break that record.”
Ramesh also said that they have already entered the Limca Book of Records in 2004 for participation of more than 281 teams in the festival.
Speaking about the significance of the event, Ramesh said that it has become a cultural festival for the Kodavas.
“We never call it a hockey tournament, but we call it a hockey festival. It is the 21st year of the celebrations and it has become a cultural milestone for the Kodavas,” he said.
About the festival
* The hockey festival in Kodagu was started by Pandanda Kuttappa and Kashi Brothers at Karada in 1996.
* Kuttappa and Kashi Brothers also founded the Kodava Hockey Academy in 1997 and continuing to be the founder president for the academy till now.
* The festival follows the international rules for hockey.
* It also encourages the participation of women and senior members in the hockey team.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> States / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 12th, 2017
Arjun Belmar owns 34 acres in T Dasarahalli, off Tumkur Road
For close to 30 years, Arjun Belmar hasn’t spent a penny on buying coffee. He lives in the city and grows his own coffee. Yes, you read that right. He does. Belmar and his family offer proof that coffee is not only grown in Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu, but also right here in our city.
The businessman has been growing coffee in the face of scorching summers or water scarcity. “Bengaluru is 900mt above sea level and the land can be utilised for coffee. But one needs to grow it properly in the shade,” he explains.
When Bangalore Mirror visited his 3,000 sq ft coffee plantation, it felt like a forest in the middle of the concrete hub.
“Years ago, T Dasarahalli was away from the city. Just about 100 people lived here and we had only one bus to our house from City Market. My father used to love plants and we grew everything on our land. Not just variety of trees and plants, we also had many cows which used to give us 200-300 lt of milk. We used to share it with whoever came to our home,” Belmar says.
The grand old times are gone, but the family continues its green tradition. They keep bees and harvest honey too on their property.
However, Belmar, remembers a time when they just had to dig up to half a foot to find water. “That is how we were able to grow ginger, grapes, vegetables, paddy, wheat, sugarcane, betel, pepper and other plants,” he said.
On how they started growing coffee, Belmar’s explanation is simple – Everyone in the family loves coffee and wanted to taste the authentic thing. “We used to have our own cows and buffaloes for milk and grow sugarcane for jaggery and sugar. Why then, can we not have our own coffee plants, we thought. Then we went to
Chikkamagaluru in search of the plants.”
Though they were unsure if coffee plants can survive in Bengaluru, they kept going with their plan. “Today we have around 50 plants,” he says. “We had other bigger trees on the land. Coffee grows in semi-shade so we put them between these big trees. We watered the plants continuously and saw the first flowers on the plants,” he says.
He recalls that his father had tears in his eyes when he saw the coffee plant flowering at last.
“Each coffee plant gives around 2-3kg of coffee fruit. In a year, we get close to 50 kg. We pluck the fruit and clean it and keep it for drying. Once it has dried properly, we give it for processing and get it done in a customised manner. We tell them whether we want it with or without chicory,” he said.
His friends and family, who visit the farm, are in awe of the plantation. “My friends used to ask me if I were living in Madikeri or Bengaluru. They love the coffee we give them in packets. People who visit us from abroad wait to visit again to refill their stock,” he said.
Belmar also grows the cocoa plant. He has close to 150 cocoa plants, the seeds of which he sends to Mangaluru for processing.
“We drink premium coffee personally handled by us. It is better than the coffee grown in Chikkamagaluru,” he says, with a hint of pride.
It’s all about the honey
Belmar says they started keeping bees as his grandfather was one of the founders of the Bee-keepers Association in the city. “We have been harvesting honey on our land for the past 40-50 years. Keeping bees easy here because of the rich bio-diversity.”
Bee-keeping in the city dates to the times the British were here. Belmar says, “It was during the British rule that the Bee-keepers Association began. These days, people are trained to keep bees and harvest honey.”
He has one special information about the honey. “When the Neem tree is flowering, the honey tastes best and it is clear. In the mango season, the honey is quite reddish and very sweet. When the tamarind tree is flowering, honey is a little sour. For each season, we have a different flavour of honey.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Kumaran P, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 10th, 2017
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