Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Kodagu Temples Celebrate Shashti Utsava

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Prayers offered at Omkareshwara temple
Devotion: Devotees thronging historic Omkareshwara Temple in Madikeri on the occasion of Shashti festival on Saturday. DH PhotoThe Shashti festival was celebrated with devotion offering poojas across the district on Saturday. Special prayers, poojas, bhajans and other rituals were offered to deities at many temples in the district. 

The rituals had begun at the historic Omkareshwara Temple in the wee hours and special poojas were offered to the deity of Subramanya Swamy. Prasada was distributed after the Mahamangalarati rituals. An annasantharpane programme was followed where hundreds of devotees had the lunch. The Teppotsava of the deity was held in the evening. Shashti festivities were held at the Muthappa temple in the town too. Special poojas were offered to the deity and annadana was arranged for the devotees at the temple.

In Virajpet, the festival was celebrated vibrantly at the Bairambada Subramanya temple. The homa, havana, archane and other rituals began at the temple at 4 am. Hundreds of devotees, who thronged from various parts of the district, offered prayers and poojas to the deity.

Pallakki utsava and Rathotsava were held at the Koodige Udbava Subramanya Temple in Kushalnagar and rituals were held at the Udbava Subramanya Temple in the Housing Board Colony too.

The festival was celebrated at the Umamaheshwara temple in Gonikoppal with religious rituals. Women poured milk to Naga dieties to mark the festival at various places in the district.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Madikeri / DHNS / Dec 11th, 20101

 

Kodagu Witnessing Rich Literature

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”Kodagu district is known across the country for peace and harmony. There is no discrimination on basis of language here in Kodagu,” said Litterateur and critic K P Balasubramanya.
Delivering the presidential address at the 8th Kannada Sahithya Sammelan at Murnadu on Thursday on the topic ‘Literature over the decade in Kodagu district,’ he said that though people from different castes and communities have been living in Kodagu, it has not had any adverse impact on the communal harmony here. 

“Kodavas are peace lovers and they are soft spoken,” he said opining that communal disturbances have always occurred in various parts of the country due to political instigation. “Since people of Kodagu are untouched by religious differences, Kodagu has been witnessing superior literature,” he said.

He pointed that over the last 10 years good analytical piece of writings and poems have been produced. “Scope of literature is vast and never ending. One can never complete reading and analysing literature,” he said.

Virajpet First Grade College Assistant Principal Dr Korana Saraswathi said that research is nothing but search for knowledge or thirst for knowing more. “Research should be based on truth and should take place within scientific frame work,” she said.

“Research can be done with various objectives but the main aim of any research is to find the truth and expand intellectual horizon,” she said adding that sincerity is the most important aspect in research.

Tribal literature

Dr J Somanna from Vijayalakshmi Pre University College said that tribals are those set of vagabonds who have developed their own culture and literature out of their distinct way of living.

“The tribals have been living a life of exile literally, saving themselves from the invasion of modern culture. Living in isolation from the outside world, these tribals have their own language, culture, rituals, belief system, way of worshipping, attire, literature, cope up mechanisms etc. They with such a way of living look unusual and peculiar to the urban population,” Somanna said adding that 60 years of independence had not changed anything for the tribals of the country.

“Sincere efforts to convince the tribals to adopt the natural, inevitable changes happening in the society has not taken place so far. The result is that majority of tribals still live like animals. There is a need to understand the tribal lifestyle, respect their culture and then bring in necessary measures to bring them into the mainstream,” he said.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / DHNS / Madikeri / Apr 01st, 2011

In Search of Kodagu’s Lost Princess

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, , ,
HISTORY
In search of Kodagu’s lost princess
C P Belliappa locates the tombstone of Victoria Gowramma, the favourite daughter of Chikka Veerarajendra, the last king of erstwhile Coorg, at the Brompton Cemetery in South West London. The story of the princess is a heady cocktail of colonial power, politics, greed, romance and disappointments.
Queen victoria’s godchild: The marble bust of Victoria Gowramma. Photos by the authorBrompton Cemetery, located in South West London, covers an area of about 40 acres. 

This burial ground, established in 1836, is presently used more as a park; and is popular with cyclists and joggers. The cemetery is located not far from Stamford Bridge, home to Chelsea Football Club. I visited the cemetery last year to locate the final resting place of my protagonist – Princess Victoria Gowramma of Kodagu.

The office at the sprawling cemetery has painstakingly recorded the names of the people buried there since its inception, and has a databank being updated. I was shown a map of the area where the grave I was looking for, was situated. It took me more than an hour to locate the tomb stone of Victoria Gowramma.

The cross on the head-stone was broken and it was covered with thick undergrowth. This was the spot where story of Kodagu’s princess ends having started with her birth in 1841 at Benares. The epitaph on the tomb-stone drafted by Queen Victoria is still intact.

I stood there trying to picture that day, April 4, 1864, when the horse-drawn hearse carrying the body of the princess would have arrived followed by her husband Colonel John Campbell and their three-year-old daughter Edith. Also present would have been Lady Lena Login, the long-time guardian of the Coorg princess.

It would have been a particularly painful experience for Colonel Campbell, as the grave where his second wife was to be buried already had the mortal remains of his second son Colin from his first wife. The boy died in a freak accident in 1856. Interestingly, Colin was born in 1842 at Bellary in Karnataka while Col Campbell served in the 38th Madras Native Infantry.

The process of unearthing facts about Princess Gowramma and her father, Chikka Veerarajendra, the last rajah of erstwhile Coorg, and then reconstructing their lives was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle after finding all the pieces.

The princess was the favourite daughter of the rajah, who was exiled to Benares after he was dethroned by the British in 1834. Chikka Veerarajendra and Princess Gowramma were the first Indian royals to sail to England in 1852.

Both spent the rest of their lives in England. When the King of Kodagu and the eleven-year-old princess were presented to Queen Victoria, the Queen was instantly taken up by the young girl. To the astonishment of her court, the queen took the princess under her wings as her goddaughter. Queen Victoria, along with her royal consort Prince Albert, was present at the baptism ceremony of the Indian princess.

The Queen lent her own name to her goddaughter and called her Victoria Gowramma.
Two years later, when the sixteen-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh landed in England, he too became an instant favourite of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Duleep Singh had already embraced Christianity, and this prompted the queen and her royal consort to indulge in match-making between Princess Victoria Gowramma and Maharaja Duleep Singh. The story involves colonial power, politics, religion, proselytization, greed, romance and disappointments.

I made it a point to visit Buckingham Palace and Osborne House (in Isle of Wight), where Princess Gowramma used to be a frequent guest of Queen Victoria. I could visualise a nervous Princess Gowramma in the opulent white drawing room where the queen received her close friends and relatives.

At Osborne House, the young princess from Kodagu would have played with the royal children where they were also taught house-keeping, cooking, and gardening. Princess Gowramma was particularly close to Princess Alice, the third child of Queen Victoria. (Princess Alice’s daughter Alix married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.)
The high point for me was to see the beautiful marble bust of Princess Victoria Gowramma, which was sculpted by the queen’s favourite sculptor: Baron Carlo Marochetti in 1856. The bust is special since it is painted to depict a life-like image of the princess.
Recently I traced the direct descendants of Princess Victoria Gowramma to New South Wales in Australia. I spoke to one of them: Ms Marian Ethel Singleton, a 72 year old great-great grand daughter of the princess. However to my utter dismay, the lady though aware of her bloodline, did not evince any interest in her ancestry!

(Belliappa is the author of the book ‘Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg’, on the extraordinary life of the Coorg princess.)

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Supplements / Spectrum

 

‘ The Highland, Coorg ‘ – a Poem on Coorg

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, ,

Mallalli Falls, CoorgMallalli Falls, Coorg

The Highland, Coorg

Disheveled meadow swells aloft
And the sailing blue whispers the song
Tickles the niched nature wind soft
Unearthed ecstasy stays strong

Hangs low, coffee seeds so genuine
Cardamom widespread a unique aroma
Urchin chants through the bottled wine
The valour stands an enigma.

A narrow adorable river streams
Along the heaven in a mysterious way
Bliss blooms through the dark dreams
While the dawn watches mists play

Thick downpour roars out the rest
A gloomy mask for half a year
Atop a tree a sparrow’s nest
Within which is a gun and a chandelier.

Slugabed daylight late kisses the ground
Reluctantly peels out the slumbered eye
Perplexed eyeballs scowl blur around
And later discovers the deep blue sky.

By: Taufeeq, Mercara, Coorg

 

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / Oct 30th, 2009

 

Coorg Girl plays a Lead Role in ‘Aaranya Kaandam’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, , , , , ,

Yasmin PonnappaYasmin Ponnappa

Yasmin Ponnappa (Coorg Girl), who’s debuting in Aaranya Kaandam, is a Bangalore-based model. Apart from modelling, she has also appeared in many television commercials and has won many beauty paegants.

Ask her about her role in the film and she gets all excited, “I am like a hurt doe in a jungle, which works up courage to fight back. I am really happy to be working on this project, especially with Jackie dada.” Surprisingly, this Bangalore girl can speak Tamil fluently. “I learnt Tamil when I was young. Thanks to that, I can now give hundred percent to the movie. I don’t have any language problems now,” says the sexy Coorg lass.

Directed by Kumarraja, Aaranyakandam is produced by SPB Charan. The film also stars Jackie Shroff for the first time in a tamil film. Ravikrishna and yasmin ponnappa play the lead roles. Yuvan Shankar Raja scores the music.

 

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / Nov 01st, 2009

Feathered Jewels of Coorg

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Feathered Jewels of Coorg

Feathered Jewels of Coorg

By Dr. S.V. Narasimhan

Coorg Wildlife Society, Rs. 99

**********************************************

This bilingual book beautifully documents the richness of the avifauna of the small Kodagu district. The book contains the descriptions and sketches of 305 species of birds along with synoptic notes of each family.

The initial chapters have a useful, concise and good general description of bird morphology, anatomy, general usefulness of birds, migration and tips for bird watching. These details make the book more useful for a general reader. The main text contains brief description of each species with its common and scientific names in English, Kannada and Kodava languages.

The status, key morphological characters, habitats, habits are clearly explained. Thus the book is not only a good checklist, but also a valuable field guide to the birds of Kodagu. The descriptions of bird species are precise and follow the standard format.

These are excellently supported by the beautiful colour paintings by the author who is professionally a practicing physician. Giving details of specific bird watching areas within the district would have enhanced the usefulness of the book. Zafar Futehally, the famous ornithologist, writes in his foreword: “The book is invaluable in arousing an interest in birds among the population of Coorg, and Narasimhan has done great service to local birders.” He adds: “Dr. Narasimhan is fortunate in his profession.

Apart from the service which doctors render to mankind, they develop the habit of looking at things closely, attempting to connect cause and effect.”

This elegantly printed and neatly got up book goes a long way in fulfilling the need for such practical information about birds as also about the natural wealth of Kodagu. Feathered Jewels of Coorg emphasises the urgent need for protecting all our natural resources so that our lives may be better and more joyful.

For a well-produced book like this, the pricing is surprisingly low.

– By K.B. Sadananda

 

source: http:// www.coorgnews.wordpress.com  / Nov 10th, 2009

 

Shubra Aiyappa – Coorg Model on Ramp

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, , ,

Shubra Aiyappa – Coorg model

She beat a horde of Indian ravision beauties to win Ford Model Supermodel of the World Contest in 2005 at the age of 18.

Standing 5 feet 11 inches tall, this Bangalore beauty was born in Coorg and schooled in Baldwin Girls School and Mount Carmel’s College.

Now 21, this lissome beauty has a graceful air about her, which is more evident when she takes to the ramp.

Her ambition is to be a good businesswoman.

…and we wish her all the best

 

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / Nov 30th, 2009

 

Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, , ,

Veerarajendra, the exiled raja of Coorg, and his eleven-year-old daughter of Gowramma, were the first Indian royals to land in Britain in the summer of 1852. Veerarajendra used the pretext of his daughter’s embracing Christanity and acquiring a Western education, as a ruse to secure permission to visit England.

What was his true motive behind this journey? Furthermore, as godmother to Gowramma, Queen Victoria had grand plans for the princess and another exiled royalty: Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab. In this book, C.P. Belliappa has reconstructed the extraordinary saga of the earliest Indian royalities to visit and live in Victorian England. He has unearthed hither to unpublished material that throws light on Veerarajendra’s and Princess Victoria Gowramma’s life in England, and the amazing affection Queen Victoria bestowed on the young princess.

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / by P.C. Belliappa / Feb 20th, 2011