The second Art Shastra event is being held by Evolve Back Resorts at the Coorg property Chikkana Halli Estate. Evolve Back is returning with Art Shastra to showcase Indian art and artists from all over the nation after a successful first edition in 2016 at Hampi.
The event will feature engaging discussions about modern stylisation, contemporary art, and printmaking workshops, followed by excursions to the Dubare Elephant Camp and the Tibetan hamlet in Bylekuppe.
The event will feature artwork by renowned artists from across the country like S.G. Vasudev, R.M. Palaniappan, Indrapramit Roy, Shipra Bhattacharya, among 16 others.
Date: April 2 to 6, 2023
Venue: Evolve Back Chikkana Halli Estate, Coorg, Karnataka, India
(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> National-World / by IANSlife / April 19th, 2023
The ban on liquor at private weddings and functions has left celebrations bereft of “cheers” in Kodagu.
The prohibition came into effect in view of the Karnataka assembly elections scheduled for May 10.
The ban on liquor has been imposed by the Excise Department on the orders of the State Election Commission.
While permission for serving liquor at private functions was granted during past elections, the same stands cancelled now.
Serving liquor at private functions including weddings is a common practice among the majority of people in Kodagu. Liquor is a must for Kodava community weddings.
During the previous elections, the Code of Conduct exempted the residents from serving liquor at weddings. But they had to shell out Rs 11,500 as a fee to the excise department. However, this was not the case this time.
“The order came from the State Election Commission”, confirmed district excise DC, Jagadish.
But many residents had taken permission from the excise department well in advance by paying the fee.
“The ban was imposed on April 11. The cash paid by several families for a liquor permit in view of weddings are being refunded”, Jagadish said.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Federation of the Kodava Samaj has submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission requesting to withdraw the ban imposed on serving liquor during private functions. The representatives of the federation met the Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar and explained about the custom of serving liquor during Kodava weddings.
Many who have already purchased liquor in large quantities for functions are in a dilemma and hope that the Election Commission would pay heed to their demand.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / April 16th, 2023
Mookonda Nitin Kushalappa’s English book “Dakshin: South Indian Myths and Fables Retold” was launched at Atta Galatta Bookstore auditorium in Bengaluru on April 2.
The event was attended by Maha Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Col. Puttichanda S. Ganapathi, IRS Officer Preeth Ganapathy, retired Superintendent of Police Mookonda K. Ganapathy, Col. Maddanda Uthappa, Ponnakachira Machaiah, retired Assistant Commissioner of Customs Muckatira Suresh and others.
This book, which was earlier released on Amazon on Feb.13, 2023, is already a bestseller in various book categories. Atta Galatta is located in Indiranagar and has a cafeteria with an auditorium attached to its bookstore.
Presenting the slide show to the audience along with his wife Deepthi, Nitin spoke of the 15 stories in his collection, the regions and sources they came from, the illustrations and the rhymes that support the stories.
Lt. Col. P.S. Ganapathi, MVC, spoke of how he came to meet Nitin a few years ago and how they worked together on a previous book, ‘The Major Who Kept His Cool’ (Col. Ganapathi’s biography authored by Nitin).
Sanjeev Rajarao spoke of how he reaches out to Nitin for any information on Kodagu and Kodavas and how Nitin connects the dots.
Mrs. Leo, Nitin’s school teacher, Preeth Ganapathy, IRS, Bayavanda Monnappa, COO of BHive, Mookonda K. Ganapathy and Vishwanath also spoke. Nitin’s mother Mookonda Pushpa Poonacha spoke about the importance of folklore.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / April 07th, 2023
Raja’s Seat, a historic viewing point in southern India that is popular with tourists, has had a new zip line installed.
The zip line, said by the Hindu Bureau to be 310m in length, was inaugurated by deputy commissioner of Kodagu, BC Sateesha, and additional superintendent of Kodagu District Police, KS Sundar Raj, who both took a ride on the new attraction.
Mr Sateesha urged the local authorities to “pay adequate attention to safety aspects and obtain a certificate from General Thimayya National Academy of Adventure.” He also emphasised to the Horticulture Department officials that “full compliance of the guidelines issued by the Academy for practice of adventure sports” should be achieved.
The zip line facility is being operated in partnership with a “private player” from the city of Bengaluru for the next five years.
source: http://www.intergameonline.com / iNTERGAME / Home> Coin-Op> Pay-to-Pay / by Joey Howey / April 13th, 2023
Rani’s entire career has been dedicated to preserving and promoting the folk dance form, Ummathat, of the Kodava tradition.
Rani Machaiah (seated) was felicitated at a function in Madikeri on Thursday 26 Jan (supplied)
The news came as mellifluous as the song that accompanies Ummathat, the traditional dance form of Kodagu.
Rani Machaiah — better known as Ummathat Ki Rani — was at her home in Madikeri when she received the news of the nation honouring her with Padma Shri.
Congratulatory calls have been flooding her from relatives, friends, well-wishers, and most importantly, from her large number of students since Wednesday, 25 January.
“A train of thoughts crossed my mind,” the 79-year-old shared her experience with South First. “I have worked for around 50 years, promoting this traditional dance form.”
She has been leading Ummathat since 1984 and she had trained over 10,000 students.
Rani recalled taking her students to different states to showcase the dance form. “Ummathat is performed by a troupe of 20 — two will be singing and the other eighteen will dance to narrate a story,” she explained.
“This dance form is similar to the traditional ones of every other state,” she added.
Creating masters
Rani doesn’t dance anymore. But she still teaches students to master the art form. She had trained several batches of students.
Padma Shri Rani Machaiah. (Supplied)
“Once they get married, they leave and a new batch joins. Girls of any age can join the troupe,” Rani said.
Her students had performed in Lakshadweep, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and several places across Karnataka.
“We get invitations from various places and institutions from all over the country and we perform our traditional Ummathat there,” Rani, who has dedicated herself to preserving and promoting the traditional dance form, said.
Rani was born in 1943 in Siddapura in the Kodagu district. Her husband, the late Machaiah, was an advocate, who passed away when she was 65.
Her son, Sathish Machaiah, 55, is a software engineer in Bengaluru. Rani’s daughter, Saritha Devaiah, is a homemaker in Kodagu. Her husband Devaiah owns a plantation.
When asked about her inspiration to take up Ummathat, Rani said it was personal interest.
Now, a lipi
Rani is the chairperson of Kaveri Kalavrunda Sangha, an organisation she founded. She is the recipient of the Rajyotsava Award and many other honours.
She was a former president of Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy and at present, she is encouraging groups of Kodavas working on designing a lipi — alphabet or script — for the Kodava language to preserve its literature since the language doesn’t have a lipi now (traditionally, Kodavas use the Thirke script, which is an abugida).
“It will look somewhat similar to Kannada and it will have phonetics and extra words that are used in the Kodava language in Kannada lipi,” Rani said.
source: http://www.thesouthfirst.com / South First / Home> Karnataka / by Bellie Thomas / January 27th, 2023
Kodagu DC B.C. athish (second from right) with SVEEP ambassadors Eshwari, Ravi Muthappa and Basavaraj Badiger in Madikeri on Thursday. Kodagu ZP CEO S.Prakash is also present. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Kodagu district administration has appointed a few commoners drawn from the civil society as its ambassador for Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) drive.
The ambassadors are S.K. Eshwari of Mekari village who is specially abled; Basavaraj Badiger, an arts and painting teacher from 7 Hoskote Government Higher Primary School; and K. Ravi Muthappa who is a Home Guard personnel. They were felicitated by the Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu B.C. Satish, ZP CEO S. Prakash and others on behalf of the SVEEP committee with shawl and fruits on Thursday and the posters to create voters awareness and education were also released on the occasion.
The authorities said though Ms. Eshwari is specially abled she was determined to overcome it and despite certain limitations, mastered various types of crafts and has been described as a role model for others. Determined to be self-reliant, Ms. Eshwari mastered sewing and has taken to sports in a big way including wheel chair race, swimming etc. As an individual who was schooled at home, Ms. Eshwari is also into writing poetry and stories, scripting plays and has won state-level prize in poetry writing, the authorities added. This apart she is also into vegetable carving and has spread the message of Swacch Bharat, wealth from waste and plastic-free drive among other such national programmes and has won many awards.
Similarly, Mr. Basavaraj Badiger has his own achievements and has been a fine arts teacher since 16 years. His works have been exhibited in different parts of the State including at Pattadakal festival, Badami festival etc and he has won the best teacher award at the taluk level. Besides, he has also won a state-level award for teachers’ co-curricular activities.
Mr. K.Ravi Muthappa has been with the Home Guards sinc 13 years. Belonging to Ivathoklu near Cheerambani, he has engaged himself in social service since many years. His services are sought during accidents in rivers, waterfalls and lakes and he has retrieved 39 human bodies so far. In the 2019 floods that ravaged the district Mr. Muthappa was instrumental in retrieving 5 bodies of a family that was buried in the slush in Korangala.
The three will take part in various voters awareness programme in the days ahead, said the authorities.
www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / April 06th, 2023
In 1997, Pandanda M Kuttappa, a retired bank employee, wanted to channelise this hockey craze to unite Kodavas and explore the potential of the talent in the region.
Members of different families get ready for Kodava Family Hockey Festival at Napoklu in Kodagu district of Karnataka. | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath
It was a sunny Saturday morning when this reporter reached the General Thimmayya stadium at Napoklu village in Kodagu district. The men, women and children gathered at the stadium were eager to showcase their hockeyplaying talent.
More than 3,000 hockey talents from Kodava community (with a population of around 1.5 lakh) converge in a Kodagu village during the summer months to vie for the coveted family hockey title. This time it was the turn of the Appachettolanda family to host the hockey festival at Napoklu from March 18 to April 9.
Ask a Kodava, he/she proudly says that it is a festival, and does not call it as a tournament. So the organisers have aptly named it as hockey ‘namme’ (festival in Kodava language).
It is better to know a bit about Kodavas. A majority of people from Kodava community live in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
When you interact with Kodavas, they take pride in their representation in the armed forces — which include the personalities such as Field Marshall KM Cariappa and General KS Thimmayya — and in sports, especially in hockey.
There are more than 800 families of Kodavas with each having a unique name. Of them, 336 families are participating in this year’s hockey festival. The size of the families ranges from 100 to 400 people.
Interacting with businessline on the sidelines of the event, Pandanda Bopanna, President of the Kodava Hockey Academy, says “Hockey is in the blood of a Kodava.”
History of Kodava family hockey so far
chart
Festival objectives
In 1997, Pandanda M Kuttappa, a retired bank employee, wanted to channelise this hockey craze to unite Kodavas and explore the potential of the talent in the region. Kuttappa and his brother Pandanda Kashi Ponnappa started a family-led hockey festival in Kodagu keeping four objectives in mind.
According to Pandanda Bopanna (Kuttappa’s son), the first objective was to bring harmony within the Kodava community and families. Though many Kodavas were participating in national and internation hockey matches, they were not seen playing in their homeland.
The second objective of Kuttappa was to give an opportunity for local Kodavas to witness in real-time the game of their national and international players.
Pandanda Bopanna, President of the Kodava Hockey Academy | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath
Thirdly, Kuttappa wanted to provide a platform for youngsters in the community to showcase their talent, and take a step forward in their sporting career. Fourthly, the event also acted as a matrimonial platform and ended up in marriages in many cases.
Invests retirement benefit
Bopanna says that his father had invested his retirement benefits for hosting the first edition of the family hockey festival.
The first edition of the event, hosted by the Pandanda family, was named as Pandanda cup, and it saw the participation of 60 family teams. (The event was not organised in 2019 due to the 2018 Kodagu floods and landslides. Covid forced the organisers to refrain from hosting the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.)
On the record participation of 336 teams this year, Bopanna says nowhere in the world would any hockey festival or tournament be played with such a large number of teams and players in one location.
Gender, age no bar
Gender and age are not a bar in this event. Men, women, and children can be the members of a team.
The only condition is that they should be from the same family. Women have the option to represent the family they are married to, or their paternal family. This year’s participation includes people in the age group of 6 to 84 years.
Highlighting her experience, Shivachaliyanda Dechakka, a 10th standard student from a sports hostel, says her family team won the first match, and lost the second one. She says it was a good experience for her to play with seniors.
While many teams have at least one woman representation, there are a few without them. In fact, the Kethira family had representation of five women, including the goalkeeper, in their team of 11.
Aman Poonacha from Palanganda family, an 8th standard student from Bengaluru, says he made his first entry as a player in his family team in a match on Saturday. However, he was not happy with his performance.
Confluence of youth and experience Several stars from Indian hockey make it a point to be the representative of their families in the family cup.
KK Poonacha of Koothanda family, a former international player and former coach of Indian women’s team, who had just finished a match earlier on Saturday, says that he has been attending the family hockey cup matches since 1998, and his family team has won the cup in four editions.
KK Poonacha of Koothanda family, a former international player and former coach of Indian women’s team | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath
Showing the five stars on his family hockey jersey, Ajay Ayyappa of Palanganda family, who works in the Department of Central Excise and GST in Bengaluru, says that he makes it a point to attend the hockey festival every year, and adds that his brother Amar Aiyamma, a former Indian player, will be playing in the next matches.
According to Pandanda Bopanna, former Indian team players such as Nithin Thimmaiah of Mekerira family, Pradhan Somaiah of Pudiyokkada family, PL Thimmanna of Puliyanda family, PU Bopanna of Pullangada family, and the former India Junior player KP Somaiah of Kuppand family are participating in the matches this year.
A boy is seen practising hockey at Napoklu. | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath
Terming this hockey festival as a good platform for beginners, KK Poonacha says they will get to play with the experienced players of national and international repute. This will be a good scouting ground for hockey talent also.
Stating that youngsters are motivated to play when they witness players of national and international repute, Ajay Ayyappa says it is like giving life to hockey again through this hockey festival, as people at the grassroots level are playing less these days.
Behind the scene
Appachettolanda Manu Muthappa, coordinator of the Appachettolanda Hockey Festival, says that his family has around 180 members, and they are actively participating in the smooth conduct of this event.
On resource mobilisation for organising the event, he says contribution of the amount from the family members and support from the public and corporates help them generate resources for the event. The State government has also been helping with funds for the event for some years.
A special gallery has been set up at the venue at a cost of around ₹35-40 lakh, and it can accommodate up to 25,000 people.
Appachettolanda Manu Muthappa, coordinator of the Appachettolanda Hockey Festival | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath
Deepak Chengappa of Nayakanda family, who is the Tournament Director, says that 21 matches are being conducted every day. The event has five jury members. Around 200 members, including the technical teams of Hockey Coorg and the whole Appachettolanda family, are helping him in the smooth operation of the event.
The event has four national referees, and 15 state referees. With an intention to encourage youngsters to take up refereeing as a profession, nine degree students are undergoing training here, he adds.
‘Encourage talent’
Kishor Cariappa from the Ammatanda family says that even though a lot of promising players take part in the Kodava Hockey Festival, their talent goes unnoticed once the tournament is over.
“Steps should be taken by Hockey Karnataka and Hockey India to hand-pick potential talent and start grooming them. Even though 336 teams took part this year, Hockey India officials were conspicuous by their absence. Organisers should make efforts to invite hockey think tanks in India to the event,” he adds.
Kishor Cariappa feels that the Karnataka government can help build two hockey venues with stands for Kodagu Hockey Festival in south and north Kodagu so that organising committees don’t have to spend lakhs of rupees on curating pitches every year.
Do you know who hosted the event?
chart 02
Future plans
Pandanda Bopanna says that three families have been finalised to host the next three editions of the hockey festival.
“We are encouraging other families who have not hosted so far to come forward and host. It is an opportunity to gain experience. It is not easy to host such a big event. It gives the family time to bond and also gives their youngsters a chance of hosting an event,” he adds.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Sports / by A J Vinayak / April 04th, 2023
With urbanisation and changing social structures, nuclear families, which were intrinsic in preserving tradition and rituals, have replaced joint families.
Women and a child don traditional attire at a Keri function
Madikeri:
With urbanisation and changing social structures, nuclear families, which were intrinsic in preserving tradition and rituals, have replaced joint families. To ensure their culture is not lost, various Kodava families in Kodagu district have joined together under one ‘keri’ (colony).
“The concept of ‘keri’ – synonymous with area or colony – started in Bengaluru among the Kodava community. The concept was adopted in the district too, with the first keri being formed 27 years ago,” says Kayapanda Shashi Somaiah, a resident of Madikeri.
As Kodava families started to move to cities from their native villages, the culture of the community was at stake. To prevent this, the keri concept was introduced in towns of Kodagu, including Madikeri, Virajpet and Ponnampet. “There are a total of 12 keris in Madikeri town. Cauvery Keri was among the first to be established in Madikeri. ‘Dechur Keri’ was established in 1998 and is one of the largest compared to other keris,” explains Madeyanda Ravi Kunjiappa, president of Dechur Keri.
He adds that this keri has over 300 members and an annual meeting is held after Puthari festival, which sees the coming together of all members.
Talking about the purpose of a keri, Shashi Somaiah explains, “For instance, if a death takes place in a Kodava family, members may not be acquainted with the rituals that need to be followed. That is when the keri becomes a second family of sorts.
Before relatives arrive from far off places, keri members who stay in the same area come together to help with the rituals.” Keris have a president and directors who are elected by the members once in three years. Emergency funds too are collected. Shashi says, “Death funds are handed over by the keri trust to family members.” The community also bonds over other matters during keri meetings.
“When people from the same community gather under one roof, talks pertaining to marriage also take place. There are instances where two people have been matched during keri functions,” says Ravi Kunjiappa.
Ravi adds, “During annual meetings, children who have achieved in academics or sports are recognised and felicitated. Similarly, elders who have achieved in government services or youngsters who have excelled in various fields will be felicitated and encouraged. Communities get to share their triumphs and trials.” Apart from being a support system, these keris also help in preserving Kodava culture. “The annual meeting becomes a platform for various cultural activities. Youngsters and children are required to take part in this cultural extravaganza. Children get trained by elders in ‘kolata’, ‘umathat’ and various other cultural activities,” says Ravi.
These skills are then put to test in the form of inter-keri competitions organised in each township once in three years. While inter-keri events have been organised in Madikeri six times, Virajpet town saw its first event this year. “Each keri takes turns to organise this function, which aims to unite Kodava families from different keris. The aim is to promote Kodava culture among the younger generation. This is the best way to teach our children about our traditions,” says Madanda Latha Somaiah, a member of Dechur keri.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Prajna GR, Express News Service / March 15th, 2020
Retired Col. Madeyanda C. Appanna (Rajappa), son of late M. K. Chengappa and a resident of KHB Colony, Hootagalli, Mysuru, passed away yesterday. A native of Ballamavati in Napoklu, Kodagu, he was 80.
He leaves behind his wife, two sons and a host of relatives and friends.
Last rites were performed at Muktidhama in Vijayanagar 4th Stage this noon.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Obituary / April 02nd, 2023
The following are the new office-bearers of Kodava Students Association (KSA), Mysuru: Iychettira Bheemaiah – President; Maletira Laksh Dechamma – Vice-President; Ponnappa Bepadiyanda – Secretary; Iychettira Bhumika – Joint Secretary; Karun Karera – Treasurer; Viharika Appaneravanda – Joint Treasurer and Gowthami Kokkalemada – Cultural Leader.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / March 31st, 2023
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