CURTAIN-RAISER: MY NEW WEBSITE KODAVAS.IN

By P.T. Bopanna

 Boverianda Chinnappa and Nanjamma Chinnappa

I am putting together a new website to feature the unique culture of the Kodavas (Coorgs) in Karnataka State. www.kodavas.in is my seventh website.

My main intention of starting the website is to document the customs and traditions of Kodavas, a microscopic minority community, which is slowly losing its moorings in Kodagu.

Most of the younger Kodavas who have been brought up in cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru, are unaware of the essence of Kodava culture. I felt a website was the best medium to increase awareness of and help preserve the culture. The website will come in handy for someone wanting to know about the rituals involved in ceremonies connected with birth, wedding, death, etc.

In order to ensure that the content in the website was authentic, I took the help of Boverianda Chinnappa and Nanjamma Chinnappa (in picture), who have researched and written about Kodava culture.

Much of the content in the website has been taken from the book Pattole Palame, compiled in 1924 by Nadikerianda Chinnappa, where the Kodava language folksongs, proverbs and riddles are transcribed in the Kannada script and Kodava customs and traditions are described in the Kannada language. The Pattole Palame was translated into English by Boverianda Chinnappa and Nanjamma. I have also borrowed content from their book ‘Ainmanes of Kodagu’.

Topics covered in the website, include the origin of the Kodavas; their customs related to birth, wedding, death and their festivals; the religion of the Kodavas; Jamma land tenure; their passion for the game of hockey; guns in Kodava culture; their ainmanes, etc. There are also video clips related to some of these topics on Kodava culture.

The site has been designed by Bhakti Saraswat-Devaiah.