The Kodavas

Karnataka > Coorg > The Kodavas

Theories abound as to the origins of the Kodavas or Coorgis. who today compose less than one-sixth of the hill region's population. Fair-skinned and with their own language and customs, they are thought to have migrated to southern India from Kurdistan. Kashmir and Rajasthan. though no one knows exactly why or when. One popular belief holds that this staunchly martial people, who since Independence have produced some of India's leading military brains, are descended from Roman mercenanes who fled here following the collapse of the Pandyan dynasty in the eighth century; some even claim connections with Alexander the Great's invading army. Another theory is that the Kodavas were originally from Arabia, having been pushed out by the earty Muslims and made to flee into exile.

Whatever their origins, the Kodavas have managed to retain a distinct identity apart from the freed plantation slaves. Moplah Muslim traders and other immi¬grants who have settled here. More akin to Tamil than Kannada. their language is Dravidian. yet their religious practices, based on ancestor veneration and wor¬ship of nature spirits, differ markedly from those of mainstream Hinduism. Land tenure in Kodagu is also quite distinctive, with taxation based on type of land and. unlike in some other traditional societies, women have a right to inheritance and ownership; they are also allowed to remarry. Kodava martial traditions are grounded in the family where, according to custom, one son was raised to work the land while another joined the army. Even today, they are allowed to carry weapons without licence.

Spiritual and social life for traditional Kodavas revolves around the Ain Mane, or ancestral homestead. Built on raised platforms to overlook the family land, these large, detached houses, with their beautiful carved wood doors and beaten-earth floors, generally have four wings and courtyards to accommodate vanous branches of the extended family, as well as shrine rooms, or Karona Kalas, dedicated to the clan's most important forebears. Key religious rituals and rites of passage are always conducted in the Ain Mane, rather than the local temple. However, you could easily travel through Kodagu without ever seeing one, as they are invariably away from roads, shrouded in thick forest.

You're more likely to come across traditional Kodava costume, which is donned for all auspicious occasions, such as mamages. funerals, harvest celebrations and clan get-togethers. The men wear dapper knee-length coats called kupyas. bound at the waist with a scarlet and gold cummerbund, and daggers (peechekathis) with ivory handles. Most distinctive of all. though, is the unique flat-bottomed turban; sadly, the art of tying these is dying, and most men wear ready-made versions (which you can buy in Madiker bazaar). Kodava women's garb of long, richly coloured silk sahs, pleated at the back and with a pallav draped over their shoulders, is even more stunning, enlivened by heaps of heavy gold and silver jewellery, and precious stones. Women also wear headscarves. In the fields as well as for Important events, tying the corners behind the head. Kashmiri style.

The Kodava diet is heavily carnivorous, their favourite meat being pork: an impor¬tant dish at festive occasions where it is often served as a dryish dish known as pandi curry. but sometimes substituted by nooputtakoli curry made with chicken, and usually accompanied with a nee preparation, tumbuttu pandi. Their traditional breakfast, consisting of a type of chapati known as aki rotti served with honey and a chutney, is far lighter.

Like all traditional Indian cultures, this one is on the decline, not least because young Kodavas. predominantly from well-off land-owning families, tend to be highly educated and move away from home to find work, weakening the kinship ties that have for centunes played such a central role in the life of the region. However, in recent years there has been a rekindling of Kodava pride with calls for a state separate from Karnataka.