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Kodavas of Kodagu – 5

The Kaveri Purana is a part of Skanda Purana, one of the last Puranas written.  Some researchers see Kaveri Purana as a way of trying to integrate Kodavas to Hindu society by explaining that they are the progeny of Kshatriya kings and Sudra women.  Kodava culture did not recognize the Aryan varnashrama and hence did not have caste systems.  This helped to diffuse any friction between Kodavas who were radically different than their Hindu neighbors. 

The following poem gives us a sense of devotion of Kodavas to Mother Kaveri:

Kodava Anthem

Sri Mula kanniye,
(O primeval sacred maiden)
O Mother Kaveri,
Wear pommale* Kodagu as a garland, O Mother!

Why do you need a jommale**?
Why do you need a garland of flowers?
Wear the golden land of Kodagu as a garland, O Mother!

O sacred form of Parvati
O Lopamudra,
You descended to earth as a Brahmin’s daughter,
And to cleanse the sins
Of all the sinners
You flowed from the kundike*** to the Eastern sea.

To all the proud ones
You are merely flowing water.
But to the suffering, you are sorrow-relieving holy water.
Those without children
Those without family
And those weary with suffering, bless and care for them, O Mother!

– Nadikerianda Chinnappa

Kodava Society:

The family unit of the Kodavas is called the okka.  It is a joint patrilineal clan with males of common ancestry.  The male members of an okka share an okka name.  Currently there are about 1000 okka names and families in Kodagu.  Traditionally all the members of an okka lived in a large ancestral home called ain-mane (ayyangada mane – House of the Elders).  Usually the ain- mane has a courtyard in the front surrounded by thick mud walls and bamboo thatched roof.  Out houses for additional living space were also common.  Ain-mane is surrounded by large property (jamma) and by huts of laborers attached to the okka, who provide necessary services.  This cluster of homes and property form the nucleus of a village called ur.  A group of ur or villages is called the nad. A number of nads make a sime. Traditionally there were eight simes in Kodagu.  The land belonging to the okka is cultivated jointly by the family members and cannot be partitioned or sold.

The oldest member of the family is the head of the okka and is called pattedara or koravukara.  It is a hierarchy that is passed on to the eldest member of the clan by right.  Similarly each ur(or ooru), nad and sime has a headman called as takka.  The takkas settled disputes and imparted justice after consultation with other elders.

Girls and boys from one okka cannot marry within the same okka.  However, cousin marriage between children of brother and sister is accepted (but not between children of two brothers or two sisters).  Once married, a girl assumes the okka name of her husband.  Mother is held in high esteem in Kodava society.  Mother is the first one to bless a young married couple or a journeyman.  Unlike Hindu society, a widow is still allowed to participate in happy occasions like marriages of her children.  She is the principal figure to conduct the marriage ceremony that traditionally is conducted without a Brahmin priest.  A widow is allowed to remarry and this is a common practice as it is fully accepted.

– Continued

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