Author P T Bopanna has launched his new website www.kodavas.in featuring the unique culture of the Kodavas.
Bopanna, who had come up with his first website www.coorgtourism.com in 2005, and is currently the owner of five more websites, said, “My main intention of launching this new 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.”
To ensure that the content in the website is authentic, Bopanna took the help of Boverianda Chinnappa and Nanjamma Chinnappa who have researched and written about the Kodava culture.
Most of the content in the website has been taken from the book Pattole Palame, compiled in 1924, by Nadikerianda Chinnappa, in which the Kodava folk songs, proverbs and riddles are transcribed in 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 some content from their book ‘Ainmanes of Kodagu’, said Bopanna.
Topics covered in the website include the origin of the Kodavas; their customs related to birth, wedding, death and festivals; the religion of the Kodavas; the Kodava language; Jamma land tenure; their passion for the game of hockey; guns in Kodava culture; their Ainmanes, etc.
There are also videos related to some of the topics in Kodava culture.
The website has been designed by Bhakti Saraswat-Devaiah.