Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa releases the handbill on ‘Cauvery Koogu’ campaign.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had a discussion with Isha Foundation’s Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on ‘Cauvery Calling’ campaign which will commence on September 3 from Talacauvery in Kodagu district.
The latter met the chief minister in Bengaluru on Thursday, in connection with the campaign, and sought coordination from the state government.
Responding positively to the request made by Sadhguru, the chief minister said that the state government will extend necessary cooperation.
Speaking on the occasion, Udupi-Chikmagalur M P Shobha Karandlaje lauded the ‘Cauvery Calling’ campaign led by Isha Foundation under the guidance of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and called upon the people to join hands with the movement for a better tomorrow.
The ‘Cauvery Calling’ drive will be flagged off from Talacauvery, the birthplace of River Cauvery, on September 3, proceed through Thiruvaroor and will culminate in Chennai.
‘Cauvery Calling’ is a part of ‘Rally for Rivers’ campaign conceptualised and implemented by Isha Foundation.
The journey covers a distance of 1,500 km. Public awareness programmes will be held along the course of the campaign, stressing on the need to undertake steps to conserve River Cauvery.
Many celebrities, sportspersons, political figures and entrepreneurs have already associated themselves with the campaign, which has gathered an immense response from the general public, especially from the farmers.
The drive also focuses on planting saplings along river banks and improving the economy of farmers. ‘Cauvery Calling’ campaign will support farmers to plant 242 crore trees to rejuvenate River Cauvery.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / August 29th, 2019
Unexpected wonders abound when immersed in the Coorg culture of southern India.
A thunderclap heralds the first, early rains of the monsoon season minutes after my arrival in the misty highlands of Coorg in southern India. From the deck of the Taj Madikeri Resort and Spa, cantilevered over a seemingly infinite valley, I have a dress-circle view of the approaching stormfront and rolling peaks silhouetted to the horizon. Swallows pirouette as front office manager Anant Marwah describes the coming wet season, when clouds billow into the open foyer and pass through the body like shivers. “You should see the monsoon — it’s amazing,” he says. “Mother Nature does most of the work here.”
Despite its name the resort is not, in fact, in Madikeri, the hill-station capital of Coorg district in Karnataka state. This is frustrating because I’d hoped to be staying in the heart of the land eulogised by Irish writer Dervla Murphy for its sacred forests and coffee-scented hills. But my disappointment is short-lived. The property, 1200m above sea level and 9km from Madikeri down a broken road flanked by rice paddies and the odd azure kingfisher, turns out to be a microcosm of Coorg culture.
A guestroom at the Taj Madikeri
Its 63 cottages and villas, carefully built over seven years to minimise disruption to the landscape, sit cloistered in 12ha of rainforest and coffee plantations. Constructed from recycled timbers and bricks made on-site from marsh soils (the quarry is now a pretty lake between the herb garden and main pool), the cottages’ external walls are coated in natural mud paint so as not to disturb wildlife. Pitched-roof interiors feature vast, screened windows over the semi-wilderness, fireplace snugs and fish-trap decorations woven by local tribal people. Barking deer stalk the grounds at night.
But it is the indigenous Kodava staff who give the hotel its strongest character and meaning. Colonel Pattamada Muthana, retired, commutes daily from Madikeri to the hotel’s onsite “conservatory”, a compact museum where he shares his people’s story with guests. Displays depict Coorgi dress, marriage rituals, faith and other traditions.
Dressed in camel corduroys, braces and impeccably polished boots, his kind face framed by specs and a faintly regimental moustache, Colonel Muthana explains how the Kodava view themselves as a distinct tribe, despite not being recognised as such by the Indian government.
“For some reason we were not scheduled, maybe because nobody knows our origin,” he suggests. But many Kodava suspect their ancestors were followers of Alexander the Great, who fled here after the Macedonian king’s failed bid to conquer India.
Guide Amaanda Pradhan Poovanna, known as Pradhan, picks up the Kodava creation story during a dawn hike to the top of Nishani Peak.
“It’s still believed we don’t belong to India, that we are descendants of Persians,” he explains as we pass by tiger pug marks, perhaps a week old, on the track.
The Kodava language, a hybrid of southern tongues and about 200 Persian words, and their distinctive features set them apart from other Indian peoples. “The ladies are fairer and they have blue eyes. The men have broader noses and curly hair, and most of them are from the warrior race.”
Coconut refreshment station at the end of a nature walk.
Kodava men often seek army careers. “If there are two sons, one will definitely be in the army,” Pradhan explains. “The other will be in sports. I am the only son, so my parents didn’t let me join the army. But I play hockey, for 15 years now.”
The cries of jungle fowl and yellow-throated bulbuls greet us as we emerge from a shola grove on to a grassy summit with a mesmerising sweep of highland scenery.
“What you are breathing is the purest oxygen, totally unpolluted,” he grins. I learn so much from Pradhan about life in Coorg (also known as Kodagu in post-colonial India), from the timing of the harvest calendar — cardamom in October, arabica coffee berries and rice in November-December, robusta berries in January, pepper in March — to the local diet of smoked boar meat and booze.
The Kodava are keen and resourceful drinkers, making wine out of everything from coffee to bird’s-eye chillies. “Without liquor and meat nothing happens in Coorg,” Pradhan assures me.
Privileged access and insights into local traditions are hallmarks of my 10-day, tailor-made swing through South India with Adventure World Travel. Even if I had been staying in the heart of Madikeri, I can’t imagine understanding the region as well as I do within the confines of the Taj resort.
Every aspect of the hotel is steeped in Coorgi culture, from ritual gudda baths of wood-heated local water rich in minerals and fragrant with lime leaves, to the seasonal and regional menus of executive chef Jose Thachil. Hel hails from neighbouring Kerala so is well versed in South India’s spice bounty of pepper, cloves, cardamom and kokum that has lured Roman, Greek and Arab traders to the Malabar Coast since ancient times. He prepares fish steamed in cardamom leaves and pork slow-braised in a cocktail of spices and laced with syrupy black kokum vinegar, a staple Kodava condiment so tart it makes the cheeks flinch.
On a nature walk through some of the resort’s 70ha green belt, Pradhan shares his ancestral knowledge of forest medicines.
Wild tobacco is used on the skin as a leech repellent during the monsoon. Peppercorns and basil are blended into a paste to “keep the throat clear”; Brahmi leaves are considered very good for children’s hair and memory. “If you eat one Brahmi leaf, one basil leaf and one neem leaf every morning, you will stay away from all the diseases,” he says.
There are thousands of wild elephants in these hills, though we see none. Leopards also prowl the highlands, and king cobras, the world’s largest venomous snake, come in XL sizes here. The biggest one discovered to date was 8m long.
A Malabar flying frog. Picture: Alamy
Above us, flying lizards, frogs and squirrels have adapted to life in the treetops. Frogs thrive in the annual six-month monsoon, from May to October. The Malabar gliding frog is just one of more than 40 species, which include dancing frogs and purple frogs. Mushrooms are abundant too, including a fluorescent green fungus that switches on and off like a light. Only four of the 400 types are edible and Kodava children are taught to tell them apart from an early age.
We trace the boundary of a sacred grove where a temple dedicated to the fearsome Kali, goddess of destruction, protects the wilderness from trespassers.
These devara kadu, or “forests of the gods”, were once common across India but succumbed gradually to agriculture and development. They persist in the south, particularly in Kerala and Coorg, where, says Pradhan, “we value the importance of the wildlife and forests because they give us food, oxygen and rainfall”. He opens my eyes to Coorg’s charmed surroundings. After dinners I sit outside my jungle house in the blackness as fireflies blink brightly all around me.
Insect orchestras with frog percussion sections serenade me to sleep each night. The sweet song of the Nilgiri coucal and the dirge of the tone-deaf Malabar whistling thrush wake me at sunrise.
On the last morning, bags packed and waiting for a jeep to collect me, I’m taking one last, deep draught of my surroundings when something crashes into the tangle of branches outside my windows. I step closer to see what it is and stand eye-to-eye with a Malabar pied hornbill. It looks as shocked as I do to find itself so close to such an exotic creature, and stays frozen in a bid to blend into its surroundings. This is not easy when you are a large black bird with an enormous yellow bill and casque, so we just stand there, staring at each other, in a fitting farewell to an adventure defined by unexpected wonders.
Kendall Hill was a guest of Adventure World Travel and Taj Madikeri Resort & Spa.
In the Know
Adventure World Travel tailors holidays, from flights to accommodation and experiences. Its 11-night South India itinerary from Chennai to Bangalore via Tanjore, Hyderabad, Bekal and Coorg includes stays at members of the luxury Taj Hotels group, breakfasts, internal flights, tours and activities, all transfers and sightseeing by minibus. From $7295 a person twin-share.
Singapore Airlines has excellent connections between eight Australian cities and South India, flying to Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi via Singapore.
The 18th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of Sri Kavery Kodava Association – Mysore East, will be held at its premises in Vidyashankar Layout in city on Sept. 14 at 10 am.
Association President B.M. Devaiah will preside.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Briefs / August 27th, 2019
The Annual General body Meeting (AGM) of Kodagu Sahakara Sangha Ltd., Mysuru, will be held at the Sangha premises in Jayalakshmipuram on Sept. 22 at 10.30 am.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Briefs / August 25th, 2019
Biddanda K. Subbaiah, fondly called as Jack Subbaiah, who was revered as a Guru by thousands of people in Kodagu and outside, passed away in Bengaluru last evening. He was 84. Subbaiah founded Soham Dhyana Yoga and owned Modur Estate near Madikeri. He was also the President of Kodagu Vidyalaya.
He propagated Advaitha philosophy and had many followers even in foreign countries and he used to stress on Dhyana Yoga. Oneness and unity with God was among his preaching and he criticised the common habit of praying for divine intervention for problems faced by human beings. Whenever problems bother a person, Jack used to say, “Time to Pass”. He used to advise people that like passing clouds, problems too will pass.
A distinct quality of Jack Subbaiah was that during Satsanga, he used to preach Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Sufi philosophy Zen Buddhism, Kabala and Shaivism. He used to preach in a language that is understood by common man.
Apart from being a Guru, Jack was a good photographer, avid agriculturalist and had a deep interest in sports. Despite being a Guru, he lived the life of a common man and this character made him connect with the masses. He was way apart from other spiritual leaders who with a little spiritual knowledge lead a lavish life. Subbaiah leaves behind his wife, a son and two daughters. The mortal remains will be cremated on Aug. 27 in Bengaluru, said family sources.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / August 27th, 2019
Members of Dasara Dashamantapa Samithi plant banni saplings near Banni Mantapa in Madikeri on Saturday.
The office-bearers of the Dasara Dashamantapa Committee in Madikeri have begun preparations for Dasara celebrations by planting a ‘Banni’ sapling near Banni Mantapa on Saturday.
As Dasara is fast approaching, members of Dashamantapa Samithi and Temple committee are engaging themselves in various activities. The members participated in various puja rituals after planting banni saplings.
On the day of Mahanavami, it is a tradition to offer puja to Banni tree. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain, Banni tree was uprooted. Accordingly, Banni sapling was planted under the leadership of Mantapa Samithi President C S Ranjith Kumar.
Ranjith Kumar said, “Dasara is observed traditionally in Madikeri. All preparations are being made for the Shobhayatre of Dashamantapa.”
He said necessary arrangements need to be made for the Dasara festival.
The deputy commissioner who is also the chairperson of the Dasara Utsava Committee should convene a meeting to make preparations for the festival.
The second meeting of Dashamantapa Samithi will be held at Kaveri Kalakshetra in Madikeri at 3.30 pm on August 27. The process to select working president, Dasara Utsav vice president and joint secretary of the committee for 2019-20 will be held.
Samithi office-bearers expressed displeasure at the failure of the state government to release Rs 50 lakh as promised last year for the Dasara Utsav. Owing to flood and natural calamity, Dasara was celebrated in a simple manner last year.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service / August 24th, 2019
Codava National Council (CNC) will organise the 25th annual ‘Kail Muhurtha’ at the Mand at Junior College Ground in Madikeri at 10.30 am on September 1.
CNC President N U Nachappa said that a puja will be offered to ‘Thok’ (gun), ‘Odi Katti’, ‘Peeche Katti’ and agricultural equipment on the occasion.
A procession will be taken out from Junior College Road to Capital Village, via Chowki – College road – SBI – Kohinoor Road – bus stand – GPO – Kodava Samaja – JT Circle route.
CNC members Kaliyanda Prakash, Katumaniyanda Umesh and Areyada Girish were present in the press meet.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / August 27th, 2019
Yoga teacher Sangeetha Jairam rides off into the yonder in her spare time
“I’m no biker chick,” Sangeetha Jairam says firmly. “I am more of an adventure-traveller; my motorcycle is something of a companion-teacher, who has taught, and continues to teach me, a lot about life.”
Biker chick or no, Jairam, who is within eye-balling distance of 50 but doesn’t look it, is definitely one more name added to the growing number of women who make long-distance rides on their motorcycles. Her most recent ride was from Finland to Norway in June 2019. She was part of a group of eight motorcyclists, all riding Japanese bikes, who rode from Helsinki to Nordkapp and back, covering a distance of around 3,600 kilometres in 12 riding days.
Jairam rode a Kawasaki ER6n, a 600cc motorcycle. The itinerary was Helsinki-Kuopio-Kuusamo-Ivalo-Skarsvag-Rovaniemi-Vaasa, and back to Helsinki.
“That was indeed one great experience,” she says, enthusiastically. “Our daily distance bar was set at 500-plus kilometres, and since it was summer in Finland, the sun shone all day and all night, and we couldn’t tell the difference!”
Everything pointed North on that trip. The European Highway E69, has its northern terminus at the North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe accessible by road. The Cape has a 307-metre-high-cliff with a large plateau on top, where visitors, weather permitting, can watch the midnight sun and view the Barents Sea to the North.
“The best part of the ride was reaching Nordkapp, Land’s End of the European continent, 2,093 kilometres from the North Pole,” says Jairam. “To get there, we had to ride around the Arctic Sea, which was a stunningly scenic road. I had my first-ever experience of the Arctic gale there. At times, it took real effort to keep the motorcycle from rising up in the air! Since it’s the Arctic region, there was hardly any vegetation except rolling grasslands and lots of reindeer skipping across the road. It was truly an amazing ride.”
Jairam inherited a passion for bikes from her father. “After he graduated, my father returned to India from Germany in 1964 on a motorcycle! All my childhood, I saw him on a motorcycle, so it was only normal for me to ride one.”
Currently, she alternates between riding a Royal Enfield Himalayan and a Hero MotoCorp Impulse, but her all-time favourites continue to be the BMW, Triumph and Honda motorcycles.
It’s not all been smooth riding, of course. While riding in Bhutan, some years ago, she got over the Pele La pass and the bike had a flat tyre. “It was 4pm, not a good time to be stuck in the mountains,” she recalls. “It was late, the light was fading and the skies opened up! Then, a lone vehicle came over the pass, a pick-up truck, onto which my bike was loaded; the next repair shop was 70 kilometres ahead, and on that track, it meant a travel time of four hours. But this experience taught me that bikers are blessed; my initial dismay turned to pure exhilaration!”
Discussing her enthusiasm for riding bikes, Jairam, who often takes solo trips, says riding motorcycles is a hobby and travelling to experience new places and people is a passion. “I would not call it an expensive hobby because this is what I love doing most. There is little else I spend on, I save to moto-travel.”
Jairam grew up in Coorg and did her schooling at The Lawrence School, Lovedale in the Nilgiris, where she says she had the best time of her life. “I always wanted to ‘give back’ to the school, and three years ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to introduce yoga into the school curriculum.”
Interacting with children has to be the best job on earth, she avers. “Children are awesome, they keep me fully engaged. Just like riding motorcycles, my day job, too, has taught me so much and given me immeasurable happiness.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Motoring / by Sheila Kumar / August 21st, 2019
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy receives a guard of honour at the Independence Day programme at Old Fort premises in Madikeri on Thursday.
The district administration organised the 73rd Independence Day programme on the Old Fort premises, amid rain and misty weather on Thursday.
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy, after hoisting the national flag, said, “Eight people have lost their lives in the district due to flood. Many people also have lost their homes.”
Assuring the gathering that the government and the district administration will take up the rehabilitation of flood victims, she praised the works of rescue teams in managing the calamity. “Let us pledge to rebuild the lives of those affected by the floods,” she said.
In her Independence Day message, Annies Kanmani Joy said that the martyrs, who laid down their lives for India’s freedom, should be remembered.
“We should protect the integrity, sovereignty and peace of our country and that will be the real homage paid to these martyrs,” she said.
She placed on record the contributions of Guddemane Appaiah Gowda, Pandyanda Bellyappa, C M Poonaccha, Kodandera Poovaiah, Kodanda Appaiah, C M Venkappaiah, Gundukutti Manjunathaiah, M M Siddik, H R Krishnaiah, Kollimada Karumbaiah, Mandepanda Cariappa, Mukkatira Bhojappa, Mallangada Changappa and Maraiah of Kodagu.
“Kodagu has played a vital role in the Indian freedom struggle. Field Marshal K M Cariappa and General Thimmayya, who were born in Kodagu, served their motherland and they are the crest jewels of the Nation,” she said.
The DC later told mediapersons that the district has incurred a loss of Rs 700 crore due to heavy rain. Around 4,000 people have been rescued by the teams, she added.
The students of government schools, who topped the SSLC examinations, were felicitated with laptops.
MLC Sunil Subramani, MLC Veena Acchaiah, Kodagu District Superintendent of Police (SP) Dr Suman D Pennekar, Kodagu Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) K Lakshmipriya, Additional Deputy Commissioner Dr Sneha and Assistant Commissioner T Javaregowda were present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States> Mangaluru / by DH News Service, Madikeri / August 16th, 2019
