Pan-India actress and ‘National Crush of India’ Rashmika Mandanna is ‘Coorg Person of the Year-2022.’
Rashmika, hailing from Virajpet in Kodagu (Coorg) district, was selected ‘Coorg Person of the Year’ in a poll conducted by www.coorgtourisminfo.com, Kodagu’s first news portal promoted by journalist and author P.T. Bopanna.
Rashmika Mandanna, who achieved phenomenal success in the pan-India movie ‘Pushpa-The Rise,’ has brought focus on the tiny hill district of Coorg, a popular tourist destination inhabited by the Kodavas, who have a unique culture.
Rashmika, who has become a household name through her acting and dancing skills, has emerged as an unofficial ‘brand ambassador’ for Kodagu culture. She has thrown the spotlight on the Kodava (Coorg) saree which involves tucking the pleats at the back of the waist, instead of the front. She has also popularised Coorg cuisine through her media interactions.
On the professional front, she is the reigning queen in the Telugu film industry and made her debut in Bollywood through ‘Goodbye’ starring Amitabh Bachchan. Rashmika-starrer ‘Mission Majnu’ is set for a January 20 release on Netflix.
Rashmika, who made her acting debut in the Kannada film ‘Kirik Party’ in 2016, has been associated with commercially successful films that include ‘Anjani Putra’ (2017), ‘Geetha Govindam’ (2018), ‘Yajamana’ (2019), ‘Sarileru Neekevvaru’ (2020), ‘Pogaru’ (2021) and ‘Sita Ramam’ (2022). Rashmika made her Tamil entry with ‘Sulthan’ opposite Karthi.
Born on April 5, 1996, she is the daughter of Mundachadira Madan Mandanna and Suman.
She did her schooling at the Coorg Public School (COPS), Gonikoppal, Kodagu. She studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Journalism and English Literature at the M.S. Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Bengaluru.
Along with her studies, she took up modelling. Rashmika got a break after she won the ‘Times Fresh Face’ title in 2014. There has been no looking back ever since.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / January 03rd, 2023
The passions that have been running high over the Cauvery have eclipsed that the river’s birthplace is in Kodagu district, where it is an integral part of the lives of the Kodavas, but not in terms of drinking water.
Journalist and author PT Bopanna has eloquently spoken about what the Cauvery means to the Kodavas, one of the communities of people who live within Kodagu district. The identity of the Kodavas is deeply linked with the river, which rises in Talacauvery. Ironically, Madikeri city, the district headquarters, frequently faces a drinking water problem.
“The Rs 230-crore Harangi project has been conceived for the benefit of politically powerful Mysore and Hassan districts. Though the Harangi Dam (in picture) is in Kodagu and the major catchment area of the Cauvery is also in Kodagu, the irrigation potential from the project for Kodagu is a measly 607 hectares, out of the 54,591 hectares of total irrigation potential,” Bopanna says on his website Coorgnews.in.
He pointed out that 1,909 acres of land in 13 villages had been submerged by the construction of the Harangi dam in Somwarpet taluk.
“See, we don’t benefit from the Cauvery at all. Every year the river floods and the roads get blocked. We are always inconvenienced by the Cauvery. We just want our basic water needs met, and it’s a small place,” Bopanna says.
Although people are worried about drinking water supply from the Cauvery, Bopanna says that in Kodagu, people are worried more about a larger problem.
“I’m worried about deforestation,” Bopanna says. Falling in the Malenadu region, Kodagu district houses 4,102 sq km of the Western Ghats, making it look as if a green carpet is spread across the land. It is one of the least populated districts in the state.
Referring to the 400kv power line from Yelwal in Mysuru to Kozhikode in Kerala, a distance of 55m, Bopanna said: “This government-sponsored deforestation needs to stop.”
According to some estimates, 55,000 trees will be cut in thick forest areas to set up the line. Activists have alleged that a few thousand trees have been cut in violation of the law.
“When trees were being cut for that power line, not a single politician made any noise. They weren’t bothered. This clearly reveals their short-sightedness and their lack of understanding about the effects of deforestation. Rainfall has become erratic in the region,” Bopanna says.
He advocates a complete ban on tree felling and the conversion of agricultural land for commercial purposes. “But Kogadu’s politicians depend on the timber lobby and sand mining. They have not allowed a discussion on the Kasturirangan report.”
Now he’s worried. Drought-like conditions that occurred only once in five years in the past, are now almost an annual feature. “We need to save the Western Ghats to save the Cauvery (for all of us). That’s the core issue.”
source: http://www.thenewsminute.com / The News Minute / Home> News> Cauvery Dispute / by Aneesha Sheth / September 22nd, 2016
The Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Committee, Kodagu, will hold ‘Run for Vote’ for the people of Kodagu in Murnadu village of Madikeri taluk at 8 a.m. on May 6.
A statement said the main objective of the run, which will be held from HP Petrol Bunk to Bachetira Lalu Muddaiah Sports Grounds in Murnadu village, is to create awareness about voting and its importance in democracy.
Those interested can reach the starting point by 7.30 a.m. For registration, call 98440-60174 or 99451-23921.
Air show
Meanwhile, the SVEEP Committee is also organising an air show of mini aeroplanes at Karmadu village near Balale in Ponnampet taluk at 10 a.m. on May 6.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India > Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / May 06th, 2023
Lt. Col. M.A. Smitha of Mysuru has become the first Kodavathi Woman Army Officer to be selected for promotion to the rank of Colonel.
Commissioned to Army Service Corps (ASC) in 2005 from Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, she has had a illustrious career of 18 years in the Army service in challenging appointments and locations across the country.
A few major achievements include a tenure in UN Peace Keeping Mission in Israel and Syria (UNDOF) where she was awarded a Force Commander’s Commendation Card for displaying exemplary courage under challenging situations.
She displayed her multi-talented skills in 2013 by winning the Raid Himalayan Car Rally along with her Army Team in a Gypsy in women’s category. She also summited Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in 2014.
A native of V. Nalkeri in Kakotuparambu, Virajpet taluk, Smitha is the daughter of ESM HSM, Mevada S. Appanna [37 (Coorg) Medium Regiment and 35 Medium Regiment] and Radha, who are presently residing at Vijayanagar 3rd Stage, Mysuru. She is married to Col. Mandepanda Aiyappa (Maratha Light Infantry) and they are blessed with two daughters.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / April 14th, 2023
Footloose in Kodagu, where the mercury still hovers around 20° Celsius.
Coffee is one of the mainstays of the local economy. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStock
While temperatures go up in the rest of south India with the advent of summer, in Karnataka’s Kodagu district the mercury still hovers around 20 degree Celsius. I sip my delicious freshly brewed, locally grown coffee. Coffee is one of the mainstays of the local economy: the rolling plantations stretch over a quarter of the district, not only up and down the hillsides of the Western Ghats, but also in tiny coffee gardens or even as the isolated backyard shrub.
Over 40,000 coffee growers in Kodagu have holdings below 10 hectares. A major portion of the coffee produced in India, both Robusta and Arabica, is grown in Kodagu. With its pretty white flowers and cherry-red berries, the coffee plant has brought prosperity to the district.
Flowers of Arabica in a Kodagu plantation. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStock
Sitting in the garden, I try not to be distracted by the anthuriums, peace lilies, Malabar rhododendron, and splendid roses that grow so well in this emerald-green landscape. I am reading a new translation of the short stories of the feminist writer Kodagina Gowramma by Deepa Bhasthi. Gowramma wrote in the early 20th century and her collection was published posthumously. Bhasthi’s translation has been published by the independent Indian publisher Yoda Press.
Kodagu’s Gowramma
In one of the short stories, a young man dreams about going to England to study further. “When I was a little boy, my neighbour’s son went to England to sit for some exam and came back after touring Europe. Then, the respect the villagers gave him, his car, his new fashionable clothes, the way he walked, the way he spoke, all this made me long to go to England and come back like him…. It was because of this fierce longing to go to England that I did not fail even one year in school. I was the class topper; I was a model student in school.”
Bhasthi, who is from Gowramma’s hometown in Kodagu, has written about her unusual life. On a trip to Kashi as a child, Gowramma had the traumatic experience of getting lost in the city before she was reunited with her family at the police station. As a young woman, Gowramma played tennis, loved swimming, and had independent views. As news of the freedom movement spread, she became deeply influenced by the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and began wearing khadi. Bhasthi describes how, during Gandhi’s visit to Kodagu in 1934, Gowramma reportedly went on a fast and insisted Gandhi should come to her house. She then gifted all her jewellery to the cause.
Gowramma died tragically young, at 27, in a swimming accident. A photograph of the young writer hangs on the wall of the rural library in Ponnampet, located close to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi that marks his visit to the town.
Kodagu’s libraries
Kodagu’s rural libraries are attractive and child-friendly spaces. Library walls often commemorate Kodagu heroes, such as Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, India’s first Army Chief after Independence, and another legend, General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya. The library walls also have pictures of Karnataka’s distinguished Jnanpith Award-winning writers. And in Hoddur village, a tiny rural community located some distance away from the panchayat headquarters has set up a library of its own in an old anganwadi building. It is called the Savitri Bai Phule Community Library.
A monk in a Bylakuppe monastery | Photo Credit: Ramesh Meda/ Flickr
In Thithimathi, a tiny village on the outskirts of the Nagarhole forest, the rural library has bright blue benches in its yard. Two schoolboys play chess in a corner. I learn that one of them attends a private school; the other boy is from a tribal community and attends a government school. Here in the village library, it is a small moment of great happiness to see them playing chess together.
No weekend in Kodagu is complete without a few moments of calm in the nearby town of Bylakuppe, which is home to two Tibetan settlements dating back to the 1960s, Lugsung Samdupling and Dickyi Larsoe. The beautiful Namdroling Monastery is also located here. It is lined with prayer wheels and intricate, colourful murals that contrast with the deep red robes of the monks. The monastery reverberates with deep musical chanting, transporting visitors to places not dreamt of in philosophies.
Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta is in the IAS.
source: http://www.frontline.thehindu.in / Frontline / Home> Others> Travel – Diary / by Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta / May 04th, 2023
Maj. (Retd.) Chillavanda Rani (Balladichanda), retired Military Nursing Service (MNS) Officer, wife of Somaiah (Chomuni) and a resident of No. 750, Vijayanagar 3rd Phase, 4th Stage, passed away yesterday night in city. She was 69.
A native of Kandangala in Virajpet taluk, Kodagu, she leaves behind her husband, one son and a host of relatives and friends.
Last rites were held at Mukthidhama in Vijayanagar 4th Stage this afternoon.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Obituary / Mary 02nd, 2023
KARNATAKA MYSURU 01/05/2023: I Vote was created using mobile flashlights at General Thimmaiah Stadium in Madikeri on Sunday to create voter awareness by the SVEEP committee. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
With only a few days left for the elections, novel campaigns are being launched to make an impact on the voters to turn up to the polling booths and cast their votes on May 10.
One such campaign was held in Madikeri by the Kodagu SVEEP Committee where hundreds of people, using mobile phone flashlights, created words ‘I Vote’, on Sunday evening at General Thimmaiah Stadium.
Despite the threat of rain, people gathered at the stadium to spread the message the importance of voting using their mobile phones. Switching on their mobile flashlights, they created ‘I Vote’ words and later waved the phones with the flashlights on with a pledge to ensure they vote and others also vote in the coming elections.
This is a joint initiative of Kodagu SVEEP Committee, Madikeri Rotary Club, Rotary Misty Hills, and Rotary Woods, along with other organisations.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer B.C. Satish gave a call for voting without fail on May 10. “Everyone must vote,” he said.
The district administration has identified polling booths that reported low voter turnout on Kodagu and those booths were getting the focus with drives being carried out for increasing voting percentage.
Kodagu SVEEP Icon Basavaraj Badiger and team presented a musical programme where his daughters, including the winner of a music reality show, Pragathi Badiger, and her sisters Pratiksha Badiger and Triveni Badiger presented a programme. Songs by the members of Madikeri taluk Janapada Parishat also drew the attention of the participants.
SVEEP Icons K. Ravi Muthappa and S.K. Eshwari also spoke on the importance of voting. On behalf of Rotary Club, Anil H.T. and Madikeri Chamber of Commerce and Industry M. Dhananjay oversaw the drive.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Elections / by The Hindu Bureau / May 01st, 2023
The renowned Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa College in Madikeri has been upgraded to a regional centre of the newly formed Kodagu University, according to the University’s Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ashok Sangappa Alur.
Speaking at a programme in the college premises on Friday, Dr. Ashok Sangappa stated that the college would be celebrating its Platinum Jubilee next year, and there are plans to construct new academic blocks and develop the existing ones. He emphasised that all necessary measures would be taken to advance Kodagu University to higher levels and sought the co-operation of all teaching and non-teaching faculty to achieve this goal.
Earlier, he toured the college campus and gathered information on the college’s student population and available facilities. He also met with class representatives, NCC, NSS and other student groups of the college and held discussions with the teaching and non-teaching staff.
College Principal Major Dr. B. Raghava briefed the Vice-Chancellor on the college’s history, problems and concerns.
Dr. Ashok Sangappa was felicitated on the occasion. Later, the Vice-Chancellor, along with the College Principal, University Registrar (Evaluation) Dr. Seenappa and Post-Graduate Studies Centre Director Dr. K.K. Dharmappa paid a courtesy visit to the residence of Air Vice-Marshal (Retd.) K. C. Nanda Cariappa and felicitated him.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / April 30th, 2023
WELCOME. If you like what you see "SUBSCRIBE via EMAIL" to receive FREE regular UPDATES.
Read More »
