An ainmane is the ancestral house of a clan with roots in Kodagu.
An ainmane is the ancestral house of a clan with roots in Kodagu.
The word ainmane comes from the term ayyangada mane - house of the elders. [1] [2]
The people of Coorg settled in family groups called okka. It is a joint patrilineal clan with males of common ancestry who share an okka name. Presently there are more than 1000 okka names and families in Kodagu. Traditionally all the members of an okka lived in a large ancestral ainmane house. In the past, ainemane houses formed the focal meeting points in the rural landscape. This cluster of homes and property form the nucleus of village called Uur. The emergence of townships, as such, has been a relatively recent phenomenon. [3] [4] [5]
The founder of each clan (Okka), the Guru Karana, is worshipped by the members of that particular clan. On their ancestral clan lands they have holy shrine (Kaimada), which is the shrine of the clan's first ancestor (Guru Karana), where they offer prayers and obeisance. A number of weapons, made of wood or metal, are kept in the Kaimadas. The shrine is usually made of clay or wood or covered with sheet metal, and housed within a roofed structure built near the entrance to the ainmane. Sometimes it is simply located on a platform under a sap-exuding tree near the entrance of ainemane. [6]
Some clans conduct a karana kola, a dance of the ancestral spirit during which a Malayalee migrant dresses in elaborate colourful clothing and dances in a trance and acts as an oracle. During this ceremony he is symbolically possessed by the karana, the original founder of the particular clan. [7] In every home a lamp called Nellakki Deepa is lit in honour of the Guru Karana. The lamp in the central hall is lit by the embers of the kitchen hearth every day. Fire of the kitchen hearth is especially sacred. [8] [9]
On the day of Huttari (the rice harvest festival celebrated in around November–December), the whole family assembles in their ain mane (the common family house), which is decorated with flowers and green mango and banana leaves. [10]
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Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa had undertaken a project to collect information regarding each and every Ainmane found in Kodagu, irrespective of the community or caste of the clan members residing in them. They visited many of them in the period between April 2003 and May 2008. They also collected oral legends and traditional information from the occupants of each of these functional Ainmanes. Along with this they also researched about the concerned clans from previously published written material, wherever possible. The information thus collected are now available on the Ainmanes website. They have also provided a glossary for the Kodava thakk words used in the site. [11]
In 2014, Niyogi books has published their work titled 'Ainmanes of Kodagu'. [12]
The Kodava is a Dravidian language spoken in Kodagu district (Coorg) in Southern Karnataka, India. It is an endangered The term Kodava has two related usages. Firstly, it is the name of the Kodava language and culture followed by a number of communities from Kodagu. Secondly, within the Kodava-speaking communities and region (Kodagu), it is a demonym for the dominant Kodava people. Hence, the Kodava language is not only the primary language of the Kodavas but also of many other castes and tribes in Kodagu. The language has two dialects: Mendele and Kiggat.
Kodagu district is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State.
Madikeri is city and headquarters of Kodagu district in the Karnataka state of India. It is recognised as one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity and also one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Yasmeen Lari is Pakistan's first female architect. She is best known for her involvement in the intersection of architecture and social justice. Since her official retirement from architectural practice in 2000, her UN-recognized NGO Heritage Foundation Pakistan has been taking on humanitarian relief work and historical conservation projects in rural villages all around Pakistan. She was awarded the prestigious Fukuoka Prize in 2016 and the RIBA's Royal Gold Medal in 2023.
The Kodava people or Kodavas or Codavas are an endogamous Dravidian ethno-linguistic group from the region of Kodagu in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, who natively speak the Kodava language. They are traditionally land-owning agriculturists and patrilineal, with martial customs. Kodavas worship ancestors and weapons. They used to worship swords, bows, arrows and later guns. Hence, Kodavas are the only ones in India permitted to carry firearms without a license.
The district of Kodagu in present-day Karnataka comprises the area of the former princely state of the same name.
Bhagamandala is a pilgrimage place in Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka.
Hermann Friedrich Mögling (1811–1881), also spelt Herrmann Friedrich Moegling, was a German missionary from the Basel Mission who spent most of his career in the western regions of the state of Karnataka, India. He is credited as the publisher of the first ever newspaper in the Kannada language called as Mangalooru Samachara in 1843. He was awarded a doctorate for his literary work in Kannada called as Bibliotheca Carnataca. He also translated Kannada literature into German. Mögling is acknowledged by Kannada writers and linguists as the first modern Kannada writer, as he produced nearly 36 literary works, considered to be ground-breaking and exceptional Kannada literature, in a short period of 20 years.
The clan of Kodavas in the Indian state of Karnataka have a long history of association with the game of field hockey. The district of Kodagu which is the land of the Kodavas is considered as the cradle of Indian hockey. More than 50 Kodavas have represented India in international hockey tournaments, out of which 7 have also participated in Olympics. B P Govinda, M P Ganesh, M M Somaiya, C S Poonacha are some of the prominent Kodavas who have represented India. The passion for hockey in Kodagu is so much that more than 200 families participate in an annual hockey festival. This festival is recognised as one of the largest field hockey tournaments in the world and has been referred to the Guinness Book of Records. However it has already found a mention in the Limca Book of Records, which is an Indian variant of the Guinness Book.
Nalknad Palace or Nalkunadu, called Naalnaad Aramane in the local Kodava language, is a palace located in the Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located near a village named Yavakapadi and was built between the years 1792 and 1794 AD. This palace was the last refuge of the last of the Haleri kings of Kodagu, Chikka Veerarajendra before he was deposed by the British. The Kannada film Shanti, which has only a single actor, was shot in the surroundings of the palace.
Appachcha Kavi was an Indian poet and playwright. He belonged to the Kodava community and is known as the first playwright in the Kodava language.
The captivity of Kodavas (Coorgis) at Seringapatam was the period of capture, deportation, and imprisonment of Kodava Takk speaking Coorgi Christians who rebelled against Tippu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, they (60,000-70,000) were caught during a number of attempts to suppress their rebellion in the 1780s.
Nadikerianda Chinnappa (1875–1931) was an Indian compiler, poet, translator, army man, police officer, cricket player, singer and philanthropist from Kodagu.
Appaiah Swami or Sadguru Appayya Swami was a Hindu Indian spiritual master who lived in Virajpet town, in Kodagu, Karnataka, India.
Brinda Somaya is an Indian architect and urban conservationist.
Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa are translators and scholars of Kodava studies. Their Pattole Palame was written using the Kannada script originally. It has been translated into English by Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa and has been published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi.
Palanganda T. Bopanna is an author and journalist from Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka, India. Bopanna has worked for some of the leading Indian English dailies, including The Times of India, Bangalore, for 12 years, and The Pioneer, as their Special Correspondent (Bangalore) for 13 years. He has written five books.
Chandra Varma is the name of the legendary ancestor of the Kodavas.
Kalyatanda Ponnappa was a 17th-century warrior of Kodagu (Coorg). Since he was deified after his death, the people of Kodagu consider him to be a god. He is also known as Kaliat-Achchappa or Kaliat Ajjappa.