Of rice, oxen and pilgrimages
Mookonda Kushalappa
In the past, political and administrative boundaries were fluid and largely dependent on the conquest of villages and territories by kings and their armies. The people of Kodagu used to pilgrimage to various temples which are now present in the two states of Karnataka and Kerala. Today, they still do although the frequency of pilgrims to the Kerala side has decreased. However, Baithurappa is one temple which is regularly visited by the people of Kodagu, especially the Kodavas and Keimbattis, two Kodava speaking castes of agriculturists and labourers, during its annual festival.
During festivals and ceremonies, after Kodavas first invoke the names of the kuladevi Kaveramme and mahaguruIgguthappa, quite often the very next deity they might invoke is Baithurappa. Baithurappa is the deity of Baithur, which corresponds to present-day Vayathur in Kerala's Kannur district. In Kerala, Baithurappa is known as Vayathur Kaliyar Mahadeva (Shiva) and is located in Ulikkal village in the immediate vicinity of Vayathur.
The main town in that region is Iritty which is accessible across an iron bridge over a river while travelling from Kodagu. As one goes on the road from Makkuta in Karnataka towards Iritty in Kerala, one will find advertisement signs which read 'Little Coorg' or 'Coorg valley'.
During the around two-week long festival, the people of Kodagu will board buses and vehicles towards Iritty and Mattanur. A few of them will also perform thirale (a ritual dance in the worship of spirits) at the temple. The Kodava men will wear black or white kupya (traditional robe) while the Keimbatti men will wear red kupya.
Baithurappa has many temples but the main ones are in Baithur, Bendrukolur near Taliparamba (in Kerala) and in the Kariabana forest in Beppunad in Kodagu. Another important Baithurappa temple, but relatively recent one, is the Baithurappa Poovavadi Basaveshwara in Kodagarahalli near Suntikoppa in Kodagu.
Oral tradition states that thousands of years ago there were six brothers and one sister living in Malabar. The eldest brother remained in his place and sent his younger siblings east towards the hills of Kodagu. They crossed into Kodagu at the Padi ghat and were guests of the Pardanda family for a while. Igguthappa became a chief god of the Kodavas while his younger sister Ponnangalatamme became a chief goddess of the Keimbattis. Baithurappa, a local manifestation of Shiva and also known as Bendrukolappa, is an elder brother of Igguthappa and Ponnangalatamme.
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| Oxen before the eth-porata |
Meanwhile, there were two brothers in the Kalyatanda family from Kunjila in Kodagu. One brother moved to Kerala where he married a Nambiar woman. His descendants became the Kalliat Nambiar family. They were Jenmidars (landlords) and the Baithur temple was within their dominion.
Around five hundred years ago, Monnayya was the Palegara of a region of five villages in Ede-nalnad in Kodagu. One day Andamada Chetticha came with his men at night. They captured Monnayya’s cattle and occupied his paddy fields. Monnayya and his servant Banna Karimbu then prayed to the family deity Baithurappa. A tiger came and attacked the army who fled freeing Monnayya’s farmland. His relative Ajjinikanda Mandanna then attacked the retreating army. Legend has it that it was Baithurappa (Shiva) himself who sent Chavundi (Parvathi) in the form of a tigeress.
In gratitude to his family deity, Monnayya went to the various villages in Ede-nalnad, Beppunad and other regions of Kodagu and convinced the people to send rice grains for the annual feast of the Baithurappa temple. Thereafter, every year, Monnayya and his descendants, the Puggera family, used to send 12 oxen with bags of rice loaded on their backs to Baithur. Now they send atleast three oxen with rice loads.
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| An elder holding a ceremonial sword and shield |
The oxen and their handlers walk 47 kilometres from Devanageri village (where the Puggera ancestral house is located) to the Baithurappa temple. They halt at the forest office in Makkuta, on the Karnataka-Kerala border, where they cross a foot bridge and turn right towards Vayathur. A few other families also send eth-porata to Baithurappa during the festival.
The Puggera family are the Deva thakka (hereditary temple managers) of Baithurappa.
The temple is now managed by a trust of Kodava and Malayali members. Likewise, the thakka at Payyavoorappa, another Shaiva deity, in Payyavoor village in Kerala and near the banks of the river with the same name, are the Boverianda and Mundiolanda families of Kadiyathnad in Kodagu. They also send eth-porata to Payyavoorappa and help organise the oottu festival there. These temple festivals speak of the several centuries-old friendship between the Kodava and Malayalam speaking people.
A temple representative called a Korathachcha (aka Komarathachcha or Korathajja) goes around Kodagu many days before the festival, inviting families from various villages. He comes with a thiruayudha (a holy, crooked sword) and a wooden umbrella to Kodagu and stays at the thakka's ancestral house for a night. He will sleep in front of the nellakki prayer lamp in the central hall.
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| The nellakki prayer corner of the ancestral house |
The Baithurappa Korathachcha visits certain village temples (Peggala, Chembebelloor Eshwara, Devanageri Eshwara, Thalatkeri Bhagwathi, Halgunda Bhagwathi, Maithadi Aiyappa, Kadangamurur Bhagwathi, Arameri Bhagwathi, Kedamulloor Eshwara, Kadanur Bhagwathi, Maggula Aiyappa and Balagodu Bhadrakali) and ancestral houses (Kunjalageri Muckatira, Puliyanda, Kodandera, Machettira and Ammanakuttanda Ainmanes) around Virajpet. This time he was in Kodagu between December 30th, 2020 and January 3rd, 2021. Likewise, the Korathachcha of Payyavoorappa comes to invite the people of Kadiyathnad some days before the festival.
During the month of January, the people in and around Beppunad and Ede-nalnad send rice offerings to the Baithurappa temple. During the month of February, the people of Kadiyathnad offer rice to the Payyavoorappa temple.
Usually there are five main Baithurappa temple festival days. On the first day is the arrival of eth-porata. The Puggera and the other Kodava families visit the temple and meet the Malayali management on the second day. Kodava men will sing the Dudikottu paat while beating small, hand-held drums. The main oottu festival happens on the third day. The nai abishekam ceremony (smearing ghee on the deity's statue) would be on the fourth day. On the fifth day would be the arattu abhishekam ceremony.
This time the festival is between January 14th and 25th, 2021. The main days are around the 21st and 24th. Due to Covid-19, strict restrictions are in place. Only four bulls are allowed inside the temple and not more than 100 devotees (with appropriate permission, and among them 70 from Kodagu) can enter in a day.
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| A bull during eth-porata |
