Tales of Temple Festivals (Unique temple festivals of Kodagu)

 

(This article was published in the Spectrum, Deccan Herald on 20th April, 2023)

There are many annual village temple festivals happening in Kodagu in the months of March, April, and May. The temple idols, called thadamb, are carried by a priest on the head and taken in processions. Therays where performers wear colourful red costumes, imitate deities or ancestors, dance in trances and advise devotees, are organised in the temples and some of the ancestral homes of some clans. 

The main festivals are the Bhagwathi Namme, and the Boad Namme, happening in honour of village deities, among others. Two important temple festivals got over in the second week of April this year. One was at the Puthu Bhagwathy temple in Birunani village. The other was at Pannangalatamme in Yavakapadi village. 

During the Puthu Bhagwathy festival, the people of Birunanni make vows to the goddess in order to fulfil their wishes, often for the good health of their children. Parents who have made such vows get their children cross-dressed and have a ceremony done for them. Boys will be dressed as brides and girls as grooms. They will have a single muhurta ceremony done, a wedding done without a partner. 

Boys are dressed as brides in Kodava saris and girls as grooms in kupya-chele (Kodava male attire) at the Puthu Bhagwathy temple. Photo courtesy: Nellira Ananya

Legend has it that once five sibling gods – two brothers and three sisters – came to South Kodagu from Kerala. The eldest brother Mattlappa settled in Mathur near Ponnampet. The eldest sister Puttilamme devi, also called Putha Bhagwathy, settled in Birunani. The younger brother Ogerelappa settled in the forests of Ogerelappa. The youngest sisters, twins, settled in Rudraguppe near the Kammaratappa temple and hill. They were known as Rudraguppelamme or Jodi Bhagwathy. 

Members of the Kembatti, Kodava, Airi, Kudiya, Kaniya and other communities participate in the Pannagalatamme festival. They bring bolle kall (toddy) umbrellas and other articles to the festival. During this festival, a few members of the Kembatti community wear red or white kuppyas (native coats) and perform thirale, i.e. go into trance. 

The thadamb of Pannangalatamme. Photo courtesy: Anjaparavanda Sharan

Long ago, seven sibling gods - six brothers and one sister - lived in Kerala. The eldest brother settled in Tali Parambu and built a famous temple there. He sent his younger siblings eastward towards Kodagu to establish temples. Today, three of these other temples are in Kodagu while the other three are in Kannur and Wayanad. 

Among the seven it is four - three brothers and one sisters - who came into Kodagu. When they were hungry in Kakkabe, the brothers asked the sister to cook rice for them. Igguthappa, the eldest among them, provided the rice grains. The sister agreed to cook the rice without a fire if the brothers would eat it without salt. Salt was added to plain rice for taste, since there was no other curry or dish to accompany the rice. 

The farm they were camping in belonged to the Pardanda joint family in Kunjila. The sister milked a cow belonging to the family which was grazing there. She used the milk to cook the rice. The rice was placed in a clay pot and buried in the hot sand beside a stream. 

There were banana trees growing on the farm. The siblings cut a few leaves to use as plates. Ummavva of the Pardanda family saw this and scolded them. The sibling gods then cursed the family that no bananas would thereafter grow on their farm. Muthanna the head of the Pardanda family then came and sought their forgiveness. But the curse took effect. However, the Pardanda were made the deva thakka (hereditary temple managers) of the Igguthappa temple which was built in the nearby Padi hamlet. 

After lunch, the siblings chewed betel leaves. They spat out the betel onto their palms to see whose was reddest. After that, in a sleight of hand, the brothers flung the betel behind their heads. The younger sister who was beside them saw this from an angle where they seemed to put the betel back into their mouths. Trying to imitate them, she put the betel back into her mouth. The brothers found this disgusting. They decreed that this act caused her to lose her caste. This way, she became the goddess of the Dalits and the low castes in Kodagu. 

Upon the advice of Igguthappa, she took the form of a crane and flew down to the nearby hamlet of Pannangala. There she found a labourer working on a farm belonging to the Karthanda family. She took possession of the labourer and he then danced in a trance. A temple was built for her in that hamlet and she became known as Pannangalatamme, the mother at Pannangala. 

Another brother settled in Palur and became known as Palurappa. The last brother settled in Thirunelli across the Kodagu border in Wayanad and is called as Pemmaiah. 

While the main temple of Pannangalatamme is in Pannangala, there are two other Pannangalatamme temples in Kedamallur and Armeri villages of Kodagu. 

Pannangalatamme temple devotees in trance wearing red and white kupyas (regional coats) and holding weapons, in front of the temple deity. A devotee holds the thadamb. Two long parasols are leaning against the wall in the background. Photo Courtesy: Sachin Uthappa Ketolira