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The Kodava (written ಕೊಡವ in Kannada script) are a people of southern India, originating in the western region of Kodagu. They were also known as Coorgs in English. The primary language of the Kodava is Kodava Takk, although they are bilingual in Kannada.

The Kodava community numbers about 100,000 in Kodagu district. out of a total population of over 500,000. They are of unknown origin, and are ethnically and culturally distinct from the other people of the area. There are several claims regarding the origin of the Kodavas.

Bangalore and Mysore together have more than 300,000 Kodava, most of them migrating to these cities for better job prospects.

The names of Kodava people are characteristic and include a clan name. The clan is central to Kodava culture and families trace their lineage through clans. Marriage within a clan is discouraged.

Kodavas have many cultural differences from other communities in southern India. Though they are nominally Hindu, Kodavas do not usually accept Brahmin priests, preferring that ceremonies are conducted by their own elders. The elders of the community help in organising the ceremonies. The importance of fire god found in most of the Hindu rituals is usually absent in Kodava culture. Usage of slokas and vedic chants is also not present.

They have distinctive dresses, the men wearing wraparound robes called the Kupya (now only seen at ceremonial occasions), and the women with a distinctive style of wearing the sari. The Kodava woman wears a sari with the pleats at the back.They have many distinctive practices such as carrying ceremonial knives, and martial war dances. The culture also includes communal gatherings where drink, dance and special meat dishes seasoned with Garcinia are central attractions.

The Kodava language, Kodava takk, itself is related to, and borrows heavily from the neighbouring languages of Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil; a point which has led ethnologists to speculate that their female ancestry is from the surrounding regions of Kodagu.

Enlistment in the Indian army has been common among the Kodavas. The most famous son of Kodagu is Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa the first Commander-in-Chief (as a general) of the armed forces of free India. General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya, of the same clan as K.M. Cariappa, served as a general.

• K M Cariappa, Field Marshal
• K S Thimmayya, General
• Appachu Kavi, A veteran poet who has contributed for kodava poetry.
• P.I.Belliappa,freedom fighter
• B.D.Ganapathy, noted writer & philosopher
• Ashwini Nachappa, Athlete
• Nikhil Chinappa, MTV VJ & music composer
• Rohan Bopanna, Tennis player
• Robin Uthappa, Cricketer
• Joshna Chinappa, Ace squash player
• Len Aiyappa, Ace hockey player
• Biddu, Kung Fu fighting song fame
• N Ponnappa, cartoonist
• Brinda Somaya, architect and conservationist
• Poonam Bojanna, Athlete
• Prasad Bidapa, fashion designer, choreographer, model trainer.
• N U Nachappa, Codava National Council
• Uma Poonacha, Bharata Natyam performer & Member UN International Dance Council (UNCID)

                     A Brief Biography of Haradasa Appachcha Kavi

Kirundaadu was a small village of Napoklu Naadu. Even now it is not known to many natives. Now Napoklu itself is a small town in Madikeri talluq. It is about 15 km to the south of Madikeri, the district head quarters, located in the northern part of Kodagu. Appachcha Kavi, the poet, was born in September 1868, as the only son to Medayya and Bollavva of Appaneravanda family. He had three sisters. The family was poor, but rich in traditions, particularly in music and piousness. Young Appachcha was soft spoken and kind. He used to spend a lot of his time in writing and singing devotional songs.

His mother was married from the Kabbachchira family in Arji village, near Virajpet, in the southern part of Kodagu district. Since in those days there were very few schools in Kodagu, Appachcha stayed with his maternal uncle and studied up to third standard at Virajpet. In those three years he learnt basics of Kannada and a little of arithmetic. He did not study English. But as it was a must in those days, his teachers taught him to write in a beautiful hand.

Since he learnt his three ‘R’s, Appachcha was a young educated man! To earn his livelihood at a tender age he first joined as a volunteer in the Virajpet Naad Katchery. Then he worked in the police department for some time, after which he was appointed in the Omkaaresvara temple of Madikeri at a monthly wage of Rs 8. There he came in contact with Venkatadri Shamarao, whose passion was music and drama. After about two years he was transferred to Bhagamandala as a Parupathyagara (supervisor), where he met Vaidyanatha Bhatta. In his association, Appachcha was introduced to the study of Ramayana, Bharata, and other epics, as well as Vedas. He was being educated in religious literatures.

He was transferred back to Madikeri in around 1896 as the manager of Gaddige. In those days, a drama company from Tiptur was in Madikeri. Appachcha’s inclination towards art and music dragged him to the drama company and shortly, he got a few small roles. Around that time, Venkatadri Shamarao also started a drama company and there Appachcha got a major role. He enacted the role of Raja in the play, ‘Chandrahasa’ written by Ramarao. In association with Shamarao, he learnt all about poetry, music, drama and other aspects.

Between 1904 and 1906 he wrote three plays –his very first one – ‘Yayathi Rajanda Nataka’, second – ‘ Sree Subrahmanya Mahathmye’ and the third – ‘ Sathi Savithri’. All these plays were in Kodava language, written in Kannada script. After his retirement from his employment in about 1917 he wrote ‘Sree Kaveri Mahathmye’. These were made into books at Sree Sharada printing press, Mangalore, by the playwright himself with the help of donors of Kodagu.

In 1908 he established a Kodava drama company consisting of about 22 artists and held shows in various places in Kodagu like, Ammathi, Virajpet, Bittangala, Hathur, Ponnampet, Balele, Gonikoppa, Napoklu, Murnad, Kakotuparambu, etc. Since these plays did not interest the people who did not understand the Kodava language, the very next year, that is, in 1909, he closed this company and started a Kannada drama company with artists from Mysore region. Along with this troop he toured places like Hunasuru, Periyapattana, Kandalavu, etc, and exhibited plays written by him in Kannada, such as ‘Virata Parva’, ‘Sati Sukanya’, ‘Ghoshayathre’, etc. When he was transferred back to Bhagamandala in 1910 most of his drama activities came to a standstill.

He retired in 1917 at the age of 52 from the post held in the temple of Bhagamandala. In the year 1926 a major disaster struck him in the fire accident where his house was completely burnt down. In order to overcome from this tragedy Appachcha Kavi started Kathakalakshepa and then onwards he was known as Haradasa Appachcha Kavi.

Haradasa Appachcha Kavi was devotee of Lord Shiva (That is why he used to write his name as ‘Haradasa’, not ‘Haridasa’). Yet, in his plays, the songs in praise of Lord Krishna, “Kaapaad Sree Krishnane” is as devotional as “Thudipeno naa ninna Shivane”. Like traditional plays of those days his works also contain all the navarasas. He has also mentioned quite a few names of various trees, fruits, flowers, birds, animals, etc of Kodagu in his plays. He could be called Poet Laureate of Kodagu. He was the first and foremost playwright of Kodava language and though he wrote very few plays, each one them is monumental classic! His songs and ballads are still sung in Kodagu by young and old, and the audio cassettes and CDs are popular!

- written by Iynanda Prabhukumar and Kanike.

• www.kodava.org, "Official Website of Kodava Community"
• Kodava bibliography (www.kodava.org)