Travelling through Coorg in its festive seasons, opens up a whole new chapter of alluring discoveries for culture buffs. While the Kodava’s have their favourite annual rites and rituals in these festivities, Coorg has a unique connection with Tibet and its festivals. Read on to discover more.
Coorgi Festive Delight
The celebration of harvesting the first crop of rice of the season (Nov/Dec) is a Kodagu tradition which goes back more than a century and a half in the community. Singing and dancing and the wind rippling through the vast swathes of paddy mark this glorious harvest tradition or puthari/ huttari, which kicks off with stalks of fresh paddy being tied up to a stone pillar in a family home— a deep-rooted ancestral ritual. Feasting on pandi curry and washing it down with brandy adds a witty note to the celebratory mood. The tradition of hunting in the forested hills, as part of the festivities, has long fallen by the wayside, but there’s another interesting part of the celebrations, which you should not miss. Do join the musical band of locals leading the trail from one ancestral home (ainmane) to the next, to reawaken the community’s connection to its old roots and put the spotlight on these remnants from past ages.
Some of the other vibrant festivals in the Coorg region are Kaveri Sankramana (Oct), Madikeri Dasara and Kailmahurtha. The Kodava pantheon of deities include Kaveri, the river goddess, Igguthappa, the god of rain and crops, and Ayyappa, the god of hunting, reflecting their roots in nature worship. Over time they also embraced a few Hindu beliefs and forms of worship.
Coorg’s Buddhist Connect
Wind your thoughts back to Tibetan Buddhism and culture at the beautiful, self-contained Bylakuppe settlement. Located about about 5 km away from Kushalanagara and 30km away from Madikeri, Bylakuppe is home to thousands of refugees of the Tibetan community who fled their homeland during the Chinese invasion in the early 60s. It is said to be the second largest Tibetan settlement in the world after Dharamsala in north India, and the hub of the Tibetan government-in- exile, headed by his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. The predominant features of the Golden Temple, a part of the Namdroling Monastery here, are the gilded statues, standing 40 ft high, of Lord Buddha, the sage Guru Padmasambhava, and the Amitabha Buddha. Spend quality time here for an immersive experience of Tibetan culture, assiduously preserved by the community in a new land, far away from its roots.
To explore the most vibrant aspects of Tibetan culture, don’t miss the annual Losar festivities, which mark the Tibetan New Year, at the beautiful monastery. Highlights are the colourful lama dances and unveiling of sacred Thangkas. Another special occasion is Monlam Chenmo, the Tibetan Prayer Festival.
Coorg has numerous hidden facets, which are worthy of repeat visits for the culture buff over the years.