COORG

The Other Side of Today

Hugh & Colleen Gantzer were fascinated by the traditions and natural charm of Coorg and immersed themselves in its legends and rituals


EMERGING from a road winding through dense plantations of coffee, we drove into the district headquarters of Coorg Madikeri, or Mercara as the British called it. It had the well-ordered gentility of a cantonment . Houses with red-tiled roofs, snuggled in an undulating, wooded, terrain at 1,140 metres above sea level. Clearly, history and a strong martial tradition blend effortlessly in this hill-station
We drove up to the Palace-Fort . Given the Koduvas , or Coorgis , almost spiritual involvement with their heroic traditions, their heritage museum is, appropriately, enshrined in an old Anglican church. Harlequin light from the stained glass windows splashed over memorial plaques to Caucasians who had died in Coorg during the British era. The coloured light also glowed on a great swathe of Koduva history from Hero-stones , through traditional robes and weapons, to a little room dedicated to the memory of the iconic Field Marshal Cariappa.
In the fort, the old palace is now the court of the district administration. It features sculptures of prancing horses guarding its doors, heroic statues of black elephants, and a stone tortoise in a central court. For 150 years the closely-knit Koduva clans accepted the titular overlordship of the Lingayat rulers in much the same way as the Scots clans acknowledge the proclaimed rule of the Windsor family.
Three tombs, the Gaddige, of the Lingayat rulers, sit grey and squat atop a green hill overlooking Madiekeri. Their oddly Islamic features also asserted themselves in the architecture of the Omkareshwar Temple in town. The idol in this Shiva shrine was, reputedly , brought from Varanasi, possibly by Raja Lingarajendra Wadiyar. The Wadiyar rulers were aesthetes and at least one of them appreciated the horizon-spanning views of the rajas seat, now a flower-bright park where the urbane people of Madikeri unwind an evening. Alternatively, they drive out of Madikeri, as we did, to the beautiful Abbi Falls: a cascade of silken tresses over a cliff of black rocks. Legend has it that it was the favourite escape of a girl named Jessie, a chaplains daughter and was, originally, named after her. The cascade turns into a roaring tumult in the monsoon. Deep into the valley, in another direction , and up again, brought us to the unusual Talacauvery: the sacred source of this great river. A broad flight of steps led to terraces with small shrines. The main shrine is a little spring enclosed in an arch and trickling into a small pond from where it fills a larger tank. Once a year, on October 17, thousands of pilgrims stand in awe as the Cauvery renews itself: the spring bubbles, and water gushes out. After a while this subsides and the source resumes its normal flow. The entire temple complex is immaculately clean. As it stands on the slopes of the towering Brahmagiri Hill the views are horizon stretching. The Cauvery vanishes underground , shortly after flowing out of the spring. It emerges at the bottom of the hill, in the green Bhagamandala valley where it joins the Kanika river and the subterranean and invisible Sujyothi river. Many devotees bathe in the tri-confluence , treveni, allowing their sins to be carried away by the ripples of the olivegreen water.
Across the road from the confluence is the enormous complex of the Bhagandeshwara temple. We did a barefoot stroll around the shrines of this complex built in the multi-tiered style of Kerala . This temple, dedicated to all three aspects of the triune deity is said to be particularly powerful. The shrine to Lord Brahma, the Creator, is worshipped only by ritual bathing an abhisheka with Cauvery water and flowers.
At a spirited Koduva wedding, in Madikeri, we saw Punya, a beautiful bride, gracefully attempting to carry a pot of water, symbolically from the Cauvery, to her house. All the while, the male guests took turns to obstruct her passage by dancing in front of her and her two hand-maidens . They threatened to do so for five hours. This tradition, we were told, was to ensure that the bride had the stamina to bring water from the river for her family.
This custom must have originated in a land where the quest for water required a long and arduous trek. The men of that land probably wore long, black coats, turbans, and a sash holding a curved dagger: ceremonial dress for male Koduvas today. They must also have had a strong martial tradition . The Coorgis hold these in common with the ancient people of the Mashriq: the rugged land from the western border of Egypt to the western border of Iran. One group of people from this area are the Kurds who were in Alexander the Greats army when he invaded India. Interestingly , the word Kurd bears a strong resemblance to Koduva....

Q U I C K FACTS



GETTING THERE:



Air:

Mangalore and then 136 km by road or Bangalore and then 260 km by road

Rail:

Mysore and then 120 km by road