In
Kodagu children were often told many mythological stories at night.
Likewise during my childhood my maternal grandfather told me the
story of a mythical prince. One of the most common Coorg tales
narrated, this story was that of Chandra Varma, the legendary
ancestor of the Kodavas.
Legend
has it that there once lived an Emperor of Matsya
Desha
called Siddhartha. Matsya Desha, meaning ‘Fish country’, was on
the banks of the river Ganga in North India. Siddhartha had four sons
and the youngest and most capable among them was Chandra Varma. The
surname Varma
was an ancient title associated with Indian warriors. Chandra Varma,
the ‘Moon Prince’, sought conquest, like the ancient knights of
yore. So he gathered a privy army around him and wandered the
sub-continent, until he reached the dense jungles of Kodagu. Here he
settled down with his army and founded a new kingdom. This was to be
called Kroda
Desha,
or the ‘land of the boar’.
The
ancient kings married several times. Chandra Varma, the first king of
Kodagu, got married twice, once to a princess and once to a common
girl who, however, was of celestial origins. While the princess was
childless, the second wife bore eleven sons. The eldest among them
was called Deva Kantha. Years went by and the eleven sons grew to
become young men. Then the king sent messengers to various lands to
find brides for his sons. The messengers searched all over until they
came across Vidarbha
Desha,
a region in Central India. Vidarbha Raya, the king of Vidarbha, had
married a peasant woman and had several daughters. He was seeking
suitors for the princesses when the messengers arrived. King Vidarbha
was pleased and agreed to get his daughters married to the sons of
Chandra Varma. There was great cheer in both the kingdoms and the
marriage festivities began.
The
sons of Chandra Varma led their brides away to their kingdom. They
later came to have many children. King Chandra Varma grew old and so
abdicated the throne in favour of his eldest son Deva Kantha. The
progeny of Chandra Varma prepared new fields for themselves and
cultivated them. Meanwhile King Vidarbha passed away.
Women in
the Coorg Sari
Years later Kaveri, also known as Lopamudra, the wife of Sage Agastya and the daughter of Kavera, was to take the form of a river. Deva Kantha was still the reigning king of Kodagu at that time. He had been informed two days prior in a dream that the river Kaveri would take birth in his kingdom.
On
the auspicious day Deva Kantha and his people assembled to welcome
the river. The women of Chandra Varma’s family were standing there
when the river Kaveri came flowing towards them. The force of the
water moved the folds of their dresses behind. This gave rise to the
Kodava sari and hence, it is said, that the Kodava women wear the
sari likewise even today. The river flooded the place and turned
right. Thereafter the place came to be known as Balamberi (also known
as Balamuri or Valamberi) meaning ‘the Right Turn’.
The
Kaveri then flowed through the Southern Deccan plateau until it
reached the Coromandel coast and emptied itself into the sea. There
is another Balamuri (near Mysore) along the course of the Kaveri.
Later King Virata, of King Siddartha’s lineage and a relative of
Chandra Varma and Deva Kantha, would rule the parent kingdom Matsya
Desha and help the Pandavas during the Mahabharatha war.
Tala
Kaveri temple in a mist
The tale of Chandra Varma had been part of the Kaveri Sthala Purana. The Puranas were ancient classical mythology while the Sthala Puranas were local legends. Versions of this story has also been written down in English by Rev. G. Richter in the Manual of Coorg (1870) and recently in a Kannada book called Kaveri Vaibhava by Yedurkala Shankaranarayana Bhat.
The
feast day of Kaveri occurs on Thula
Sankramana,
around October every year. This is the day when the sun enters the
Libra Zodiac sign. With this day begins the month of Tholyaar in the
Kodava calendar. On the same day water rises up from underground as a
spring and flows forth to sustain the river. This spring occurs in a
small pond within the temple of Tala Kaveri, the place of origin of
the river. Priests sit around the pond and chant as the water comes
forth on that day. People assemble in large numbers to take a holy
dip and to collect a little water to take home for the purpose of
certain holy rituals.
In
Kodava homes, a Kalasa is prepared and kept near the prayer lamp that
day. The Kalasa is a small metal pot in whose open end is held a
peeled coconut (by its base) with mango leaves arrayed around it, all
placed vertically. The pot also contains some water and a necklace is
put upon the coconut. A picture of the temples at Tala Kaveri and
Bhagamandala is placed nearby. The members of the family would have
vegetarian meals and refrain from any alcohol that day. A curry is
prepared from pumpkins and eaten with dosa.
A Coorg
man in 1870
(Pictures are from Google images and are labelled reusable)