Land of the Boar

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)