MYSURU: More than 80 years a go, Kyatanahalli was a tiny village near the temple town of Nanjangud, about 30km away from Mysuru.Around 20 Dalit families lived here until tragedy struck in the form of an epidemic, forcing people to leave the hamlet until none was left. Slowly, the deserted village disappeared from public memory too. But now Kyatanahalli is set to live again.
The earlier inhabitants had left after cholera and smallpox struck Kyatanahalli and they settled down in villages like Kallalli, Holagere, Doora, Shankarapura and Srirampura.
The village’s Marigudi temple was the only tangible link for some descendents who would come to perform puja occasionally. Soon those visits stopped too but Kyatanahalli and its memories apparently never left the villagers.
Which is why the fourth and fifth generation descend e nts recently came together and petitioned Nanjangud tahsildar Dayanand with a special request: Trace the Kyatanahalli gramatana (village record) so that they could return to the home of their forefathers . The revenue officials promptly dug into the pile of records and managed to locate the village in old maps and sketches . They also fixed the gramatana boundary covering an area of 4.2 acres between Byalaru and Deburu villages.
Tahsildar Dayanand said the village is all set to come alive in a short span as they are making preparations to allot sites and build houses for the poor descend e nts through the local Deburu gram panchayat. He said currently Kyatanahalli is in ruins. A temple, aralikatte (community arena) and graveyard are the only traces of a village that existed a long time ago.
People had lived in Kyatanahalli till 1935
Manju, a small-time building contractor who rallied together the descendents of Kyatanahalli near Nanjangud, said there are about 100 families settled in different places. They mostly live in rented houses and work as agricultural and construction labourers. “The authorities have promised to build houses or get plots for 80 families. We are eager to make a new beginning at the place where our forefathers lived.”
Quoting revenue records, he said people lived in the village till at least 1934-35 when the temple priest was granted some agricultural land. He also requested officials to clear the encroachment in agricultural lands around the gramatana stating that they originally belonged to their ancestors and many have records to prove it.