MADIKERI: The chants of ‘Kodavame Balo’ (let the Kodava culture continue to live) reverberated across Madikeri as thousands of Kodavas and people from Kodava speaking communities marched to the city. The city was flooded with people wearing the traditional Kodava attire, who demanded for rights to protect their land, culture, rituals, traditions and attire.
The ‘Kodavame Balo’ cultural walk which was held by the community, started in Kutta on February 2 and ended in Madikeri on Friday with over 30,000 participants. The participants marched from Kaggodlu towards Madikeri on Friday morning, and were welcomed into the city by the members of several ‘keri’ (Kodava colony).
The participants and organisers ensured that traffic was not disrupted. The organisers requested DC to forward the memorandum to the state and central ministries. DC assured to forward the memorandum to the state and centre, and appreciated the discipline followed by the community in this march.