KARKALA: Leaders who fought imperialism are remembered and honoured, but many stories of folk valour remain buried in the sands of time.
The folk heroes of Karnataka’s coast have suffered such neglect, but the Tuluvas are going all out to keep their memories alive.
Koti and Chennayya fought tyranny and injustice between 1559 and 1591. Their story provides the theme for a park in Karkala, heartland of the Billava community from which they hailed.
The Koti-Chennayya park is laid out on four acres in a picturesque part of the town, and is getting steady tourist footfalls. It is also attracting foreign researchers.
Dr Vaman Nandavar, who has worked on a PhD on the epic of Koti-Chennayya, says Western scholars, including Basel missionaries such as Burnell A C (1894-97) and R C Tempel and Arnold Balke (1938), have recorded the story of the heroes.
The folk tradition in Dakshina Kannada has so much more to offer the world, said Nandavar, who has contributed ideas to the making of the park. The exhibits represent the social, agrarian, religious and martial aspects of life from the heroes’ era.
A special pictorial depiction of a Koti Chenaiah paad-dana (prose narrative), written in old Kannada script, is among the highlights.
Panje Mangesh Rao, the well-known Kannada writer, was the first to write a story on the Koti-Chennayya legend. His account was titled Koti Chennayya Kathe.
After him, 29 researchers and writers have documented the epic and Dr Vaman Nandavar’s PhD is regarded as path-breaking.
Lauri and Anella Honko of Turku University, Finland, Peter J Claus of the United States, and S A Krishnaiah of Govinda Pai Research Centre are some of the top scholars who have written about the legend.
The park is inspiring the youth. “The fight between the ‘haves and have-nots’ perhaps began here during the time of Koti-Chennayya. We see depictions of their struggle here,” said Sunil Poojary, a post-graduate student of economics who had brought along a group of biking buddies to the park.
The friends had looked for material about the twins. “We searched the Net, but printed documentation is better,” he said.
Who Were They?
A Tulu narrative written in the Kannada script tells the fascinating story of Koti and Chennayya.
A Brahmin family, fearful of a social custom, abandons in the forest a beautiful girl called Deyi Baideti. She is picked up by a healer called Sayana Baide, who treats her like a sister and nurtures her. He teaches her to cultivate a medicinal garden. She grows up to be a healer and an expert in herbal medicine. Sayana gets her married to Kantana Baida.
When she is in labour, she treats king Perumala Ballala. She dies in childbirth, following which the king adopts her twins Koti and Chennayya. Sayana Baide trains them in many skills, and they grow up into handsome young men known for their kindness, nobility and love of justice. They get involved in fights between various kings. Koti is tricked and killed in a battle, and a heartbroken Chennayya decides to give up his life, but not before extracting a promise from feuding kings that they will live in peace.
Two From One
Since the heroes were twins, their statues are carved from a single stone or log. Koti and Chennayya are treated as demi gods, and worshippers have built 208 garadis (traditional gymnasiums) in their memory.