THE KODAVAS

The native people of Kodagu are known as Kodavas. Numbering no more than 100,000, they are believed to be descendants of migrating Persians and Kurds or Greeks left behind from Alexander the Great's armies, although no-one's exactly sure. The word 'Kodava' apparently comes from the local words for 'Blessed by Mother Cauvery'.
Kodavas are divided into about 1000 clans. Each clan has its own cine mane (clan house), at which the entire clan gathers once a year to pay respects to their ancestors. Although nominally Hindu, Kodavas refuse to recognise any head of religion and are mainly nonvegetarian (their signature dish is pork curry served v/ith rice dumplings). They also worship unique deities, including the Cauvery River. Wedding ceremonies (which rarely involve dowries) include complex dances, mock fighting with sticks, and such symbolic exploits as chopping off a banana leaf with a sword.
The best time to see Kodavas celebrating their unique culture is during their various festivals. Apart from the lively November/December Huthrl festival (p220), there's Keilpodhu, the end of rice-planting season (held in the first week of September), when men show off their marksmanship by shooting coconuts strung up in tall trees. The Tula Sankramana festival, when the goddess Cauvery appears in the form of a gush of v/ater at the river's source, is celebrated in mid-October with a dip in the Cauvery at the Talacauvery Temple.
At these festivals and other special occasions, Kodavas will don their distinctive traditional costumes; the men wear sashes, daggers, black gowns, colourful turbans and plenty of jewel-lery. while the women are wrapped in bright scarves and saris that are draped with even more complexity than normal.