Kodava People - Eminent Kodavas

Eminent Kodavas

The Kodavas have contributed immensely towards the growth of the Indian nation, despite them being in small numbers. Their most significant contributions are in the armed forces and in sports. Originally being land-owning militiamen farmers from Kodagu, hence their traditional twin occupations were as agriculturists and as soldiers. The distinguished among them had been local chieftains, palace officials, officers of the Raja's army and brave battle veterans, therefore invariably having attained fame in either government service or in the local army. The Kodava ancestors grew paddy and plantation crops like bananas and pepper, their descendants are now into coffee cultivation.

Many Kodavas joined the Indian armed forces both as officers and as servicemen. They distinguished themselves in times of war and peace, army-men are still shown the most respect in Kodagu (Coorg). Quite a number of Kodavas have been martyred on enemy frontiers. Many Kodavas participated in the two World Wars before Indian Independence and in the wars against China and Pakistan after 1947. There was a separate Coorg regiment which largely included people from non-Kodava backgrounds while the Kodavas themselves served in different other regiments; this is in keeping with the army's non-bias policy. Field Marshal Cariappa of the Rajput regiment and General Thimayya of the Kumaon regiment were the most distinguished army-men among the Kodavas. Many other Kodavas have been made Lt. Generals, Major Generals, Brigadiers and Air Marshals. Lt. General A. C. Iyappa (or Apparanda Aiyappa) is best remembered for his contributions towards the Corps of Signals and towards Bharat Electronics Limited. There were several war heroes as well such as Nadikerianda Bheemaiah, a JCO who was awarded the Vir Chakra for conspicuous bravery in J&K Operations in 1947, Air Marshal Cheppudira D Subbaia who was a fighter pilot during WW II and was awarded the Vir Chakra and the PVSM, Squadron Leader Deviaiah, (known as the 'wings of fire') another fighter pilot was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra after the 1965 Indo Pak War, Major Ganapathi Puttichanda Somiah, (known as the 'Major who kept his cool') awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, during the Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, Major Ranjan Chengappa, Shaurya Chakra Awardee who was in Congo for UN mission as part of a peace keeping force, Col Chembanda M Thimanna, awarded the Shaurya Chakra for bravery in counter insurgency operations, Major Chottangada Ganesh Madappa, was awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously in 1996, Squadron Leader Mandepanda Appachu Ganapathy, awarded the Vir Chakra in 1972 (when as a Flight Lieutenant he shot down Pakistani Sabre Jets). The list is endless, in fact.

The Kodava language was a spoken language and had no written literature until 1900. Appanervanda Haridasa Appachcha Kavi, Nadikerianda Chinnappa and Dr. I M Muthanna, have contributed immensely towards developing a literature for this language. The Kodavas are almost all Hindus a few of them had taken up monkhood and contributed towards the development of the religion, especially in Kodagu and Mysore regions, the most famous among them being Swami Shambhavananda, Sadguru Appayya Swami and Swami Narayanananda. In the government service as well there were many prominent Kodavas. One remembers Rao Bahadur IGP P.K.Monnappa, for his contributions towards the Indian Police in South India, be it in Hyderabad, Madras, Mysore or Coorg. Diwan Bahadur Ketoli Chengappa, was the last Chief Commissioner (the governor of a British province which had no elected assembly) of Coorg. There were others like Rai Saheb Muthanna who served in Ceylon and Mesopotamia during WWII and Rao Saheb Pattamada Devaiah, SP of Coorg. Some were judges in the High Court, such as Palecanda Medappa for Mysore and Ajjikuttira S Bopanna for Karnataka. C M Poonacha had been the Chief Minister of Coorg State (1952–'56), MP, Union Minister and later Governor of Orissa and Madhya Pardesh. C B Muthamma was the first woman Indian Foreign Service officer.

Kodavas have a long history of association with the game of field hockey. The district of Kodagu is considered as the cradle of Indian hockey. More than 50 Kodavas have represented India in international hockey tournaments, M. P. Ganesh, M.M Somaiah, B. K. Subramani, A. B. Subbaiah, K. K. Poonacha, C. S. Poonacha, Jagadish Ponnappa, M.A.Bopanna, Len Ayyappa, Amar Aiyamma to name a few, out of whom 7 have also participated in the Olympics. The passion for hockey in Kodagu is so much that more than 200 families participate in an annual Kodava Hockey Festival. This festival is recognised as one of the largest field hockey tournaments in the world and has been referred to the Guinness Book of Records. However it has already found a mention in the Limca Book of Records, which is an Indian variant of the Guinness Book.

Kodavas have also been known in other individual sport events as well especially in athletics; Ashwini Nachappa, National Champion in Athletics, Olympian and Arjuna Awardee, Rohan Bopanna, National Tennis Champion, Joshna Chinappa, Ace squash player, Jagat and Anita Nanjappa, motor racing champions, C.C. Machaiah, (Chenanda Machiah) National boxing Champion, Olympian and Arjuna Awardee, Reeth Abraham (née Devaiah; of Kodava parentage), National Athletics Champion, Arjuna Awardee and Olympian, Arjun Devaiah, National Athlete and Arjuna Award winner, Pramila Aiyappa (née Ganapathy), National Champion in Athletics and Olympian, P G Chengappa, Former National Badminton Player, M R Poovamma (Maachettira Poovamma), National Champion in Athletics and Olympian and Ashwini Ponnappa, national badminton player. Of late Kodavas have begun to distinguish themselves in cricket. K. P. Appanna, N. C. Aiyappa and Shyam Ponnappa have represented Karnataka state in national tournaments, like the Ranji trophy, and Bangalore city in the Indian Premier League.