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| - About ‘Badaga Nadu’: ‘Badaga’ means North* and ‘Badaga Nadu ‘would then be the Northern country. Northern country of which land does it imply? That is a question often posed by many. Well, one can safely presume that it refers to the plain land between Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers of the Vijayanagara empire, fall of which in the 16th century saw relocation of the Brahmin community of this region to the middle and South-Eastern parts of the present State of Karnataka. Incidentally, people belonging to‘Vadama’ sub-sect among Tamil Smartha Brahmins (Iyers), as the term indicates, are supposed to be hailing from Northern region. Likewise, ’Vadagalai’ branch of Srivaishnavas (Iyengars) are also supposed to be of Northern origin. There is also a tribal community in the Nilagiri hills by name ‘Badaga’, which speaks a Kannada dialect. However, there is no connection whatsoever among all these groups except for the term indicating their origin. One thing is clear; as far as Badaga Nadu people are concerned, they are Kannada- speaking Brahmins, who are mostly ‘Smarthas’(see below).In the times of yore, they were courtiers and also held lesser civilian posts. After the demise of Vijayanagar Empire, they had to move to splinter kingdoms and principalities and settle down mostly as revenue collectors/ village accountants, while some made good as Zamindars (big landholders). The latter were as influential and domineering as anyone of their ilk; but their number was small. Apparently, Badaga Nadu people were involved more in temporal affairs than in the traditional scholastic learning and in vocations such as priesthood, teaching, management of temple and Matah affairs, which gave Brahmins a special status in the society. Also, the community cannot boast of producing many great men of letters, erudition and scholarship or those who have made a mark in the fields of literature†, arts and culture©. This may be attributed to their humble background and circumstance. This fact has a bearing on certain traits which are recognizable even today. One may mention here their self- effacing nature (Badaga Nadu ‘Tere’ or veil). It is often said that a Badaga Nadu is in the forefront to bear the brunt of workload, but takes a backseat when reward comes. ‘Badaga Nadu’ community, although being not very influential and commanding high social status, the people are highly conscious of their self-respect. They take pride in being self-reliant and coming up hard way. Today, Badaga Nadu people are found settled in the Rayala Seema region of Andhra Pradesh(i.e.Ananthapur,Kadapa,Kurnool, and Chittoor districts),and in the adjoining districts of Karnataka, viz. Raichuru, Gadaga,Haveri, Ballary, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Tumakuru and Kolara .Understandably, substantial number of people in the border areas are bilingual, speaking Kannada and Telugu. A high concentration of Badaga Nadu people is found in Bangalore city and its surrounding tallooks of Hosakote, Magadi, Devanahalli, Chikkaballapura and even Denkanikote of Krishnagiri tallook in Tamil Nadu. These are mostly landed gentry, often holding some revenue posts. The ascent of many Badaga Nadu Brahmins of this region is traced to one Pradhan Venkappaiah of the community, who lived in 18th C. and served as a minister of Subedar of Sira and later Hyder Ali who had usurped power from Wodeyars of Mysore. An interesting story about him goes like this. A Muslim approached the Pradhan for the favour of a govt. job and he in turn asked him to give his antecedents-the family details. Knowing the former’s bias for his community, the latter replied, “Mai Badaganad Bhanchod Hoon, Saab”! Needless to say his wish was fulfilled. Another characteristic feature one finds in the inter-state belt is the presence of a sizable population of ‘Badaga Nadu Madhwas’, especially due to the influence of Uttaradi Matah. Incidentally, the only other sub-sect having Madhwa following is ‘Deshastha’ Brahmins. In both these communities, the religious leanings of individual families do not come in the way of developing marital alliances, which is not normally seen among other Smartha and Madhva Brahmin communities. The family deity of this sect is mostly either Mylaralinga or Tirupathi Timmappa, not to discount other Siva or Vishnu deities in their vicinity. Badaga Nadus observe all the Brahminic rituals, festivals and vrathas, typical of Karnataka-Andhra region. ‘Ananthapadmanabha vratha’ and ‘Varamahalakshmi vratha’ are invariably included in their annual customary celebrations (‘Kattale’). In northern parts,’Ele Astami vratha’ is also performed. One branch of the community settled in ‘ Malenadu ‘ region, viz. Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and the Southern parts of the erstwhile Dharawada districts., during the realm of ‘Keladi- Ikkeri Samsthanas’. They became mostly landed gentry and got assimilated well with the other Brahmin communities of the region. Now, they are hardly distinguishable as ‘Badaga Nadu’ people, especially, with preference for the community in marriage alliance no longer existing. Of course, this is a general phenomenon, among other Brahmin sub-sects as well. In the first half of 20th C, Sri Dattaraja Yogindra Maharajaaru, popularly known as ‘Tirukappanavaru’, hailing from Banavasi in Uttara Kannada district, propagated the ’ Bhakti’ cult of ‘Datta Pantha’ which attracted a large number of the community people in the middle Karnataka,Bengaluru and Kolara districts. His disciple, Sri Shankaralinga Bhagavanaru of Nulenooru, in Holalkere tallook of Davanagere dist. established an Ashrama at Komaranahalli, a pilgrim centre, adjacent to Helavanakatte, where poet-saint Giriyamma (possibly belonging to the community) lived. There are pockets of fairly large Badaga Nadu settlements in the Southern districts of Mandya, Mysooru and Chamarajanagara, especially in Mysooru and Mandya cities and Nanjanagudu town. For most of them, the family deity is Sri.Nanjundeswara Swami and for some, Biligiri Ranganatha Swami. It is quite but natural that Mysooru, being the capital of the erstwhile princely state, attracted all sub-communities of Brahmins including Badaga Nadus.Talakadu in Mysooru district has been a native place for several families, perhaps for more than 3 to 4 centuries. Mysore University Prasaranga has published a book on ‘Sampradayada Hadugalu’, a form of folklore, in which the contributions of ‘Badaga Nadu’ women of Talakaadu region are included®. Perhaps, ‘Badaga Nadu’ is the most widely distributed community among Kannadiga Brahmins, with marked presence in the aforesaid regions. Although the community has a vast population, it doesn’t appear to be so as it remains diffused. It is not very surprising that they face an identity crisis as many of them, especially the post-independence generations, are either ignorant of their roots or weary of being identified with the community. Often, they are not recognized properly by the other Kannada speaking Brahmins who mistake them for the Telugu speaking ‘Mulaka Nadu’ Brahmins. But, it must be emphasized that the mother tongue of Badaga Nadus is Kannada only@ and Smarthas among them owe their allegiance to Koodali-Sringeri Matah. Interestingly, the majority of Badaga Nadus are Rigvedis and follow Ashwalayana Sutra; the common Gotras to which they belong are, Atri, Angirasa,Vasishtah,Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Bharadwaja and Koundinya.However,the traditional scholarship and the knowledge of scriptures is low among them, although a few ‘Jois’ families still exist, which practice priesthood, especially in Malenadu region. On the other hand, they were adept in worldly affairs and inherited the traditional revenue posts of Karaneeka, Karnam, Kulakarni, Shanubhoga, Nadiga etc., for generations, till independence. English educated among them chose to join the govt. service as revenue officials-Shekdars, Shirestedars, Mamaledars, Havaldars etc -and some rose in power to become even Amaldars. There was one M. Narayana Rao who held the position of Deputy Commissioner and distinguished himself as an able administrator during Nalavadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s reign. Then, many others took to legal profession, as was the order of the day a century ago. Mention may be made of C. Chennakeshaviaiah, who was a leading advocate of Chitradurga, and became a member of ‘Prajapratinidhi Sabhe’ of the princely state of Mysore. His book on ‘General English’ was prescribed as text book for schools. One Jangamakote Krishna Rao, hailing from Kolara dist, made name as a leading advocate at Chittoor, in the then Madras presidency. Rao Bahadur Kottur Gundu Rao was a judge in the high court of Hyderabad state. G.V.K. Rao MCS, Secretary, GOI and M.N. Vidya Shankar, IAS of the present Karnataka cadre, Dr. P. Krishna Rao superintendent of Victoria Hospital and Chief Engineer Nadig Neelakantappa , Dr. D.Subbaramayya of Mysore are a few other worthies who may be mentioned in this context$. However, the vocations normally pursued by a Badaga Nadu of those days who did not have sufficient income from either land or family titular posts, was to become a school teacher, post master or railway station master, police constable or clerk in tallook office. A person taking a salaried employment for livelihood was called a Tapedar. But, pursuing Tapedari was considered only the second best thing to do, because it called for servitude and abject subordination to the higher ups! It would often hurt Badaga Nadu pride and lead to protestation, at the risk of losing the job! Interestingly, Badaga Nadu people exhibited flair for trade and commerce too. During the early and mid part of the last century, T. Rama Rao’s Watch Shop in Chikkapete, Hiranya Stores in KR Market, Kalyana Café, in Seshadripuram of Bangalore city were well known names.’Benne Govidappanavara Chatra’ and ’Karinikara Pathashale’ in Basavanagudi of Bengaluru,founded by philanthropic Badaga Nadu gentlemen in the last century, are important landmarks even today .The latter institution imparts training to young Brahmin boys in Vaidic priesthood, as in the Gurukula system, free of cost even in present times. During the first half of 20th C., the student hostel established by Badaga Nadu Sangha in Seshadripuram was perhaps the first Brahmin community hostel to come up in Bengaluru city The Sangha has since been an active force, in fostering affiliation to the community, even in present times. The Sangha has established branches in places like Shivamogga, Chitradurga, in order to bring in fraternity feeling among the people belonging to the community. However, a parallel Sangha by name Badaga Nadu Balaga came into existence at Mysore in the late 1980s. It is in the process of having its own building now. All that apart, one cannot ignore the writing on the wall as to the future of the community. The strict adherence to the tradition of seeking marriage alliances within the community does no longer exist and the present young generation is hardly conscious of their social moorings. Also, the inclusive society, with relatives and families of the same community living in villages and small towns, has almost been abandoned and people are getting scattered through out the globe, seeking better life opportunities. The day is not too far off when Badaga Nadu, like all other Brahmin sub-sects, would slip into the social history of the land. ________________________________________________________________________
* The Desi Kannada words for other directions, viz. South: Tenkana; East: Moodana; West: Paduvana.These were in usage of common man till a century ago. In modern Kannada however these terms are mainly being used in poetry and other literary writings. @ There are stray cases of Badaga Nadu families which migrated to the Telugu heartland, and, losing touch with their community, gave up speaking Kannada altogether. Still, they call themselves ‘Badaga Nadu Kannada’ people! ®’Sundara Ramayana’, a simple Kannada verse form of the epic, and ‘Droupadi Akshaya Vasta Dana’,a lyrical composition, used to be sung early morning in Badaga Nadu homes. Noted Litterateur, DVG mentions in his series’ 'Jnaapaka Chitrashale’, mentions of such oral tradition existing in the bygone era. $ The list is not exhaustive and quite likely names of many other illustrious persons would have been left out due to the limited knowledge of this author. Perhaps this lacuna may be overcome by a serious compilation of ‘Who’s Who in Badaga Nadu Community’, to be chartered by the association. † However, according to the writer Aa.Ra.Se ,the epic poet Naranappa(ca.1342 AD) or better known as Kumaravyaasa,who wrote ‘Gadugina Bharata’ belonged to a Brahmin sub-community called ’Badaga Nadu’ in South and ‘Deshastha’ in North Karnataka. (But, these two communities are not same; the latter has a marked Maharashtra leaning, with Marathi as its home language.). All the same, it is matter of pride to the community indeed! ©Then, a good number of cinema and TV personalities of yesteryears as well as present day belonged to the community. Mention may be made of Sriyuths KSL Swami Alias Ravi (director, script writer and actor), CV Shiva Shankar (producer and director), HG Somashekhara Rao, HG Dattatreya,’Sihikahi’Geetha, Mandya Ramesh and Srinath Vasishtah. .
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