Nadikerianda Chinnappa

Nadikerianda Chinnappa and Appaneravanda Hardas Appachcha Kavi are the two important poets and writers of the Kodava language. Nadikerianda Chinnappa was a Kodava born in 1875 Coorg to parents Nadikerianda Aiyanna and Pattamada Ponnavva. After matriculating in Mercara from the Central High School he did his F.A.(First Year Arts) from Mangalore. He got married to Nanjavva in Coorg and worked as ateacher in Mercara Central High School. In 1900 he became a Revenue Inspector and in 1902 he joined the Coorg Regiment of the army as a JCO. When the regiment was disbanded in 1904 he joined the Police Department, underwent training in Vellore and became a sub-Inspector. Later he became a Prosecuting Inspector in Coorg.

He spent his leisure in travelling on hirseback through the hills of Coorg. He got acquainted with several folk singers and thereafter he began to compile folk songs. Some prominent Kodavas reviewed his compilation (the Pattole Palome) and then C.S.Sooter the then Commissioner of Coorg got the British Government to publish it. In 1929 Chinnappa's translation of the Bhagwat Gita into Kodava thakk, called Bhagvathanda Patt got published. Chinnappa was also a well-known Kodava thakk poet. A good bowler and cricket player he was a member of the All Coorg XI cricket team. He was also involved in establishing the Coorg Central Bank and the Coorg Education Fund. He retired from the Police service and died aged 56 in 1931.

The Pattole Palame, a collection of Kodava folksongs and traditions compiled in the early 1900s by Nadikerianda Chinnappa, was first published in 1924. The most important Kodava literature, it is said to be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, collection of the folklore of a community in an Indian language. Family histories, rituals and other records were scripted on palm leaves by astrologers. These ancient, scripted leaves called Pattole(patt=palm, ole=leaf) are still preserved at Kodava Aine manes. Palame was the name for the hereditary oral tradition of folk songs and ballads among the Coorgs. The fourth edition of the Pattole Palame was published in 2002 by the Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy. Nearly two thirds of the book consists of folksongs that were handed down orally through generations. Many of these songs are sung even today during marriage and death ceremonies, during our festivals relating to the seasons and during festivals in honour of local deities and heroes. Traditionally known as Balo Pat, these songs are sung by four men who beat dudis as they sing. The songs have haunting melodies and evoke memories of times long past. Kodava folk dances are performed to the beat of many of these songs.

The Pattole Palame was written using the Kannada script originally; it has been translated into English by Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa, grandchildren of Nadikerianda Chinnappa, and has been published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi.^[1]

References

1. ^ An explanation for this. Retrieved 2010-10-17.