Category Archives: badaga

Remembering with respect on this Centenary Day

[1916-2016]

There have been many Badagas whose lives have been very inspiring. Late Mr.A.Dharmalingam,  the First Badaga Journalist,  was not only a respected journalist but a great human being. Though, I did not have the honour of knowing him,  have heard enough about his interactions with Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder and other leaders of the Nilgiris when the problems of all types would be discussed threadbare.

It gives me great pleasure on behalf of http://www.badaga.co and others, to wish his son Venugopal, who is organizing the birth centenary celebrations on 11 Jan 2016, all success. – Wg Cdr JP

• Don’t take your medicine with cold water….
• Don’t eat heavy meals after 5pm.
• Drink more water in the morning, less at night.
• Best sleeping time is from 10pm to 4 am.
• Don’t lie down immediately taking medicine  or after meals
• When phone’s battery is low to last bar, don’t answer the phone, bcos the radiation is 1000 times stronger.

Dharmalingam Venugopal

Lord Shiva possesses several enchanting abodes on hill tops across the country.

He ought to be particularly delighted at the one atop the Birumokke Bettu ( flung out +landmark+ mountain) 1919 metre  tall 11.5 km NNE of Ooty in the village of Ebbanad (rising+tract of land). 4th Jan 2015 was the annual festival to propitiate the mighty lord of the mountains.

From atop the peak one can get a 360 degree view of the eastern and north eastern slopes of the Nilgiris including the magnificent Moyar valley and the Mysore plateau beyond. I have captured a few of the images of the festival. [Click the pic for enlargement]

Please see the post below where I had mentioned about uploading more Badaga Songs and Dance video clips that were part of the ‘Music of the Mountains’ and ‘Mountain Melodies’ concerts organised by Dharmalingam Venugopal at Chennai.

Here are more;

Dharmalingam Venugopal is a man of many talents. His knowledge on the history of the Nilgiris is phenomenal. His campaigns on ‘Save the Nilgiris’ are well known and brought in rich dividends. He is also involved in saving the rich tribal culture of the blue mountains called the Nilgiris in South India. He is member of many organisations that are involved in the preservation of the mountains. Recently he participated in an UNO sponsored event in the USA.

As part of a well thought out strategy to preserve the cultural traditions of the hill tribes like Badagas, Thodas and Kothas, he had organised ‘The Music of the Mountains’ in 2006 and ‘Mountain Melodies’ in 2008 at Music Academy and British Council respectively at Chennai.

In a recent meeting at my place in Coonoor, Dharmalingam Venugopal shared many of his thoughts that were highly educative and greatly impressive. He was kind enough to share the videos taken on the above mentioned ‘musical events’ and has permitted them to be made public.

The following clip of Badaga Dance is just a small ‘trailer’ of the many more video clips that will follow :

Watch it in full screen for greater enjoyment

Thank you Venu!

Happy New Year !

Osa Barashana Ollithe Aagali !!

See the fireworks Badagas of the Blue Mountains created by  WordPress.com. Check out their 2015 annual report.

Our Goddess Hethe stands for everything pure – pure as perfect white.

On this auspicious occasion of Hethe habba, wishing all the visitors and viewers a very happy Hethe Habba !

Ondhu, ombaththu aagali!

Bandha hechchali, badhukku Hechchali!

Kattidhadhu karayali, biththidhadhu baeyali!

Bhuddhi bevarava Kodali!

Uri Hogi, Siri barali!

Siri sippathi aagali!

Pava pariya nodi,

Olagadha hesaru eththi,  Badhukki baa!

—-

May good multiply nine fold!
May wealth and affluence grow!
May milk and crop be plentiful!
May intelligence and wisdom be given!
May jealous (and) anger give way to happiness!
May you care for dear and near!
May you prosper in life with name and fame!

[Courtesy – Dharmalingam Venugopal]

Hethe Habba has started in its full glory and grandeur.

The following pictures [taken on 25-12-2015] are of the traditional send of to the men [only male members are permitted] ‘going to Hethe Manay’ from Hubbathalai.

Some of these men carry a ‘holy’ wooden staff known as ‘DHADI’. These Dhadis are passed on from generation to generation in that particular family and are limited to every village. No new ‘Dhadi’ is permitted to be carried to Hethe Mane [temple].

As always, it takes place on the Friday – Bellie- in Badaga, preceding the main festival that always falls on a Monday, Sovara in Badaga.

On this day, every house in the hatti, pays a religious donation- kaanikke, of five HANA [in the olden days, a hana means a four anna -25paise coin and hence a total of one rupee and four annas or Rs.1.25]; now a days it can be five one/five rupee coins] and that is given at the SUTHTHU KALLU [sacred stone at the base of an olive tree – bikka mora], see the photos below. Usually, along with this mandatory FIVE HANA, people donate more money.

This donation is carried by the men/boys who go to Beraganni and Pedduva and paid in a ceremonial function known as ‘HANA KATTODHU -paying the money’. The amount is proportionately shared between the two Hethe Temples and spent on the puja and annadhana [free food] to the lakhs of devotees who throng these temples during the week long celebrations of Hethe Habba.

Multi Cultural Divinity of The Nilgiris

Hette, the weeklong annual worship of the ancestress of the Badagas of Nilgiris, which begins today, coincides this year with several auspicious days – the Vaikunta Ekadesi, Milad-un-Nabi and Christmas- underlining the multi-cultural divinity of the Nilgiri mountains.

Abbe Dubois, the French pundit of Hinduism wrote in 1848 , ‘There is one of these holy mountains in the district of Coimbatore. It is called Nilagiri-malai…the Hindus have made it a punyasthala or place of virtue…as it is very difficult to reach the top of this mountain, a view of the summit alone is considered sufficient to remove the burden of sin from the conscience of any person who looks at it, provided that he looks at it with that intention’.

According to an account, the famous Kalighat temple of West Bengal had its origin in the Nilgiris. A devote named Brahmananda Giri who was alone meditating in the Nilgiri hills decided to commit suicide as Kali would not appear to him. Goddess Kali not only appeared to him but also took him along with another devote to the present Kalikshetra.

It was in Kotagiri that the sacred Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, were first rendered into English by Rev. R.T.H. Griffith between 1880 and 1899.

Dargahs of famous Islamic saints who lived in the Nilgiris are still worshiped in places like Pandalur and Ooty.

Guru Nanak is believed to have visited Nilgiris on his second ‘Udesi’ around 1507 on his return from Sri Lanka. He is said to have passed through Cochin, Palghat and Srirangapatnam.

Shri. Aurobindu Ghose visited Ooty in 1895 at the invitation of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwar of Baroda.

Sree Narayana Guru visited the Nilgiris in 1926 and suggested the location for the present Gurukula at Ooty.

The Ramakrishna Mutt in Ooty is believed to have a special vibration among all Mutts in the country. Young J.J. Godwin, the stenographer of Swami Vivekananda, lies buried in St. Thomas’ Church at Ooty.

Rabindranath Tagore visited Nilgiris in 1919 as part of his tour of south India and stayed in Ooty about ten days
Since the British days, the Nilgiris has been an important centre for missionaries from several countries. Rev. C.F. Andrews, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi stayed in Kotagiri for several months in 1942.

[ Mahatma Gandhiji had visited the Nilgiris in 1934 and stayed at Mount Pleasant, Coonoor, as part of his South India tour. He himself has written about this in detail – Wg Cdr JP]

The Nilgiris has also been the home of Theosophists from their beginning from Madam Blavatsky to Dr. Anni Beasant.

Dharmalingam Venugopal

Nilgiri Documentation Centre, Kotagiri