54th Death Anniversary of Rao Bahadur H B ARI GOWDER
Happy Badaga Day!
Happy Badaga Day – 15th May !
Badaga Day (15th May)
May 15th is celebrated as Badaga day, every year. Many may not be aware that this has been done from 1993 onwards. The Porangadu Seeme (Mainly Kotagiri Area) has been celebrating this day as ‘Ari Gowder Day‘ also, in honour of Rao Bahadur H B Ari Gowder of Hubbathalai [See the link Great Badagas] who had done a lot for the Badaga Community, at Nattakal ‘Naakku Betta Koottu Hane’ (Naakku Betta Meeting Ground) which had seen many historic Badaga gatherings for over 80 years. Nattakal is near Kerben Village [near Kotagiri], on the main road from Coonoor.
As you browse the pages in badaga.co enjoy the music of this all time favourite
Badaga Dance song Mele Kerioge
For more Badaga Songs, visit Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash’s weblog
https://badaga-songs.blogspot.com/
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Indrani Radhakrishnan at Cambridge University Book Launch
Indrani Radhakrishnan to Grace ‘Inspiring Journey of a Woman’ Book Launch at Cambridge University
The London Organisation of Skills Development (LOSD) is proud to announce that Indrani Radhakrishnan, a distinguished lawyer, researcher, writer, and international award-winning peace ambassador, has been invited to the highly anticipated book launch of “Inspiring Journey of a Woman”. The event will take place at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, UK, on March 9, 2025 (offline), and March 7, 2025 (online), in celebration of International Women’s Day.
With a career spanning multiple fields—including law, education, research, and social activism—Indrani Radhakrishnan has been a strong advocate for women’s empowerment, human rights, and cultural heritage. As a Peace Ambassador and a member of the SPMUDA Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Advisory Council, she has made significant contributions to global peace and development initiatives. Her unwavering dedication has earned her prestigious accolades such as the World Peace Achiever Award and the Universal Children’s Day Award (2021) from the Philippine SPMUDA Organization.
Beyond her legal and humanitarian work, Radhakrishnan is a passionate writer and speaker, engaging with global audiences through Rotary clubs, conferences, and academic platforms. She is also the first in Badaga history to receive international recognition for her contributions. Her book, “The Lost Legacy of the Nilgiris”, is a pioneering work that sheds light on the rich history and heritage of the Nilgiris region.
At the book launch of “Inspiring Journey of a Woman”, she will join an esteemed panel of speakers and thought leaders to discuss the strength, resilience, and transformative power of women across the world. This event promises to be an inspiring occasion, bringing together voices that champion gender equality, leadership, and social change.
Indrani Radhakrishnan is a talented woman & an inspiration to all Badagas Proud of you Indrani.– Wg Cdr JP
Proud of you Rhea Purvi
photo courtesy : https://teetimetales.com/
photos : instagram.com/rheapurvi
You have made all of us proud Rhea
Badaga Girl from Ooty, The Nilgiris Wins The Prestigious Women’s Pro Golf Tour – First Woman From The State of Tamilnadu To Win This Tournament
Rhea Purvi is the daughter of Mrs Suguna (Adigaratty) and Group Captain N Saravanan (retd) from Melur Village.
Rhea got introduced to Golf when she was barely 5 and a half years old, during the time when her parents were in fact trying to pick up the sport. She picked it up faster though and played her first ever Golf Tournament in Lucknow and walked away with her first medal when she was 6 years and 1 month old.
One thing led to another and through the many transfers and changes in Schools and environments, she still managed to keep playing golf to the extent possible. Although she managed to win a few events here and there or finish runner up at the junior level, it wasn’t always a bed of roses. She has had her share of ups and downs, tears and smiles, plenty of near misses and lost opportunities as it is in the world of sport.
Through all those trials, tears and slippery paths, Rhea Purvi managed to stay the course and turned Professional under Women’s Golf Association of India, in 2021 . Since then, she has been participating in about 15 to 16 tournaments every year, all over India and maintains a creditable merit in golf while also topping in academics through and through.
After a few Top 10, Top 5 finishes as a Professional Golfer, on 10 January 2025, Rhea Purvi showed her mettle to win her Maiden Professional title on the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour, thereby becoming not only the first woman from The Nilgiris but the first woman from the State of Tamil Nadu to win this prestigious title.
Hoping this is just the start of many more prestigious moments for her, as she now sets her eyes on a few International tournaments too this year.
Rhea, All the best for your success in all your future endeavours
(Samantha Iyanna – Coonoorian in Facebook)
Late HA Bhojraj, son of Rao Bahadur HB Ari Gowder, Hubbathalai was the first Badaga to have won many Golf Tournaments, in the Nilgiris including South India Golf Championships in 1950s/1960s, His name figures in the honour boards of Wellington Gymkhana and Ooty Gymkhana Clubs.
Rhea Purvi is the First Badaga Woman Golfer to have made a mark in the Golf Professional Circuit. We are very proud of you Rhea Purvi. Doubly happy that you belong to Air Force Family being the daughter of Gp.Capt Saravanan of Melur Hatti – Wg Cdr Bellie Jayaprakash
Hethey Habba at Hubbathalai
Hethey Habba – Hubbathalai ‘Hana Kattodhu’
Hethey Habba the biggest festival of Badagas of the Blue Mountains, The Nilgiris, is a time that unites the Badagas more than anything else. The villagers gather together around the village Suththukal, in the temple complex, pay a token amount called Dhadi Hana, on the friday, just before the Hethey Habba monday (this year 2025, the habba is on Monday, the 20th January). The amount collected is deposited at the sacred Hethey Temple at Beraganni Village, by the villagers who go the Beraganni village, who are called Hethey Kararu, some of them carring the sacred sticks called Dhadi. They are given a warm and respectful send off. They undertake this journey by foot.
The distance to Beraganni from Hubbathalai is about 33 km and it takes about nine/ten hours. This time Chandra, an ex Army Veteran & famous hockey player of yester years and Mahesh, from Hubbathalai village are undertaking this pious journey for the 37th year contineously.
This solemn occasion is called Hana Kattodhu (paying money). and it was celebrated with full traditional gaiety at Hubbathalai.
With Captain Pavithra Manohar, who made the Badagas proud by being the First Badaga lady who won the President of India Sword of Honour when she passed out of Officers Training Academy, Chennai in Oct 2022, (now posted in the North East of India); she had come to attend the Hethey Habba festival – Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash (Veteran Indian air Force Officer)
Happy New Year !
Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy
&
Properous
New Year
How can I thank you for making this website join the million (1028,000) hits club ?
This website was started two decades ago, since I felt that correct information about Badagas was not available at that time as well as my conviction that what is known about Badagas as a hill tribe is much less than what is NOT known. What started as a hobby has become an obsession now. Plenty more to be probed and the truth that Badagas are an indegenous tribe of the Nilgiris and the so called migration theory, that Badagas migrated from Mysore, is more of a myth and not the complete truth.
Wg Cdr Bellie Jayaprakash
A great Badaga Song by Bugri Music Academy
Hethegu Dhukkaththa – by Porthy SJ Mani
A great song that describes the evil practice among a few Badagas who despise other Badagas, known as Nattaru, settling in a village which is not native to them but probably have married from that same hatti (Vilage). Great lyrics, haunting music and a video with mainly Thooratti Village people in the cast.
Baduga Music Academy (BMA) Trustee T.Mynalai Bojaraj added this song to create (Badaga) Community Unity Awareness. This is BMA’s first Cultural Project.
A must watch in Toutube Channel
https://youtu.be/xu1aa3RoUh4?si=9TGaSminA1xWbPfV
Lyrics & Vocal – S J Mani – Porthi (Chairman of Bugiri Music Academy)
Music – Bojaraj (Bugri Music Studios, Ooty – 9489717334
Camera & VFX Dheebarna (Bugri Media)
For more info on BMA www.youtube.com/@badugamusic academy
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Badaga Script by Kadasoley Yogesh Raju
Badaga Script by Kadasoley Yogesh Raju
Yogesh prefers to call Badaga Language as BADUGU and has been a dedicated inventor of Badaga/Badugu Script for more than fifty years. See more about Yogesh here –https://badaga.co/2019/05/08/badugu-badaga-script/
How to install Badaga font and type in the system – Step by step
- Download Badaga Font (KBadaga3) from https://www.dafont.com/badaga.font . This small download is in zip ( unzip and install)
2. Install Badaga font
3. Download and Install Pada Pada Software For Indic Scripts in the system.
‘Pada Software’ is a Word processor for Indic Scripts, especially for Kannada script, ‘Pada‘ means a ‘Word‘ in the Indian language Kannada which is mainly used in the southern region of India. The software is a collection of tools for processing Indic scripts and is also suitable for BADAGA Script developed by Yogesh Raju. This has become possible courtesy Prof, K Rao of Manipal University.
Click the download tab given above, Scroll down and choose the following version – PadaSoftware-Indic-Installer 4.1. https://www.pada.pro/download/ See the screen shot below.
Do not choose the later or other versions as it may not give the EXACT Badaga/Badugu script as developed by Yogesh.
Choose the following Options from the drop down menu when you open Pada Software installed in the system. Language – Hindi, Keyboard – Nudi(KP.Rao), Encoding – UTF 8 & Font – KBadaga
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Mookuthi 
Chinna 
==
Badagas of the Blue Mountains 