Maletira okka

Contents

0.1 About the okka
- 0.1.1 Maletira-1(Kuklur)
- 0.1.2 Maletira -2 (Kedamullur)

1 Moolapurusha
2 Ainmane
3 Eminent people

About the okka

Maletira-1(Kuklur)

Pattamada in Bengur were originally Maletira (an old branch). Later they were called Pattamada because a patta (brahmin) married into that bhaga. One Maletira boy mannk nindiya (settled) in Kuklur and his branch continued to carry the name Maletira.

Another story says that Maletira and Bachettira were originally in Bengnad. The Raja moved these okkas that were known to be capable and braveto Kuklur and Kadanga Muroor respectively so that they could protect the border of his kingdom with Kerala. The Pattamada okka got the Maletira land in Bengur – they still have a field there called Maletira aka. The Maletira and Pattamada okkas are not related by blood and can intermarry.

Maletira and Bachettira from Bengur were among the okkas taken to Srirangapattana by Tippu, and their land was given to the Pattamada okka .Before the Bhadrakali temple was built (on Maletira land), ancestors of the Maletira okka used to shelter the Bhadrakali image there with an oli kode (palm leaf umbrella).

When the Nandiyanda okka in Kuklur became extinct, the Maletira okka got their land.

There is another Maletira-2 okka in Kedamullur that is not related to this Maletira-1 okka in Kuklur. This okka in Kuklur is referred to as petekara (urban) and the Kedamullur one as botekara (hunters). Youngsters in the okka wanted the two okkas to merge because the Kedamullur okka is a larger one now, and would allow them a better team for the inter-okka hockey match. But that was opposed by this okka.

Maletira -2 (Kedamullur)

There are three bhagas in this okka.. Each had its own ainmane in KedamuỊỊur. One was called balya mane, the second was called cheriya mane and the third was called naduvatha mane. Balya mane fell down and that bhaga does not have an ainmane now. This ainmane is cheriya mane. The naduvatha mane is there, but all the members of that okka do not get together there, only the few who live near it do. The kaimada is common for all the three bhagas and they all get together there for Mechu Ajjappa there and Guru Karanang meedi beppa.

Members of the MaỊetira and Bachettira okkas in Bengur were among those taken to Srirangapattana by Tippu, and their land was given to the Pattamaḍa.

When the MaỊetira okka was in Bengur (Cherambaṇe), during the rule of Chikka Viraraja (1820-34), there were two brothers in that okka who were very brave and bold. Once when the brothers were involved in a fight, they were caught by the king’s men and taken to the court. The king was looking for strong men to curtail the influence of his enemy, Kotangaḍi Vira Verma of Kerala, in Kodagu. So he told the MaỊetira brothers that he would spare their lives if they could kill two vassals of Vira Verma – both Kaniyas from Kerala who lived in KedamuỊỊur and Kuklur and harassed the people there and collected tax for Vira Verma. He also promised to give them the land and thakkame of the Kaniyas. One of the MaỊetira brothers, Mechayya, attacked Kachchutta Kaniya of KedamuỊỊūr when he was working in the fields and cut off his head. The king fulfilled his promise and Mechayya, the karanava of this okka, established his okka in KedamuỊỊur. The other brother, Subbiah, killed the Kaniya in Kuklur and established his okka there. He is its karanava .The two MaỊetira okkas (in KedamuỊỊur and Kuklur) have not kept up the relationship, although their karanavas are brothers, and are now separate okkas.

Another version of the story above: When the size of the okka increased, their karanava Mechayya (Mechu ajja) went to the king and asked for more land to maintain the okka. The king impressed by the fact that the okka had 105 thott kunji (babes in cradles), gave him 500 bhatti bhumi. Mechu ajja also wanted the urand nad thakkame that Kachchutta Kaniya had. The king asked him to bring him the Kaniya’s head. When he did that, the king was shocked and horrified. He asked him to swear that he was telling the truth by picking up the king’s signet ring kept in a pot of boiling oil. Mechu ajja did that and was given the thakkame. But on his way back home, a Mathanḍa man who was jealous of him killed him. It is believed that when he was dying he laid his head on the large rock next to the kaimada.