Chekkera Okka

About the okka

When the king went to name the okka he was hungry, and the cow-herds of this okka  gave him a chekke (jack-fruit) to eat. So he called them Chekkera!

For some reason Karanava Motiah’s younger brother was made porambaḍi (ex-communicated from the okka). The bhaga of his descendants is a small one, settled in Kaḍanga. (They do not have an ainmane there.) There is no relationship between the two bhagas, but they get together as a team to play at the annual inter-okka Kodava hockey festival

The okka dates back to 1600 AD. They settled in Koṇageri, Kiggatnaḍ. The Kodagu Raja offered their ancestor Motiah Patelgiri of the whole of Anjigerinaḍ, and authorized him to collect the tax revenue due from the area and deposit it in Madikeri. Motiah was gifted an elephant by the King. When the king became apprehensive of the Chekkera  okka’s prosperity, he ordered that they should bear the cost of maintaining his elephants. Later he got their ainmane burnt. Yet they continued to see that the revenue they had collected on the King’s behalf was deposited safely in his treasury.

Eminent people

Navy

• Chekera Bellipppa Commodore

Entertainment

• Chekkera  Pancham  Bopanna