PARANA Namme – essay by Rathan Kariappa Kanjithanda

An article which was the part of the essay writing competition on festivals of kodagu organised by kodavaclan during the lockdown.

Submitted

Rathan Kariappa Kanjithanda

PARANA Namme -the last boad namme of kodagu!

Parana , it’s the festival with unique rituals .  As the phase says “KUNDA’th BOTT’le NEANDHA KUDHURE , PARANA MAANI’lh ALINJA KUDHURE”. Parana is the last boad name of the year.

Every year this festival is celebrated at BERALI NAAD  on 31^st of may and 1^st of June.

As the people of berali naad sing “ bappaka parana bannathe baath, poopaka parana ennthe poopa….. dhammaya parana ommanlu poothe”, parana is not just a festival of celebration for them.. it’s a bunch of rituals ,recall of their tradition ,beauty of their customs  , it’s the blessings from the KAMMARATAPPA(eshwara) himself!   It’s just more than a festival for them!.

So let’s see what actually parana is!… what are its rituals? , how it is celebrated?!, and what makes it so unique among the other boad namme!!

Parana namme is celebrated in BERALI NAAD

Berali naad includes v.badaga, kandangala, 1^st  Rudruguppe and  2^nd Rudruguppe villages. And accordingly  on bassis of  villages and oor the berali naad parana boad is divided in mainly 5  parts

• Podhkeri kali
• Badaga kali
• Marodi kali
• Kandangala kali

And also the peggerimaad

Where as the Badaga kali includes {Konganda, Ammunichanda, Kolathanda, Gandangada, Kolathanda, Karthamada, Thitimada, Ammekanda, Kuppanda, Appanderavanda and Nambudumada} families, Podhkeri kali includes { Kanjithanda, Malavanda and Chemira} families, kandangala kali includes {Mookachanda, Cheriyanda, Balladchanda, Atrangada, Mechiyanda, Kenjangada and Manger} families, marodi kali includes {Chandura, Appanderavanda, Mullengada, Kottranda and Nambudumada } families where as peggari maad kali includes {Nadumane, Nayada, Mudagaddhe}

It all starts with the Namme kuripo at the Jodu Baghavathi temple in rudruguppe on 26^th of may every year,

From that day the Dhoolh edpo begins at each oor’s ambala

Dhoolh edpo;-

               Dhool edpo means from 26^th may  for 5 days that is till the parana festival day … all the 5 kali that is mentiond above with the respected families , most men from all family gather every evening in selected oor ambala or kaimada and sing the parana paat /tali paat it is also the part of  Namme kuripo, where symbolizing the nearing of  the parana namme and parsing the lord Kammaratappa (eshwara) this procedure follows every evening in all kali till 30^th may , where as on 30^th may the selected people from the oor/kali with the selected people from bandara thakka kanjithanda family offers Bandara to Kammaratapa it is called as Kammarat male’kh(hill) bandara poopo.

Kammarat male’kh bandara poopo?:- (offerings to lord eshwara)

 As the people of  berali naad calls the lord eshwara as kammaratappa, the adhi sthana (birth place) is located in the kammaratmale . on 30th may, few  selected people from all the oor with the bandara (bandara includes peoples offerings such as coins , alrupas  and pooja items) with poojari from Jodu bagavathi temple moves to kammarat’male carrying the bandara to  perform yearly mahapooja to the lord kammaratappa (eshwara)by  walking nearly 15+ kms bear footed crossing nearly 7 hills deep into the dense forest to kammart’male…. Kammarat’male is belived as the adhi sthana of  kammaratappa . and only once in year during parana namme selected oorkara with selected people from  bandara thakka kanjithanda family  is allowed  to go there… entry to the holy kammarat’male is restricted throught the year!

Side of the story :-

 “ there is a rumor that people of  Berali naad call lord eshwara as kammaratappa because kammaratappa is avathar of eshwara [kammaratappa means ‘kall(stone) mara(trees) appa(lord), as the adhi sthana(birth place) is located deep up in the dense forest filled with stones and tall trees]”.

On 31^st may morning the elected people to ware/lift the ESHWARA KUDHURE and AANE with max 3-4 people from all the 5 kali/oor /village goes to the Kudhure punda (holy bamboo) located  near the  badaga ambala to cut down the bamboo , to make Kudhure and  Aane out of it.. only 5 bamboos are allowed to be cut from there, each one  for  diff kali/oor/village.. after cutting down the required length of bamboo they return to their respective orr(village) carrying the bamboo and start making the Kudhure or Aane respectively [ kudhure’s will be of  7+feet and aane of 3+ feet] the measurements to prepare the Kudure or aanae is maintained from years in respective  places where they are tied.

Once the Kudhure and aane are made out of bamboo they are shifted to the any selected ainmane of  the village and kept there until the next day. Where series of poojas takes place to it.. until it is worn/lifted  by the elected  person of the village  

Side of the story:-

The kudhure punda (holy bamboo) located near the badaga ambala is said to be the oldest ever existing bamboo shoot in the entire kodagu ,

Usually bamboo shoot once planted vanishes for once in 40-50 years

But the kudhure punda(holy bamboo) which is used to make the Kudhure and Aane id nearly  couple of hundreds of years old and the only surviving oldest bamboo shoot ever recorded!

Unless its parana no one is allowed to touch or use the kudhure punda(holy bamboo)  throughout the year to maintain its sacredness .

Later on 31^st night it all  starts ,

the parana boad kali pordo,

In selected ainmane(ancestral house) of different oor kali ketto takes place.

Kali ketto/(devada kali):-

Parana kali /boad kali is believed as the avathar of eshwara,

Each kali in parana namme includes 4 dhoolh(drums), accompanied with kalikaras ,yarva dhudi kott and  people of the villages {the most popular forms of kali are the chule accompanied with vadda, papara jogi ,paale  koramba , kodagi etc} the kalikaras dresses up in desired kali and moves with the dhoolh to each and every houses present in their village/keri

The dhoolh and the kalikara’s enters the houses , the dhoolh (drums) will be placed in front of nellki bolcha, sings the tali paat/parana paat, blessing the house owner,where as even the kalikaras dressed up it different dresses and kali enters the house chanting and parsing the lord eshwara , its more like the lord kammaratappa(eshwara)himself entering their house.. while the house owners will be eagerly waiting the arrival of kalikaras with full of preparations (such as drinks , food,etc) in each house they may last of 10-15mins the vadda starts digging pit in front of house and starting band kali(applying mud to one another amogh the people and kali kara’s) then the dhoolh along with the kali kara’s moves to following house.

This follows in all the oor/keri from 31^st may night to evening of 1^st june until all the dhoolh and kalikara’s reach the respective Ainmane/Ambala where the Kudhure or  Aane are decorated and kept..

then the Kudhure or Aane will be lifted/worn by the elected people in the respective families,

Like wise all the 3 Kudhures and 2 Aanes  sets out separately from different keries/village to meet up in the maani beal, located near kandangala.

They meet up in an order badaga kali and podhkeri kali sets out separately from their keri with kudhure and meet up in chandura beal near the maani beal , then the marodi kali with their meets these  two kali  , but no one enters the mani beal unless all the kali meet up together and all 3 Kudhure and 2 Aane enters the maani beal, the poojaris  of Jodu Baghaathi temple along with bandara thakka awaits the  entering of  all Kudure and Aane into maani beal.

Once all enters the mani beal all Kudhure and Aane line up and walks  nearly 11 rounds inside the maani bealh along with the kalikaras from diff oor… at end of the 11^th round the pojaries  sprays the threetha all over the people inside the maani beal,concluding the end of kali and parana boad, then all the 3 Kudhure and 2 Aane  moves out of maani beal and the people starts preparing for the chopping … all the gold and silver jewels and the parana patt (red cloth dotted in white, which will be used to wrap kudhure/aane) from the kudhure and aane.

Thousands of  people all over kodagu and diff  place take the blessings of the Eshwara KUDHURE and collect basma and witness  the end of the last boad namme in kodagu the parana boad! In the holy mani beal.

In the end of parana namme the freshly built Kudhures and Aane from the holy Kudhure punda will be chopped into pieces !

Side of story :-

(fact about boad namme and kudhure edpo in kodagu)

Boad namme in kodagu starts in kudath bott (ponnampet) and ends in parana namme, all over kodagu where ever the boad namme is celebrated most of  the rituals seems alike , but in every other places the Kudhure /Aaane /moga is preserved from hundres of  years and  the same old one with little restoration will be used every year . but where as in Berali naad every year new  Kudhure /Aaane /moga will be made out of the holy kudhure punda!

And that’s the end of the PARANA TALE

Paat !!

“Thaniya lerala lerala lella                      thaani lelle lellaa, ‖

Kammaratappanda  parana namme     thani lellee lella, ‖

Berali naad ra parana boad                     thani lellee lella, ‖

Parana paat palathara unnd                   thani lellee lellaa, ‖”

 

“ BAPPA KA PARANA BANNATHE BAATH!

CHAI ULLO PARANA CHODH ULLO NAMME!

POOPAKA PARANA ENNTHE POOPA!

DHAMMAYA PARANA OMMALU POOTHE “

Compiled 

Source and information collected from:-

-Chemira Arjun

Collected and edited by;-  -Rathan Kariappa Kanjithanda

Article

PARANA Namme article by Rathan