By P.T. Bopanna
Kundyolanda, a little known Kodava clan in Kodagu (Coorg) district of Karnataka, created history on April 28, 2024, by securing a Guinness World Record for hosting the largest field hockey tournament in the world.
The day will be remembered not just for the record set by a little known Kundyolanda clan, consisting of just 103 members from the remote Kolakeri village near Napoklu town.
The day will also symbolically mark the arrival (coming of age) of hundreds of little known Kodava clans, whose existence was hitherto hardly known. Out of the over 700 Kodava families, only a few dozens were in the public eye because they were the fortunate ones to receive higher education.
At the dawn of Independence in 1947, only the “big five” families mattered. They included clan names like Kodandera, Apparanda, Codanda, Biddanda, Coluvanda, Koravanda, Cheppudira, etc. These families had exposure to education and proximity to power.
With the opening of new schools across Kodagu in the last few decades, most families who were hitherto denied access to higher education, went in for higher education in a big way.
Education has been a big leveller. With the proliferation of good schools, the members of the so-called ‘nadkaras’, a crude term for uneducated (not able to converse in English), families, became the toast of the town, thanks to the employment opportunities in the new economy.
With fire in their belly, these one-time nadkaras went on to occupy high paying jobs in the corporate world. The members of the so-called elite Kodava families, had no problem in offering their daughters in marriage to these neo-rich Kodavas.
Coming back to the concept of Kodava family hockey, it was the brainchild of Pandanda Kuttappa, a retired bank official. The first family hockey tournament was held in 1997 with 60 families.
In the 24rd edition hosted this April by Kundyolanda family, there were a record 360 families which earned them the Guinness title. The finals of the match was held at the Gen Thimayya stadium at Nopoklu town.
Education is still not accessible to many Kodava families living in remote areas of Somwarpet taluk, including Surlabbi village, where the recent beheading of a girl had occurred.
To know more about Kodava family hockey, check out the link below:
https://www.coorgtourisminfo.com/coorg-tourism/family-hockey/
