Nature's bounty

Summer is already upon us and the specter of severe power and water shortage has already started haunting us. Politicians, as usual, are handing out assurances left, right and centre and none seem to be really bothered about the real problem plaguing the State.

The water table across the State has gone down alarmingly and almost all the districts of  north Karnataka, including, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Bidar, Raichur, Hubli-Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag have reported depleting water levels.

The rivers are drying up and the levels in the reservoirs are also fast receding. What bodes ill for the people and the state is the failure f the authorities in coming up with a comprehensive and long term water policy.

Harnessing rain water, recharging ground water, desilting tanks and lakes, recreating the storm water drainage, introducing better water management techniques and first of all immediately halting deforestation of forests and green patches and taking up sustained and productive afforestation seems to be the only way.

Let us see the hydrological features of the State and its potential. Since this is a vast topic, this post is restricted to reservoirs and this is the first part of the auricles on waters of Karnataka  .

Karnataka has the potential to show to the rest of the country the way to go forward in water management techniques. The eighth largest State in India, Karnataka has four main physiographical regions that distinguish it. They are the coastal region which comprise a 240 kms land mass between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats: the Malnad region which is to the east of the Western Ghats and which has several peaks: the north and south plains which form part of the Deccan Plateau.

The State has two types of drainages or watersheds: the east-flowing rivers Krishna and Cauvery with their many tributaries and the west-flowing rivers. The Western Ghats are the wedge between the watersheds and they feed both the east-flowing and west-flowing rivers with a large quantity of water.

The surface flow, in many rivers and their tributaries, like the Cauvery, Krishna, Tungha, Bhadra, Kapila, Shimsha has been interrupted by dams, bunds, reservoirs for irrigation and power generation.

The main river of the State is Krishna and its flows from Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh and it carries an annual discharge of 37 000 million m3. Krishna is fed by five main tributaries of which Tungabhadra and Bhima are the largest. A majority of the tributaries and their subtributaries have been regulated by construction of dams and reservoirs.  The Cauvery, which originates in Talacauvery in Kodagu, flows into Tamil Nadu, and being an upper riparian State, Karnataka taps a substantial quantity of the river water. The main river is harnessed by the dam at Krishnarajasagar and all the tributaries upstream and below Krishnarajasagar are also regulated to create reservoirs.

The east-flowing rivers are harnessed mainly for irrigation, while the west flowing streams are regulated to tap their potential to generate hydro-electric power.

Karnataka, like Tamil Nadu has a traditional irrigation system of impounding surface flow of water by constructing small earthen dams across streams, creeks and rivulets and they are generally called as tanks.

Tanks are present in all the districts of Karnataka, except Kodagu and Government estimates say there are 4 605 large irrigation tanks, covering 213 404 hectares, with an average area of 50 hectares, as opposed to 19 673 small tanks, with an average area of less than 7 hectares.

Karnataka has 74 reservoirs and they cover an area of 223 887 hectares, nearly four times that of Tamil Nadu. Among the 74 reservoirs, 46 are classified as small, viz., < 1 000 ha with a waterspread of 15 253 ha. If irrigation tanks are also included, the total surface water area of small reservoirs is 228 657 ha.

The 16 medium reservoirs have an area of 29 078 ha and the large reservoirs (> 5 000 ha), over 179 556 ha. Among the small reservoirs, those less than 500 ha outnumber the rest. Thus, Karnataka has 437 292 ha of water area under different categories of man-made impoundments.

The largest reservoir in Karnaataka is Linganamakki in Shimoga district. Incidentally, Shimoga district has the maximum number of reservoirs in the State. The districts of Bellary, Belgaum, Mandya, Bijapur, Uttar Kannada, Chitradurga, Hassan and Mysore also have large reservoirs.

Small reservoirs are mostly irrigation structures, distributed in all the districts. Kolar has the maximum of such structures with  625 tanks and 2 reservoirs. Shimoga (662 units; 13 762 ha) and Bellary (193 and 46 022 ha).

Riverine resources of Karnataka
Name of the river/tributary	Annual mean discharge (million m3)	Main river	Flowing to (Neighbouring State)	Ultimate destination
East flowing
Main river Krishna	37 000	-	Andhra Pradesh	Bay of Bengal
Bhima	12 690	Krishna	Do	do
Ghataprabha	5 380	do	Do	do
Malaprabha	1 980	do	Do	do
Tungabhadra	14 700	do	Do	do
Vedavati	1 410	do	Do	do
Main river Cauvery	6 200	-	Do	do
Herangi	1 130	Cauvery	Tamil Nadu	do
Hemavati	2 520	do	Do	do
Shimsha	1 700	do	Do	do
Arkavati	850	do	Do	do
Lakshmanathirtha	425	do	Do	do
Kabini	2 600	do	Do	do
Suwarnavati	820	do	Do	do
West flowing
Sharavati	4 545	Sharavati	-	Arabian Sea
Kalinadi	6 537	Kalinadi	-	do
Netravati	4 615	Netravati	-	do
Gangavati	4 925	Gangavati	-	do

 

The dance of the Danduas

This form of dance owes its origin directly to Shiva. It is also a celebration of Shiva dancing. Its participants are exclusively males and females are barred from joining in.

A ritualistic dance, it begins on an auspicious date and day before Chaitra Sankranti. The dance is an integral part of a very popular festival which may go on for 13, 18 or 21 days.

The male participants who perform the dance are very similar to the Karaga bearer of Bangalore Karaga. Just as the Karaga bearer, the participants of this dance avoid meat, fish and alcohol and for the duration of the festival they lead a pious and austere life.

The participants also avoid cohabiting with women and spend most of their time praying to Shiva in whose name they dance. Brahmins, people from lower caste and other sects and class join together to celebrate this unique brand of dance, music, drama and street play.

The dress code is strict and the dance is performed on the streets and the dance is not one but it has many components and each component has its own theme, lyrics and even music.

The festivities begin with the participants initially observing a strict vow of abstinence and this is followed by period where they inflict wounds on themselves.

Today, this histronic art has become an integral part of Orissa and it is called as Danda Nata, Danda Jatra or Danda Nacha. The word Danda means staff or stick and Natha or Nacha means dance.

The participants who wield the stick in this form of dance are called Bhoktas or Danduas (devotees who have taken a vow)and they are supposed to lead an austere and simple life for the duration of the dance period,   

This dance form is generally held for three months beginning March in the districts of Ganjam and Kandhamal.

The Danda Nata is a ritualistic festival held from Chaitra and it begins on an auspicious day before the Chaitra Sankranti or Meru Parba with traditional worship and fasting.

The total number of days for the festival is 13, 18 or 21 days. Only males can participate and they avoid eating meat, fish or cohabiting during this period.

There is a beautiful legend about how the dance originated. Shiva was teaching his son Ganesha the nuances of dance, including Tandava Nrithya. Shiva was so absorbed in his dance that he accidentally kicked the wooden stage on which he was dancing. The kick made a sound like “Dan”. A little later, a piece of brass material from the anklet that Shiva worn broke off  and it hit a percussion instrument known as Mardala hard and crated a sound “Da.”

This is how the Dan and Da came together and today it is Danda.

This is also how Danda came to be associated with the dance. The dance not only invoked Shiva but a host of other Gods such as Vishnu, Krishna, Ganesha, Kali and Durga.

The Danduas inflict wounds on themselves to worship Shiva. This is the beginning of Danda. Then comes fasting, having a single meal a day made up of rice and dal, and worshipping Gods before the actual dancing commences.

The ritualistic dance consists of a series of dances which are performed one after another. The participants from the Ghasi community provide music with Dhol and Mahuri. The first  repertory of the dance is Parva dance. Then comes the Hara Parvati dance.

 Next ensemble is a group dance of Fakir and Fakiriani followed by Savara and Savarani, Chadeya and Chadouni. All these dances are performed one after another. Once the dances end, the group of Danduas perform a “leela” which is generally  based on a story from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata or any other purana. This is song and dance ritual and the closing performance is called Binakarr.

All these various dances have different themes and each role in each dance is well defined and they sing a different tune. The songs are mainly devotional and they too are mostly based on stories from the Epics. Humorous songs are sometimes sung by the dancers and in some performances, Danduas frame questions in songs and their counterparts answer. The songs are of folk and Odissi style.

The dance is performed in three phases -Dhuli Danda, Pani Danda and Agni Danda.

The Dhuli Danda generally takes place in the afternoon when the Danduas roll barebodied on the ground under a blazing sun. During sunset, they assemble at a nearby pond or water body and perform Pani Danda. The Agni Danda is held in the night.

The Danduas stay near a temple and they perform on the streets and in front of one house each day when they asked to do so by a particular house owner. Groups of  40 to 100 Danduas make one troupe. The head of a group is called Bada Patta Dandua or Bada Patta Bhukta.

Getting onto the group is no easy task. Its members are very carefully selected. There is a strict dress code with the use of only white, yellow or saffron. The deities are carried in a small red box and are fanned by peacock plumes.

The Danduas are supposed to eat only once in a day. They can drink water only during Pani Danda in the evening.

After visiting several villages and after months of dancing, the group members return home the day before “Bisuba” Sankranti. They then perform all the rituals in front of a Kali temple. During this ritual, a person will hang upside down for three minutes before a holy fire.

Danda Nata thus is an ancient form of dance, music and dramatics blended with religion, culture and devotion.

When Deepavali is a day of mourning

There has been an ongoing debate about Tipu Sultan's excesses against the Hindus and his destruction of Hindu temples and religious institutions.

In recent days, this debate has reached a crescendo with one section backing Tipu as a freedom fighter and brave warrior and another pointing out to his harsh treatment of Hindus and the wanton destruction of temples.

A little known fact about Tipu is that he indeed did give generous gifts to Hindu temples and Hindu religious institutions such as the temples in Sringeri, the Cheluvanarayana and Yoga Narasimha temple in Melkote, the Ranganatha temple in Srirangapatna and the Nanjundeshwara temple in Nanjangud.

However, there are also records of the manner in which Tipu massacred people in Kerala. Tipu also massacred nearly 800 Brahmins in Melkote in Mandya district and this happened on Naraka Chaturdashi more than two centuries ago.

All the massacred Brahmins in Melkote belonged to what is popularly known as Mandyam Iyengars and they all belonged to a single gotra-Bharadwaja. All these Iyengars had settled down at Melkote and they had come down to the temple town from Tirupathi.

The Mandyam Iyengers were masters of Sanskrit. They spoke a distinct dialect of Tamil called Mandyam Tamil.

All the Mandyam Iyengars belonged to the Thenkalai sect of Iyengars. It was time of the last Anglo-Mysore war between Tipu on one hand and the British and Nizam of Hyderabad on the other hand.

Tipu has been seething with anger at what he considered humiliating and unfair terms of the treaty that brought an end to the third Anglo-Mysore war. He was particularly harsh on his detractors and critics.    

One day, Tipu received news that one of his Hindu or rather Brahmin ministers, Shamaiah Iyengar had allied himself with the Dowager Queen of the Wodeyars, Lakshmammani, and had joined hands with the British to oust him.

Unlike his father, Hyder Ali, who had respected the Mysore royal family, Tipu had shown scant regard and respect for them. He had a rather strained relationship with the Mysore royals.

Queen Lakshammanni, the Dowager Queen of Mysore, began trying to regain the throne when Hyder Ali usurped power. She started negotiating with the British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala Row (It is Rao but the British used it as Row) and Narayana Row. She had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the income of the state as their salary in perpetuity. When Hyder came to know of this agreement, he imprisoned all their relatives.

After Hyder’s death, the Queen intensified her efforts to place a Wodeyar back on the throne of Mysore. Though Tipu maintained a safe distance from the Wodeyars, he kept a wary eye on them.  

When news of the Dowager Queen interacting with the British with help from Shamaiah Iyengar reached Tipu, he decided to take revenge. The agreement signed between the British General Harris of Madras and Tirumaliyengar further infuriated Tipu. Tirumaliyengar was often referred to by the British as Tirumala Row. He was the Pradhan of Mysore.

Tipu ordered his troops to round up all Mandyam Iyengars of Melkote, many of whom were relatives and friends of Tirumaliyengar, and he massacred them in cold blood.

The slaughter was on the day when the Mandyam Iyengars were getting ready to celebrate Naraka Chaturdashi. The celebrations turned into mourning.

The slaughter literally led to the death of Melkote. All people abandoned the temple city and it soon turned into a ghost town. The 29 Kalyanis in Melkote went to dust, water shortage became endemic and the hills browned and of course Sanskrit lost a home.

To this day, the Mandyam Iyengars of  Melkote do not celebrate  Deepavali. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the despicable incident in any history book, but even now local folklore and a few accounts of the horrifying event still exist.

Recent research on the incident by Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan  have proved that the incident did take place and among those massacred were women. The research was presented at a seminar at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore.

Another lopsided fact of history is that the heroic role Queen  Lakshammanni in protecting her family and her relentless battle for the restoration of the throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, is not adequately mentioned. The only acknowledged account is the three-volume History of Mysore by Hayavadana Rao.

The Queen managed to live up to the promise that she had made to her husband Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, that the Mysore throne would revert back to them and that their scion would ascend the throne. The Queen was helped in this endeavour by Tirumalaiyengar and Narayana Rao. These Pradhans were loyal to the Wodeyars and they played a vital role in protecting the royal family.
Unfortunately, the Queen and the Pradhans are a forgotten chapter of history. It is only during Deepavali that the sacrifice of the Pradhans come to light and that too only among the Mandyam Iyengars.

These children are special

Two of the greatest scientists of all times suffered from it. They, however, overcame this disability and went on to make monumental discoveries which changed the path of mankind.

Both the scientists showed symptoms of this debility from an young age. If one of them was Sir Issac Newton, the other was Albert Einstein and both suffered from Autism.

Latest research suggests that Einstein, who is credited with developing the theory of relativity, and Newton, who discovered the laws of gravity, had these traits to varying degrees.

Einstein showed signs of Asperger's from a young age and as a child, he was a loner and often repeated sentences obsessively until he was seven years old. He was also a notoriously confusing lecturer.

Researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities believe both scientists displayed signs of Asperger's Syndrome   

Autism is a disorder of the nerves and it is generally characterised by impaired social interaction, broken communication and repetitive behavior.

Neurologists generally believe that the debility can be cured if it is diagnosed early-before a child attains three years of age. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize. Unfortunately, we do not know how this occurs. If this can be found out, the cure to Autism would not be far off.

 Autism is one of three recognised disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS).

Autism has a strong genetic basis and its prevalence is about 1–2 per 1,000 people worldwide.

Unfortunately, the number of people diagnosed with autism has been increasing dramatically since the 1980s, and India is no exception. There has been a six-fold rise in the number of autism cases and from an estimated 20 lakh cases in 2003, there are today  1.36 crore autism patients in India.

Globally, one in every 88 children is born with autism now against a ratio of one in 150 till a few years ago.

Though this life-long disability  manifests itself during the first three years of life, a fairly large number of autistic patients in India continue to go undiagnosed or do not receive the services they need.

This is mainly due to lack of awareness and misunderstanding about autism among the medical professionals. The lack of basic equipment and improper diagnosis of autism has led to increase in autism in India.

Neurologists say early detection of this incurable disease can help a child lead his full potential but many medical professionals are unable to detect the disorder. The less said about the parents the better.

People, including parents, often mistake autism for mental disorder. People suffering from autism may be slow learners but as Albert Einstein and Newton have proven, they do have brilliant minds.

In Bangalore, one of the best centres for treating neurological disorders is NIMHANS.

The child and adolescent psychiatry services of NIMHANS offers a range of services to children suffering from neurological disorders.

Two years ago, scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), an affiliate of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), located in Bangalore gave hope to people suffering from autism.

They mapped for the first time in the world  the defective connections between nerve cells in the emotional hub of the brain of mice who had Fragile X Syndrome.

While a fragile X chromosome may be passed from one generation to the other with no debilitating effects, the syndrome does affect one in 4,000 men and one in 6,000 women. Neurologists have said that  20 per cent of boys with autism have the condition due to Fragile X.

The syndrome is the most common inherited cause of intellectual impairment and it is also diagnosed as the most common genetic cause of autism. This chromosome can cause poor emotional response, hyperactivity, LD and attention deficit.

The research found the long-term ravages of autism could be reversed with medication in mice.

A few months ago, yet another research project on autism took off in Bangalore. An Indo-UK project, it aims to develop better diagnostic techniques for brain disorders and to unravel the mystery behind autism.

This research is now being carried out at the  Centre for Brain Development and Repair which is located inside the campus of Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

The focus of the research is to  study genetic, neural and behavioural components of autism and at the same time find an answer to the disorder.
The centre, however, does not offer any clinical services

The unfinished Raja Dwara

At first sight, they look as if they are part of a bigger ruins or building. Though the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has a board stating that this a protected monument, there is not much information about it.

A small number steps lead from the winding road to the structure. It must be the most imposing ruin in the area, having stood silently for several centuries.

This is the Rajdwara or Raja Gopura of Melkote, a temple town of Mandya district in Karnataka state.

This ancient monument is believed to be more than a thousand years. Legend has it that this massive unfinished structure was conceived and constructed by the legendary sculptor and artiste Jakanacharya of the Hoysala Kingdom.

Jakanacharya was a renowned sculptor of the Hoysala Kingdom. His design of Chennakeshava temple at Belur had already made him a legend.

Born in Kaidala, now in Tumkur district, Jakanacharya had abandoned his village and family and come to Dwarasamudra, the Hoysala capital, to eke out a living. The Hoysala Kings saw the talented artiste and gave him all the encouragement needed. The more monuments he built, the more his fame spread.

The Hoysalas then conferred on Jakanacharya the title Amarshilpe.

When the Hoysalas began to endow the temples of Melkote with their largesse, Jakanacharya too was asked to contribute.

The then Hoysala Emperor, Vishnuvardhana, earlier known as Bittideva, was camped in Melkote. He was meeting the Srivaishnava saint, Ramanujacharya, who had been driven out of Chola Kingdom.

Ramanajucharya had settled down at Melkote. He had cured Vishnuvardhana’s daughter of an illness. A grateful Vishnuvardhana had offered the saint half his Kingdom.

Ramanujacharya declined the offer and asked Vishnuvardhana to convert back to the Vaishnava fold. Vishnuvardhana gladly did so and he also accepted the saint’s advice to construct a Raja Gopura and a gate to the Cheluva Narayana Temple.

Ramanajucharys wanted the gate to be built in one night. Vishnuvardhana then entrusted the job to Jakanacharya.

The master sculptor kept all his tools and boulders ready and set to work.

The massive gate has no foundation and the huge boulders have been placed on  bare land.  If you climb on top of the gate, you can see Shravanabelagola afar and even the backwaters of KRS Dam near Mysore.

By then, Vishnuvardhana had renovated and repaired the Yoga Narasimha temple atop the hill and the Cheluva Narasima temple.

Some of the sculptors, who were jealous of the growing popularity of  Jakanachary and his closeness to the Hoysala Emperors, challenged the master craftsman to construct a massive doorway with a doorjamb and stately entrance within 24 hours.

Jakanacharya surveyed the entire Melkote town and chose a spot which today is just opposite the Academy of Sanskrit research.

Jakanacharya then set about arranging the huge boulders and also sculpted four massive pillars, two on each side of what would be the Raja Gopura to Melkote.

He wanted the Rajadwara to be the entrance for people coming to Melkote from Mysore side.

Work began at 5 a.m., and by night, the present standing Raja Gopura had already emerged. Some of  Jakanacharya’s jealous detractors came to the work spot and tried to engage the Amarshilpe in conversation and small talk.

Jakanacharya did not deign to reply but continued with his work. Fearing a loss of face and consequent lowering of their dignity, the detractors hatched a despicable plan to outsmart Jalanacharya. They bribed the bugler, who was stationed nearby, to sound the bugle.

When the bugler sounded his bugle, Jakanacharya was disappointed at losing his bet. However, when he realized that the bugle had sounded at 9 p.m., and that he had more than eight hours of time left, he was shocked and hurt at the manner in which he had been deceived.

He gave one last look at the unfinished monument and walked away, a disgusted man. No amount of pleading would bring back Jakanacharya to the unfinished structure.

To this day, the pillars look unfinished and ravaged by time. Of the four pillars, two are 30 feet in height. Imagine how it would look had it been completed.

The drive or walk from the Akka and Tangi Kalyani to the unfinished doorway is worth its while. The structure would give us an insight of what could have been had Jakanacharya completed the structure.

Melkote during  

The structure was almost forgotten but today, it has got a fresh lease of life, thanks to several films that have been shot here. Rajanikanth in Padaiappam Aishwarya Rai in Na Na Na Re from Guru and Vishnuvardhana in some of his Kannada films have chosen the massive structure as a suitable background.

A little farther away is a place called Dhanushkodi. This is the place where Rama shot his arrows at the ground when Sita wanted water.

The view from the Raja Gopura and Dhanushkodi is superb. Do not forget to taste the Puliyogre and sweet pongal of Melkote. Ask the temple priests or check out with the numerous Iyengar eateries in the temple town.

Melkote is a little over 51 kms from Mysore and 133 kms from Bangalore. It is very easily accessible by road from almost all cities in Karnataka. Mandya is the nearest district and Pandavapura a fairly big town and a taluk of Mandya district

The fronds of extinction

This plant is as old as the Dinosaurs. A rare plant, it has medicinal properties and in Karnataka it is mainly found in the forests in and around Melkote in Mandy district.

Unfortunately, the plant is on the verge of extinction and in the next few years it may go the Dinosaurs way if remedial measures are not taken immediately to save this plant.

The plant is being recklessly being exploited  for commercial purposes and this is the main reason for it to be put on the endangered list.

The plants, apart from its medicinal properties, is used as an attractive background for floral arrangements. The cut flower trade demand in Bangalore is another reason for the plant to start losing out. The fronds are extensively used during decoration of bouquets.

The major markets for the fronds are Mumbai and Bangalore. Every day, several lorry loads are transported to these cities by the locals and the price varies from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 for each frond.

Apart from Melkote, botanists have recently come across a very small patch of this plant in Bellary district. The plant can come up even in semi-arid conditions and even in rough soils or the lack of it. Yet, this hardy plant is almost on the verge of entering into history books.  

The plants belong to one of the most ancient species in the country and it is classified as Cycas Circinalis. It is not found anywhere else in the State barring the Narayandurga forests in the Melkote wildlife reserve.

Botanists say that the humid climatic condition of Melkote and the rocky terrain of the region interspread with shrubs and trees, are well-suited for its growth.
Cycases belong to the group of Gymnosperms. What sets them apart is that the male and female plants are separate and they are rather slow growing.

There are two species of this plant in South India- Cycas Cercinalis and Cycas Revoluta. The former is a native, while the latter is introduced species.

It is also called Dinosaur Foot Tree as it resembles a Dinosaur’s foot. Several species of butterflies are dependent on this plant as it helps in pollination.
In India, three species of the Cycas Circinalis family are found in different states. While one species is found in Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, the other is found in parts of Orissa and another species in found in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. However, Circinalis is confined only to Narayandurga forests in Karnataka.
The Yadavagiri Hills of Melkote are the last rocky ridges of the Sahayadri ranges and they comprise some of the oldest rock formations on the Earth.

The hill is the last home to the rare plant. Botanists say that at least 50 per cent of the habitat is estimated to have been lost in the past 60 years. A few plants have also been noticed in the Chamundi Hills in Mysore.

There is  an urgent need to protect the plant as it takes several years to grow and sexual reproduction takes place after 10 years of exclusive vegetative growth.

The Forest Department has decided to set up various “daivavanas” which will go by the names like Dharmikavana, Smrithivana, Navagrahavana and Saptarishivana. The department has decided to re-plant it on  200 hectares in and around Melkote, where the department had identified over 200 rare and endangered floral species, some of which date back to the pre-historic times.
Apart from the Cycas Circinalis, the department also wants to preserve other endangered species like Gardenia Gummifera and the commonly used medicinal plant Boswellia Sarreta.

The killing fields of Kakanakote

As the evening sets in and the heat subsides, a herd of elephants led by a tusker slowly makes it was to the water body. The fading sunlight and the plumes of dust raised by the pachyderms give a surreal setting.

The quiet flow of the river contrasts sharply with the trumpeting of the elephants. The sound sends a current of alarm to a small herd of deer, which raise their head and get ready to gallop.

When the deer see the elephants headed their way, they soon decided discretion is the better of valour and speed away with an occasion protest.

The deer stop as suddenly as they took to their heels. They look back and see the advancing pachyderms. Giving one last “bark” of  protest, they vanish in the undergrowth.

The elephants are the lords of all they and they barely glace at the two elephants stationed at a safe distance and led by experienced mahouts and forest guards. The domesticated elephants of the Forest Department are carrying tourists, all wide eyed at seeing wild elephants.

It soon strikes me of the irony of life. Here we are seated atop elephants, which has been conditioned to serve human beings, and seeing a group of wild elephants, majestically enter the river and frolic in the water.

The elephants carefully herd a young calf  into the centre and shower it with water in so gentle and captivating a motion that it takes one breath’s away.

As some of the elephants move slowly into deeper waters, I suddenly recollect that this stretch of water perhaps hides a historical past and one which brought name and fame to Mysore.

The spot today is covered in the backwaters of the river and even a Hollywood film was made on it. Several Emperors and Queens, royals and intellectuals and even common men have visited the pot before it was covered by water and enjoyed one of the most enthralling sights of wildlife.

Unfortunately, this rare and spectacular event hid one of the cruelest acts and it led to a of  injuries and trauma. Thankfully, this has been discontinued and it looks as if the waters of the river have deliberately covered  the area as if to throw a permanent curtain over the despicable deed.

The river is Kabini and the ground its backwaters has covered is the very place where Khedda or operations to capture wild elephants were organized regularly in the forests of Kakanakote in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom.

The Khedda was a painful operation in which herds of wild elephants were driven towards a huge ditch or a wooden enclosure by domesticated elephants. The Mysore Khedda became so well known that it attracted royalty from all over the world apart from bringing a host of Governors-General of India and Viceroys to Kakanakote to witness the spectacle.

Today, the exact places where the Kheddas were organised have been submerged under the backwaters of the Kabini in the Kakanakote range of forests.

Once the private hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Mysore, the place soon became renown for its Khedda operations.

Though the Mysore Khedda was not original in the sense that it borrowed heavily from similar operations in north east India and eastern India, the pristine forests of Kakanakote,  its nearness to Msyore, the royal tag associated with it all went on to make it a once in a lifetime event to witness and participate.

There are several descriptions of the Mysore Khedda and all of them poignantly speak of how wild herds, driven to despair, were pushed towards captivity. The specially hired drummers and beaters would drive an entire herd of wild elephants into a wooded enclosure where domestic elephants called Kumkis were used as decoys to calm them.

The operations sometimes led to elephants suffering injuries. The elephants which were herded into the enclosure were lassoed with huge ropes which then were tightly tied to huge trees. Then followed the most painful period. The elephants would be deliberately starved of given less food so that it would fall in line. Though the Khedda was not a new phenomenon, it was by no means a successful operation. Hyder Ali and Tipu tried in vain to capture elephants but failed. An exasperated Hyder remarked that it would be next to impossible to capture these huge beasts.
Indian history is replete with instances of Khedda being organised by almost all powerful Emperors and dynasties, including the Mauryas. The first written record of the Khedda is made by the Greek Ambassador to the Mauryan Empire, Megesthanes, when he speaks of such an event during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.

In Mysore, the practice of Khedda once again made a comeback when Tipu died in 1799 and the Wodeyars regained the Mysore Kingdom.

The Wodeyars set apart the forests of Kakanakote, which today is the region between Nagarhole and Bandipur forests, for undertaking Khedda operations. Today, the vast ground is submerged by backwaters of the serene looking Kabini and all traces of Khedda are merely recorded in pages of history.   
Kakanakote has the dubious distinction of having captured and domesticated scores of elephants in 36 Khedda operations from its inception in the 19^th century till 1971, when the Government banned the practice.

The first ever successful Khedda operation by the Wodeyars in the modern age was during 1873-74. It was the British officer, G.P. Sanderson, who at Kardihalli, near Kakanakote, conducted the first successful Khedda operation. He succeeded where his colleague Col. Pearson, a British Army Officer, failed.  

Another attraction of the Khedda at Kakanakote was the river-drive operations in which wild elephants were driven across the river Kabini into the stockade.  Sanderson designed the river-drive in honor of the Grand Duke of Russia during his visit to Kakanakote in 1891.

Sanderson was an officer in charge of the Government elephant-catching establishment. His book, “thirteen years among the wild beats of India”, gives a vivid account  of his work in the forests, including Khedda.

The size of the enclosure or the stockade where the elephants were driven into  was roughly 20 to 50 yards in diameter and about 12 feet in height. The wooden stockade was supported by sloping logs, huge barks and binders. The stockades were concealed behind thick undergrowth. Its gate was wide, strong and it had iron spikes to dissuade elephants from ramming it down.

Located just 73 kms from the royal city of Mysore, the thick Western Ghats with its wonderful mix of flora and fauna so captivated the Wodeyars that they named it after a legendary local chief of the tribals of the area called Kaka Nayak, a Kuruba.  

The Nayak’s bravery and wit so impressed the Wodeyar that he named the forest as Kakanakote and the name struck.

Kakanakote soon became famous for it Kheddas. The Wodeyars organized Kheddas to coincide with the visit of members of the British royal families and British Indian officials including Governors, Governors General and Viceroys to Mysore. In fact, no visit to the Mysore Kingdom was complete without Khedda.

The Wodeyars handed over the Khedda operations to the Forest Department which had a separate establishment called Khedda department with a superintendent in charge.

Initially, the Department used the pit method for Kheddas. This method involved digging huge pits which would be covered with twigs and leaves to make it appear as solid ground. By beating of drums elephants were driven and led towards the pit. The elephants that had fallen into the pit would be lifted with the help of ropes and then trained. This method has major shortcomings and invariably the success rate was low. Elephants were often injured.

In 1889-90, the Government of Mysore asked for the services of s of Sanderson to help it capture elephants by Stockade method.

Sanderson was famous by then for his involvement in the capture of a herd of troublesome elephants in the Chamarajanagar forest in 1874. He was then the Superintendent of Dacca Kheddas.

The Bengal Government lent Sanderson to Mysore for five and a half years. Sanderson purchased 12 trained elephants from Dacca and in 1890 he imported 17 more elephants from Burma. These 29 elephants costed the Mysore Government Rs.1, 02,687 and they were used in Kheddas.

Two Khedda drives in 1889-90 and three drives in 1890-91 were conducted by adopting the Khedda method and 159 elephants were captured. Of them, 101 elephants were retained for service and 93 of them were sold.

When the Duke of Clarence and Avendale paid a visit to the Chamarajanagar in November 1889 a special Khedda was organized and 37 elephants were captured. When the Prince of Wales visited Mysore in January 1906, the Khedda operation yielded 87 elephants.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Nehru witnessed the first Khedda held after India gained Independence. This was in December 1948 and Nehru witnessed the capture of 35 elephants. This Khedda was filmed by the Oriental International Film, California.

Operation Khedda was finally discontinued in 1971. Though no elephants are captured today, the area continues to draw elephants. Thus, Kakanakote even today has become synonymous with elephants and there are facilities in the ranges for a visitor to enjoy the sight.  

Summers are the best season to spot the varied wildlife coming to the edge of the Kabini, also called as Kapila, to quench their thirst.

Apart from elephants, sighting fairly large herds of deer is common. The area is also known for tigers, leopards, Dholes or Indian wild dog, Indian bison and other wildlife.

If you look closely at the river, you can also see crocodiles sunning themselves.

Accommodation is available at the forest lodge and travellers bungalow in Kakanakote. The Jungle Lodges and Resorts provide boarding, lodging and wildlife viewing from jeeps and elephants, trekking, and coracle rides.

The Forest Department either at Ashokapuram in Mysore or the Jungle Lodges office at Shrungar Complex on MG Road and Kanija Bhavan on Race Course Road Bangalore may be contacted for more details, including rates and accommodation.

The century old Maharaja bungalow and Viceroy bungalow in Kharapur are a part the Kabini River Lodge, the first resort of the Jungle Lodges and Resorts.