Our history
Over a century of unity, culture and community, from eight families in 1911 to the Ainmane of Kodavas in Bangalore.
The origins: why the Kodava Samaja exists
The story of Kodava Samaja Bangalore begins not just with a building, but with a profound cultural migration. Historically rooted in the Western Ghats, Kodavas began migrating outward after 1834 to pursue western education and professional aspirations. This movement accelerated rapidly in 1956, when Kodagu merged with Mysore State, making Bangalore a natural destination for employment and education.
Yet even as our ancestors settled hundreds of kilometres from their homeland, they carried a deep cultural imperative. It is the seed from which our Samaja grew.
“Elliye Irr, Yennane Irr, Kodavanaith irr”
Wherever you are, however you are, be a true Kodava.
The founding
As Kodavas began migrating to Bangalore for education and employment, a handful of families found a way to stay connected, through festivals, shared meals, and a resolve to keep their culture alive far from Kodagu.
The first Kailpodh
Eight Kodava families in Bangalore, roughly thirty people, formed the Coorg Association. The first gathering was a Kailpodh celebration at the residence of Shri Kodanda A. Nanjappa in September 1911, regarded as the founding moment. Together with Shri Kuppanda Muddappa, D.F.O., Nanjappa led the association through its formative years. From 1911 to 1917, Kailpodh was celebrated at the homes of prominent Kodavas under the banner of the Coorg Association.
A committee, and the first donations
A small committee was formed to collect donations from all families of the association, the first step toward an organised structure. The growing number of Kodava families in Bangalore meant festivals could no longer run on the goodwill of a single host.
Festivals move into public venues
Kailpodh celebrations moved out of private homes and into prominent public venues: Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, and the YMCA Hall. The community had grown beyond living rooms.
Silver Jubilee, and Puthari begins
The Coorg Association celebrated its Silver Jubilee on a grand scale. The annual observance of the Puthari harvest festival was introduced this year, adding a second cultural anchor to the calendar. The association's affairs were managed by Kodanda Nanjappa, Kodanda Machaiah, Iychetria Madappa, Iychetria Ponnappa, Brig. Cheppudira Ponnappa, and Maneyapanda Muthanna.
Two associations, one purpose
A parallel Coorg Association was formed, driven by the growing membership and limited organisational bandwidth. For nearly a decade, two Kodava bodies coexisted in Bangalore, separate in structure but united in purpose. Shri Kodanda A. Nanjappa and Shri Kodanda A. Machaiah had between them managed the affairs of the original association from 1911 to 1941, a thirty-year stewardship.
A permanent home
The merger of Kodagu with Mysore State brought thousands of Kodavas to Bangalore. With the community growing rapidly, the reunified association found itself at a turning point, and a remarkable act of generosity gave it a permanent home.
The two associations merge
The two rival Coorg Associations merged back into one, setting aside their differences after nearly a decade of parallel existence. A unified body was now ready for the wave of growth that was about to come.
Kodagu joins Mysore State
The reorganisation of Indian states merged Kodagu (Coorg State) with Mysore State. Bangalore, as the state capital, saw a large influx of Kodavas seeking employment in government, public, and private sectors. The unified Coorg Association grew significantly in membership and purpose.
A gift of land at Vasanthnagar
Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar of Mysore offered approximately one acre of land at Vasanthnagar to Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, in recognition of his distinguished military service to the nation. Cariappa, knowing how the Association had struggled without a permanent address, requested the Maharaja to donate the land to the Coorg Association instead. The Maharaja agreed. Rao Bahadur Pemmanda K. Monnappa, then president and IGP of Mysore State Police, played a key role in facilitating the transfer. This single act gave the community its permanent home in the heart of Bangalore.
The Coorg Association becomes Kodava Samaja
The Coorg Association was renamed Kodava Samaja Bangalore and registered under the Mysore State Societies Act, 1960. Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa became, and remains, its Chief Patron, forever.
The community hall opens
Members collected donations facing considerable hardship, reaching out to Kodavas across Bangalore, Mysore, Kodagu, and beyond. After five years of fundraising and construction, the Kodava Samaja Community Hall was inaugurated in January 1967. The first Kodava wedding was held in the hall on 15th January 1967. The Samaja finally had a home, and with weddings and events now hosted on its own premises, a source of revenue to sustain it.
The men who made it possible
Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, General K.S. Thimayya, and Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, three extraordinary figures whose generosity and vision gave KSB its foundation.
Growth & institutions
With a home of its own and a growing membership, KSB turned its energy toward building lasting institutions, in education, sport, and infrastructure, that would serve the community for generations.
A commercial complex, and self-reliance
A commercial complex was built within the Vasanthnagar premises and leased to Canara Bank and other establishments. The rental income gave the Samaja financial self-reliance beyond member donations. The Samaja's administrative office was also set up in this building.
Sree Cauvery School opens
The Kodava Samaja Education Council (KSEC) was founded in 1981, a bold decision to invest in education. With the support of then Chief Minister R. Gundu Rao, who hailed from Coorg district, a BDA site was secured on Indiranagar Double Road. Sree Cauvery School opened in May 1982 with just 40 students, marking KSB’s entry into formal education.
A new dining hall
A new dining hall was constructed and attached to the existing community hall at Vasanthnagar, expanding the campus's capacity for weddings, festivals, and community gatherings.
A sports club, and 75 years
Two milestones in one year. The Kodava Samaja Sports and Recreation Club (KSSRC) was established, bringing hockey, badminton, and snooker into the community's life. And KSB celebrated its 75th anniversary with a grand jubilee at the Haradasa Appachakavi Hall, hosting guests from Kodava samajas across Kodagu.
A high school, and a new convention hall
The High School section of Sree Cauvery School, Indiranagar came into existence in 1990, extending the school’s reach beyond primary education. By 1993, the original community hall built in 1967, the one that members had fundraised for with such effort, was dismantled to make way for a modern convention hall. Construction began with generous donations from Kodavas across the country.
The Cariappa Bhavana
The new convention hall was completed at a cost of one crore rupees and named the Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa Bhavana. A site was also purchased in Kodihalli for the future construction of a college building.
A college, a hockey tournament, and a Mela
Sree Cauvery College was established in Indiranagar with PUC and degree courses, beginning with 11 students. The KSSRC launched the Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa State Level Hockey Tournament, a prestigious event that continues to this day. In 1997, a grand Kodava Mela, jointly organised by KSB and the Kodava Sahitya Academy, Madikeri, drew over 30,000 Kodavas, one of the largest community gatherings in the Samaja's history.
A degree course, and the Thimayya Hall
Sree Cauvery School started its BBM degree course in 1998 with 4 students. The Rashtriya Kodava Sahitya Samskritika Mela was organised at the National College grounds in association with the Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy. In 1999, the old dining hall area was renovated, and the General K.S. Thimayya Hall, the KSSRC Club Hall, and accommodation rooms were constructed, significantly expanding the Vasanthnagar campus.
The modern era
The new millennium saw KSB evolve into a complete ecosystem: healthcare, women's empowerment, youth development, financial services, literary initiatives, and inter-sangha sport, touching nearly every aspect of Kodava life in Bangalore.
Welfare, Samskritika Dina, and Kaveri Hall
The Medical Welfare Fund was launched in 2001, bringing healthcare support to members. Inter-Sangha cultural competitions were initiated, and January 28th, Field Marshal Cariappa's birthday, was designated as Kodava Samskritika Dina, observed every year. In 2002, Kaveri Hall was constructed above the General Thimayya Hall for smaller functions, and the Inter-Sangha Hockey Tournament was started.
A new hall, the Pombolak, and scholarships
The Haridasa Appaneravanda Appacha Kavi Sabhangana was built in the vacant space behind the main campus, with a badminton court, leading to the Inter-Sangha Badminton Tournament. The Kodava Samaja Education Fund was refurbished with scholarships for academic achievers. The quarterly magazine Pombolak was launched, and B.Com was added to Sree Cauvery College’s programmes.
Councils for women, youth, careers and finance
A rapid succession of new initiatives: the Kodava Samaja Women's Council (2004) for women's empowerment; the Kaveri Placement and Career Planning Cell (2004) for employment support; the Kodava Youth Council (2005) to unite young Kodavas in Bangalore; and the Kaveri Souharda Credit Co-operative Society (2005) for financial services. In 2006, free medical health check-up camps were launched for all Kodavas. The birth anniversary of General K.S. Thimayya began to be observed at the ASC Centre, South Bangalore, in association with the Indian Army.
A Silver Jubilee, and a college campus
Sree Cauvery School celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2007, twenty-five years after opening with 40 students. The Samaja newsletter Pombolak was launched in the Kodava language. In 2008, the new college building at Kodihalli (HAL II Stage) was inaugurated, and Sree Cauvery College shifted from Indiranagar to its own dedicated campus.
Readying for the centenary
A roof garden was built above the club premises for small gatherings, and a lift was installed in the Thimayya Hall building. In 2010, all buildings and facilities across the Kodava Samaja premises received a complete facelift and modern upgrades, the campus readied itself for its centenary year.
One hundred years
Kodava Samaja Bangalore celebrated its Centenary in November 2011. The centenary logo was released on 28th January, coinciding with the 112th birthday of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa. The year closed over three days in November, with the Governor of Karnataka at the Samaja on the 12th and the Chief Minister on the 13th, a cultural procession and tableaux on Bellary Road, an exhibition, a seminar on Jamma Bane and the plantation country, and a souvenir released in Kodava, Kannada and English. More than 10,000 people came on the 12th alone. A museum of Kodava artefacts was set up in the mini hall above the Cariappa Bhavana, the Samaja put itself online with its first website, and a new branch of Sree Cauvery School opened at the Dasarahalli Kodava Sangha premises.
The second century
The second hundred years opened with a piece of land the community would wait nine years to stand on, and with the first conference the Samaja had ever held for its women. What followed was not a straight line. Two floods, a pandemic, plans approved and abandoned, halls that went dark and were built back. What held was the habit of turning up for one another.
Seven acres, and the first Women's Conference
The Government of Karnataka sanctioned seven acres at Hosahalli, Yelahanka, on a thirty year lease. No loan was taken, for the land or for the three storey school block of ten classrooms and a fifty seat computer laboratory opened that August. In July the Samaja held the first Women's Conference in its history. More than 500 delegates came from Bangalore, Mysore, Hunsur and Kodagu, papers were circulated in advance, and the day was given to inter caste marriage, divorce, dowry, the difficulties of working women and financial independence for women at home. The delegates asked for it to be held again.
Cataract surgery, placements, and a bus to Talacauvery
A free cataract surgery scheme was set up for Kodavas who could not afford one, built around an eye hospital in Madikeri so that patients in Kodagu could use it without travelling to Bangalore. The first seven patients all came from Kodagu, screened in Madikeri, verified in Bangalore, and paid for only once their recovery was confirmed. The pattern held. In May 2014 the placement cell ran its first screening at a college in Gonikoppal, and by 2015 job fairs in Kodagu were routine. In October 2015 the Samaja put a bus on the road from Vasanthnagar to Talacauvery so that members could be there for the Theerthodbhava.
The land in court, and a second site
The challenge to the seven acres was dismissed by the High Court of Karnataka in 2014, and the appeal against that dismissal by the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal in July 2016. In January 2015 office bearers met the Chief Minister, who wrote to the Deputy Commissioner asking that the matter be moved along. Possession still did not come. Meanwhile the general body approved buying a second site out of accumulated funds, and an investment committee inspected eight localities and refused seven: for defective title, for a seventy five metre setback from a lake, for a suit on an approach road, for distance from the city, and because some owners would not deal wholly in white. A parcel at Kuduregere was cleared in September 2016 and set aside that November.
New bye-laws, new name boards, a plan abandoned
The bye-laws were amended for the first time since 2010. Office bearers and the managing committee would now serve a single three year term, membership fees rose, the Death Fund and Medical Aid were written into the rules, and two more Kodava Sanghas joined the electoral division. New name boards went up on all three halls, giving the campus the names it carries today. In the same period the general body approved demolishing the Vasanthnagar building and putting up ten floors over two basements. Plans were drawn, about thirty builders quoted, and hall bookings were stopped in July 2018. The proposal died on a storm water drain marked in the BDA master plan along two edges of the property, which required a fifty metre buffer. Parking was found instead by opening up the commercial block basement for about forty cars.
The Kodagu floods, and what followed
In August 2018 Kodagu was devastated by floods and landslides, and Kailpodh was cancelled outright for the first time. About 250 members worked day and night at Vasanthnagar and at the Mount Carmel ground, sorting sixty to seventy truck loads of relief that went, free of transport cost, to every Kodava Samaja in Kodagu. A relief fund was opened, a finance committee was formed under a retired Major General, and lists of the affected were built village by village and verified by people from each village. On 25 March 2019 the Samaja distributed Rs 2,61,75,000 among 315 people in a single day. That July volunteers placed 50,000 seed balls and more than 4,000 saplings in the Aane Chowkoor forest range, and when Kodagu flooded again in August the answer took days. In the same months a nine foot bronze of Field Marshal Cariappa was installed at the junction beside the Samaja, and the Samaja’s own team won its state level hockey tournament for the first time in twenty one editions.
Kailpodh returns
Kailpodh returned on 8 September 2019 with about 3,000 members present, 110 achievers honoured, the largest number in any year on record, and the first Kodava judge of the Supreme Court of India in the chair. The General K.S. Thimayya cricket tournament was renamed Cricket Namme, and every team was required to field two women. A membership committee was formed, and from April about a hundred members a month were being enrolled. When some Sanghas made representations against the rate for a get together at the Thimayya hall, the managing committee cut it by roughly half. The Samaja applied for permission to teach the CBSE syllabus at Sree Cauvery School.
The halls go dark
From March to August 2020 the halls took no bookings at all, every fixture and function was cancelled, and Kailpodh was not held for the second time in three years, so that the gold medals were awarded on paper and never placed round anyone’s neck. In the same months the Youth Council put Kodava culture on social media: proverbs carried by an invented character, three Kodava words a day drawn from the community’s own dictionaries with more than five hundred people playing daily, and a chain of nominations remembering Kodava writers that came back with more than 4,600 videos. The school collected seventy percent of its fees in instalments, required no parent to buy a device for online classes, and turned no child away over the previous year’s unpaid fees. Its CBSE affiliation came through, and the Education Fund had its largest year to that date.
Possession, after nine years
On 29 November 2021, nine years and two months after the sanction, the Samaja took possession of the seven acres at Hosahalli, Yelahanka. Between the sanction and the key there had been a public interest litigation, an appeal, a writ petition, a Chief Minister petitioned in person, a completed survey, and a member advocate who carried the cases through the courts. Within six months a borewell was sunk and found good water on ground that had never had any, the site was named the Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and General K.S. Thimayya Campus, and a foundation stone was laid for an office building. Then, on 7 and 8 May 2022, the Samaja invited everybody. Seventeen Sangha teams played six a side hockey on the new ground, the Women’s Wing ran a food festival of about twenty five stalls, and more than forty young volunteers prepared the pitch through unexpected rain.
The calendar comes back whole
The calendar came back whole in a single year: Kailpodh with 151 achievers honoured, the inter Sangha cultural competition and, a week later, the Federation championship at Balugodu won with the same teams, the eighteenth inter Sangha hockey championship with twenty teams, the seventeenth shuttle tournament with twenty six Sanghas, and inter Sangha cricket. Alongside the cricket the Youth Council ran a throwball competition of twenty teams, the first tournament in the Samaja’s history organised for women. The Cultural Committee ran Aat Paat Padipo, four weeks of Kodava song and dance instruction in the Samaja’s own halls, and more than two hundred people registered. In November nearly five hundred women and children walked in Kodava saree from the Samaja to the Vidhana Soudha and back, and gave the Rs 1,70,500 they raised to the Medical Welfare Fund.
The convention centre rebuilt
In September 2023 the annual general body voted five crore rupees to rebuild the Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa Convention Centre. Fourteen firms took the papers, seven bid, work began on 16 January 2024, and the hall reopened on 12 May, air conditioned throughout, in a building the same institution had voted to demolish seven years earlier and had failed to. Kailpodh had been whole that September for the first time since 2017, its sports meet back on the ground opposite after six years, with tug of war for women as well as men, and it was whole again in 2024. Two more gold medals were endowed, taking the set to seven. The office, the club and the remaining halls were rebuilt around the convention centre, and a parking floor was given up once the cost passed two crore rupees. In August 2024 and again in January 2025 the general body voted to close the degree college and put a school on an international curriculum in its place. And five students were paid to learn Kodava Thakk at a university in Kodagu.