Ancient city still alive and robust Barkuru where once India was connected to the global trade.
Barkur !!! .. It wasn't a random choice. Capital city of ancient Tulunadu. Now it is a just an insignificant township in the western cost of India. If you travel 410 kilometer towards west descending the Western Ghats, before you reach Arabian Sea you will find this small town on the banks of river Seetha. This is where I decided to retreat to escape the busy life of Bangalore during Easter.
Next few days I journeyed into the realms her distant past. Strolled on the streets. Visited old and new temples went to churches. Degusted costal delicacies. Watched ancient art forms. Plunged into the abyss of history and mythology.
Who elicited my imagination and fantasy about this place? It was the Protagonist of a novel called Maimanagala suliyalli (In the swirl of body and Mind) Manjule a highly respected prostitute singer, dancer. Call her courtesan or genteel prostitute whichever suits your politics she is supposed to have lived in this region.
A talented and respected woman cherished by affluent merchants and feudal lords in a rich urban culture of costal Karnataka. It had caught my imagination. Her town was Basruru another trading post near Barkur where hundreds of sailor debark to sell their goods and to buy spices. They had plenty of time and money until they started their journey back home to Arabia or Europe. Hence there was a lot of patronage for attractive endowed prostitutes and for their music, dance and theater.
Next few days I journeyed into the realms her distant past. Strolled on the streets. Visited old and new temples went to churches. Degusted costal delicacies. Watched ancient art forms. Plunged into the abyss of history and mythology.
Who elicited my imagination and fantasy about this place? It was the Protagonist of a novel called Maimanagala suliyalli (In the swirl of body and Mind) Manjule a highly respected prostitute singer, dancer. Call her courtesan or genteel prostitute whichever suits your politics she is supposed to have lived in this region.
A talented and respected woman cherished by affluent merchants and feudal lords in a rich urban culture of costal Karnataka. It had caught my imagination. Her town was Basruru another trading post near Barkur where hundreds of sailor debark to sell their goods and to buy spices. They had plenty of time and money until they started their journey back home to Arabia or Europe. Hence there was a lot of patronage for attractive endowed prostitutes and for their music, dance and theater.
River Hooghly connects Kolkata to Bay of Bengal. River Seetha connects Barkur to Arabian Sea. She has lush green mangroves still but she is deep enough for navigation. She has seen Arabs and Portuguese bringing horses, cannon and gunpowder to India. She has seen Sarthas long trails of Indian tradesman carrying spices and precious stones in their caravans.
Think of an Indian equivalent of 17 century Venice. Humpi was the capital Vijayanagara Empire just like Delhi is for India today. Empire’s gateway to the world was certainly Barkur like Mumbai is for India today.
Think of an Indian equivalent of 17 century Venice. Humpi was the capital Vijayanagara Empire just like Delhi is for India today. Empire’s gateway to the world was certainly Barkur like Mumbai is for India today.
Seetha Nadi the river which connects Barkur to the Arabiam Sea.
Before knowing more about the capital of ancient Tulunadu let me familiarize you with Tulu language. This lesser known Dravidian language has estimated two million speakers. Most young Indians recognize it as the mother tongue of Aishwarys Rai and Shilpa Shetty. But that’s not all. It is more or less as old as other Dravidian languages like Malayalam Kannada and Telugu. Tuluvas are still proud about their ancient heritage and the richness of their language.
The city of Barkur lives on its past and present simultaneously through paraphrasing the names of old temples into new commercial versions to attract more devotees. Every cast and religion of this region wants to reclaiming its historical base in the city by building more temples renovating old mosques and churches into much bigger size elegance. By revitalizing mythology through Yakshagana a three hundred year old dance drama the city adores reminiscences of ancient civilization. This art three centuries art form old is still being adored and watched on a commercial scale by the masses. Ticket prices start from 20 rupees and goes’ up to 300 rupees for an overnight show!
I was lucky to watch Matsyavatara played by a guild called "Sri kodanda Rama Krupa Poshita Yaksagana Mandala" I didn’t see any rich courtesans but I saw talented Yakshagana artists. Men who can play roles of mythological women be it Sati Seethadevi or a wench Vilasini !!
The city of Barkur lives on its past and present simultaneously through paraphrasing the names of old temples into new commercial versions to attract more devotees. Every cast and religion of this region wants to reclaiming its historical base in the city by building more temples renovating old mosques and churches into much bigger size elegance. By revitalizing mythology through Yakshagana a three hundred year old dance drama the city adores reminiscences of ancient civilization. This art three centuries art form old is still being adored and watched on a commercial scale by the masses. Ticket prices start from 20 rupees and goes’ up to 300 rupees for an overnight show!
I was lucky to watch Matsyavatara played by a guild called "Sri kodanda Rama Krupa Poshita Yaksagana Mandala" I didn’t see any rich courtesans but I saw talented Yakshagana artists. Men who can play roles of mythological women be it Sati Seethadevi or a wench Vilasini !!
Male Yakshagana artists dressing up for female roles
Spectacular Butha Kola a mystic annual ritual performance to worship of spirits might have spurred from the ancient Buddhist rituals of Yakshas. A town obsessively passionate about its own history is how I would phrase Barkur
Bhootha Kola, The worship of spirits.
My friend Sharma had spoken to me about his history teacher Dr. B. Jagadeesh Shetty. His fond memories as a student going to Barkur to learn epigraphy (how to copy ancient inscriptions on stones) as student. "Let’s meet him" I said. To be or not to be kind of man Sharma took six hours to deiced upon it. May be he was nervous to meet his old teacher as we all are.
We met him in his house located in the middle of idyllic coconut grooves next morning. Much to our surprise Dr. Shetty not only agreed to talk to us but also he took us for a brief trip around the ancient city of Barkuru. We got to know that he grew up in that city and it had made him a historian and epigraphist. For people of Barkuru history is not burden of the past but an ancient repository of knowledge which they would like to revisit time and again and it made them proud.
Dr. Shetty was inspired by his father who was a sociology teacher and his brother who a historian. His brother late Dr. Vasnth Shetty alone had explored more than forty inscriptions in that town and has written books and articles about history of Tulunadu. Dr Jagadeesh Shetty quit his government job as a high school teacher to peruse his studies in history.
Quitting a government job for perusing once true passion was a too much of risk in those days. Now that he is an accomplished historian he take pleasure in spreading his passion to his students by bringing them to Bakur every year and trains them how to copy and read old inscriptions. He took us to Panchaligeshwara temple one of the oldest in the city and read a couple of inscriptions.
We met him in his house located in the middle of idyllic coconut grooves next morning. Much to our surprise Dr. Shetty not only agreed to talk to us but also he took us for a brief trip around the ancient city of Barkuru. We got to know that he grew up in that city and it had made him a historian and epigraphist. For people of Barkuru history is not burden of the past but an ancient repository of knowledge which they would like to revisit time and again and it made them proud.
Dr. Shetty was inspired by his father who was a sociology teacher and his brother who a historian. His brother late Dr. Vasnth Shetty alone had explored more than forty inscriptions in that town and has written books and articles about history of Tulunadu. Dr Jagadeesh Shetty quit his government job as a high school teacher to peruse his studies in history.
Quitting a government job for perusing once true passion was a too much of risk in those days. Now that he is an accomplished historian he take pleasure in spreading his passion to his students by bringing them to Bakur every year and trains them how to copy and read old inscriptions. He took us to Panchaligeshwara temple one of the oldest in the city and read a couple of inscriptions.
Dr Jagadeesh Shetty and his passion for stone inscriptions.
Dr Jagadeesh Shetty’s research thesis is about agriculture, trade economy trade weights and measurements used in this region in the distant past. Dr. Shettey cited an inscription where it talks about 12 Ghats where bull-carts used to descend crossing lush green forest of the Sahyadri hills.
Previously I had read about Sartha the trading caravans. Long trail of people and goods in an organized group. A moving city lead by a Shresti (Now Shetty) called sarthavaha were not just life lines of trade and commerce through land but also carriers of culture and religion. Sarthas would station here for months to trade with foreign ships. Enormous amount of wealth flows in.
A north-Indian trader having acquired immovable property had to marry local women to take care of his possessions in his absence. Here After his descendants in North India will have kinship in the coast. whenever they were here they enjoyed local support from their half-brothers . What convenient system of boasting trade !!!
Sarthas carried merchants and their merchandise, pilgrims, adventurous Artists, missionaries from north India to south and south to north. This is how Jainism and Vaishnavism must have arrived in this part. We visited a temple complex where Jain, Vaishnava and Shaiva shrines exist in the same campus . It is famously called Kattale Basadi which means dark Jain-temple.
Tourism department in its board had wrongly named this place as Kallu chappara which means stone shelter in Kannada. This one looks like a stone shelter hence the confusion. Enraged Dr. Shetty took pictures of the board. He was going expose this carelessness in the local newspapers.
Previously I had read about Sartha the trading caravans. Long trail of people and goods in an organized group. A moving city lead by a Shresti (Now Shetty) called sarthavaha were not just life lines of trade and commerce through land but also carriers of culture and religion. Sarthas would station here for months to trade with foreign ships. Enormous amount of wealth flows in.
A north-Indian trader having acquired immovable property had to marry local women to take care of his possessions in his absence. Here After his descendants in North India will have kinship in the coast. whenever they were here they enjoyed local support from their half-brothers . What convenient system of boasting trade !!!
Sarthas carried merchants and their merchandise, pilgrims, adventurous Artists, missionaries from north India to south and south to north. This is how Jainism and Vaishnavism must have arrived in this part. We visited a temple complex where Jain, Vaishnava and Shaiva shrines exist in the same campus . It is famously called Kattale Basadi which means dark Jain-temple.
Tourism department in its board had wrongly named this place as Kallu chappara which means stone shelter in Kannada. This one looks like a stone shelter hence the confusion. Enraged Dr. Shetty took pictures of the board. He was going expose this carelessness in the local newspapers.
Kattale Basadi (dark Shrine) a jain temple wrongly Named as Kallu chappara (stone shelter)
This was not the only battle Dr. Shetty was fighting with bureaucracy. He had nothing against tourism. In fact he thought it could be used to create awareness of history among people and he himself brings hundreds of students here to kindle their interest in history. His anger was against the carelessness with which our authorities operate.
He took us to a place called Simahasana Guddde (mound of throne) where Alupa king used to sit watching vessels and ships approaching Barkur through Seetha River. There is no such mound now!!! Some boys were playing on a freshly leveled ground!! Tourism department with great zeal of improving tourism had brought earth movers and had fatten the ground to facilitate vehicle parking for tourist during a recent tourist festival. We passed few minutes of silence in the car. Spotting the agony in Dr. Shetty’s eyes I didn’t have the courage get down and take pictures of the crime spot. We moved on to the next place.
Before this I had already instigated Dr. Shetty’s anger. I had tried to exhibit my erudition by saying “Is it true that many inscription found in Barkur were in Tulu Language? I asked Dr. Shetty. “See somebody has written such things on the internet. When people can’t understand 9th century Kannada language they conclude that it must be Tulu language. They never bother to consult a historian. Though the local language of Tulunaadu was Tulu it was administered under Vijayanagara Empire. Official language of Vijayanagara was Kannada in this region”.
I was wrong and for obvious reasons. My erudition had come from my last minute’s preparation of reading Wikipedia. Now I understood why Barkur doesn’t speak Tulu in spite of being called as the capital of Tulunadu. Moving forward I will not entirely relay on Wikipedia I swear.
Dr.Shetty explained how the names of the temples are being changed to attract devotees and more revenue. Hagade Devasthana built by Sanku Heggade becomes Santhana Goplakrishna Heggade Devastana to lure people want to have offspring’s.
Sometimes people from different caste organizations come to him asking to write for handbooks explaining glories of past of their caste. He refuses to write anything without concrete evidence. Others come seeking evidences for existence of a temple of their caste in a particular site. He refuses indeed. Those people go to someone who is ready to back their theory.
“The township of Barkur has some extensions called Keris. They are some times named after its professional residents. In other words division of labour based on caste. But you can't blindly tell them -there existed your ancient shrine-without solid proof says” Dr. Shetty.
He took us to a place called Simahasana Guddde (mound of throne) where Alupa king used to sit watching vessels and ships approaching Barkur through Seetha River. There is no such mound now!!! Some boys were playing on a freshly leveled ground!! Tourism department with great zeal of improving tourism had brought earth movers and had fatten the ground to facilitate vehicle parking for tourist during a recent tourist festival. We passed few minutes of silence in the car. Spotting the agony in Dr. Shetty’s eyes I didn’t have the courage get down and take pictures of the crime spot. We moved on to the next place.
Before this I had already instigated Dr. Shetty’s anger. I had tried to exhibit my erudition by saying “Is it true that many inscription found in Barkur were in Tulu Language? I asked Dr. Shetty. “See somebody has written such things on the internet. When people can’t understand 9th century Kannada language they conclude that it must be Tulu language. They never bother to consult a historian. Though the local language of Tulunaadu was Tulu it was administered under Vijayanagara Empire. Official language of Vijayanagara was Kannada in this region”.
I was wrong and for obvious reasons. My erudition had come from my last minute’s preparation of reading Wikipedia. Now I understood why Barkur doesn’t speak Tulu in spite of being called as the capital of Tulunadu. Moving forward I will not entirely relay on Wikipedia I swear.
Dr.Shetty explained how the names of the temples are being changed to attract devotees and more revenue. Hagade Devasthana built by Sanku Heggade becomes Santhana Goplakrishna Heggade Devastana to lure people want to have offspring’s.
Sometimes people from different caste organizations come to him asking to write for handbooks explaining glories of past of their caste. He refuses to write anything without concrete evidence. Others come seeking evidences for existence of a temple of their caste in a particular site. He refuses indeed. Those people go to someone who is ready to back their theory.
“The township of Barkur has some extensions called Keris. They are some times named after its professional residents. In other words division of labour based on caste. But you can't blindly tell them -there existed your ancient shrine-without solid proof says” Dr. Shetty.
New temple in the vicinity of old temples
Even today most villages near the cost are very urban in nature. Unlike a typical village in India they have a large portion of their population comprising skilled laborers like carpenters, jewelers. (Vishwakarma) and traders. People are not entirely dependent on agriculture or fishing. Arabs Portuguese Greeks Romans everybody left their mark on the cost.
Vicinities of Barkur has world's oldest mosques and churches. Alupa kings of Barkur were more than happy to let Portuguese trading posts to flourish had no problem in letting them build their commercial and religious institutions in Barkuru.
Most Christians here speak Konkani indicates their Goan roots .Muslims speak a language called Byari a mixture of Tulu, Malayalam kannada and most importantly Arabic. All these communities have adopted Kannada script for writing their respective languages. Having working knowledge of Portuguese and Arabic these two communities were instrumental in mediating between locals and Portuguese and Arabs during trade negotiations.
Vicinities of Barkur has world's oldest mosques and churches. Alupa kings of Barkur were more than happy to let Portuguese trading posts to flourish had no problem in letting them build their commercial and religious institutions in Barkuru.
Most Christians here speak Konkani indicates their Goan roots .Muslims speak a language called Byari a mixture of Tulu, Malayalam kannada and most importantly Arabic. All these communities have adopted Kannada script for writing their respective languages. Having working knowledge of Portuguese and Arabic these two communities were instrumental in mediating between locals and Portuguese and Arabs during trade negotiations.
Inside St Peters Roman Catholic church. The languages here is Konkani written in Kannada Script.
While Dr. Jagadeesh Shetty was being sad about old monuments getting neglected in recent year a fort called Vijayanagara Kote has been excavated by archeologists. Twenty acre of space where you can still see pillars to ties horses and elephants. Still how many sites are waiting to be excavated. How many wrecks river Seetha is still hiding in her womb we don't know. Reckless breaking of rocks and pillars while widening the roads worries Dr. Shetty.
Vijaya Nagara fort: Pillars used to tie horses and elephants
For me world is not museum. Change is the order of the world. But I can still empathize with people like Dr. Jagadeesh Shetty. After seeing him I had realized how much it hurts a historian when Monuments get destroyed. When history being distorted and rewritten to suit people’s present day needs.