Dakshina Kannada

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Dakshina Kannada (Kannada:ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಕನ್ನಡ), also called South Kannada, South Kanara, or South Canara, is a coastal Karnataka district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is bordered by Udupi District to the north, Chikmagalur District to the northeast, Hassan District to the east, Kodagu District to the southeast, and Kasaragod District in Kerala to the south. The Arabian Sea bounds it on the west. Mangalore is the capital and chief city of the district.

The population of the district was 1,897,730 of which 38.43% is urban as of 2001.^[1] The population of the district increased 14.51% from 1991 to 2001, and 15.98% in the 1981-1991 period.

The district is divided into five talukas, Mangalore, Bantwal, Puttur, Sullia, and Belthangady.It used to include three northern talukas, Udupi, Kundapur and Karkal, but these were separated in August 1997 to form Udupi district. Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts are often called Tulu Nadu, as Tulu is the majority language in the region. However, Tulu language and its people have been closely associated with Kannada language as Tulu has been written in Kannada script for many centuries. The Alupas who ruled this region between the 8th and 14th century CE as a feudatory of all the major Kannada empires of those times ecncouraged and made Kannada their official language. It is for this reason that the Tulu speaking districts are a part of Karnataka state.

Contents 1 Background 2 Language 3 Historic Sites 4 Cultures,Traditions and rituals 5 Related Information 6 References

[edit] Background

Before 1860, Dakshina Kannada was part of a greater district called Canara, which was under a single administration in the Madras Presidency.

In 1860, the British split the area into South Canara and North Canara, the former being retained in the Madras Presidency, while the later was made a part of Bombay Province in 1862. Coondapur taluka was earlier included in North Canara, but was re-included in South Canara later.

After independence, South Canara was divided to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The then undivided Dakshina Kannada district consists of the present day borders of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasaragod.

During the Reorganisation of States in 1956, Kasaragod was split and transferred to the newly created Kerala state and Dakshina Kannada was transferred to Mysore state (present day Karnataka).

Later, the Karnataka Government, for the purpose of administration, split the greater Dakshina Kannada district into Udupi and present day Dakshina Kannada districts in the year 1997 A.D.

The district is famous for red clay roof tiles ( Mangalore tiles ), banking , education and of course for its exotic cuisine.

[edit] Language

The mainstream Kannada speakers are a minority in this district. However, three dialects of Kannada, namely Havyaka, Kundapura kannada and Are Bhashe are spoken along with majority Tulu language and Konkani language. There is also a sizeable population of Muslims called Bearys, who speak their own language.

Some Malayali literature describe the region stretching from Chandragiri River in Kasaragod District of Kerala to Gokarna in Uttara Kannada as Tulu Nadu. However, present day Tulu cultural boundary is limited to Udupi taluk of Udupi district.

[edit] Historic Sites

• Moodabidri: Site of the ancient Jain temples and the Bhattaraka seat.
• krishnapura matha : one of the matha (monastery ) belonging to ashta mathas of udupi.

[edit] Cultures,Traditions and rituals

The people of Dakshina Kannada worship serpent god ( Subramanya ).According to Legend ,The district was reclaimed by Parashurama from sea.Hence worship of Serpent is done to original inhabitats.Many rituals like nagaradhane are performed.Worship of spirits is prevalent in these areas. Rituals like Bhuta Kola are done to satisfy the spirits. Kumbla a form of buffalo race in muddy track in the paddy field is organised.

[edit] Related Information

SPDK Dakshina Kannada Police News (Weblog)

[edit] References

1. ^ Census data. Retrieved on 2006-09-09.