Landscapes of Unique Vernacular Communities: Changing Social Geography and Cultural Practices of the Kodagu Community, Karnataka, India.

Kodagu is a distinctly recognizable bioregion in the southern region of Karnataka. It has three wildlife sanctuaries: the Brahmagiri, Talakaveri, and Pushpagiri, and one national park: the Nagarhole National Park. It is dominated by the coffee-forest landscapes and is home to Kodava speaking communities. Kodava cultural traditions and practices have been transmitted orally from generation to generation. The people of Kodagu (Coorg) worship Nature, their ancestors, river Kaveri and 'Devarakadu' (sacred groves). Talakaveri, Triveni Sangama, Iruppu falls, Rameshwara temple are principal heritage sites and focal points of various cultural practices and festivals. 'Kailpodh', 'Puthari', Kaveri Sankramana are distinctive festivals celebrated around the seasons for rice cultivation. Traditional attire and food practices are unique to the region and strongly tied to the mythological anecdotes with Kaveri River. To understand the human-environment relationship shaping the unique vernacular community of Kodavas, this study includes-understanding the changes in the cultural practices and social geography of Kodagu community. Mixed Method approach has been adopted to understand the intangible cultural practices, history and traditions of the people through literature study and interviews with members of Kodava community. For understanding the changing social geography-urban morphological changes have been reviewed that reveal the many drivers of change including-climate change, tourism, urbanization, policies and demography shifts. This paper concludes the different aspects where mitigation is required to support and manage the distinctive human-Nature relationship conserved in the vernacular community of Kodavas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]