Kakkada Padinett celebrated with dishes made of aati leaves | Mysuru News
Madikeri: Sunday was celebrated in Kodagu as Kakkada Padinett. The special tradition here is to bring the medicinal (aati) leaves from the forest and prepare dishes using these leaves.It is believed that the aati leaf has 18 types of medicinal properties on this day. Along with the heat, the juice of this leaf is also rich in aroma. If a dish is prepared with it, its aroma spreads around. A programme called Kakkada Namme Odtorme Koota was organised in Madikeri Kodava Samaj along with Kodava groups in the name of units in Madikeri city called Keris on Sunday. The Pommakkada Koota (women’s wing) of Kodava Samaj took the main responsibility for the programmes. Madikeri Kodava Samaj president MP Muthappa, Pommakkada Koota president Kavitha Bollappa, former MLC Veena Achaiah, Padmashree awardee Rani Machaiah, MLA Manthar Gowda, and others were present.Various Kakkada special dishes were prepared for the large number of attendees. Meanwhile, the Codava National Council (CNC) organised the Kakkada Namme festival on Saturday. Former Rajya Sabha member BK Hariprasad attended the event. Hariprasad said Kodavas are ancient indigenous people of the region and the Kodavas, being a mono-ethnic animistic community, deserve constitutional recognition and redress for their grievances. This perspective aligns with the CNC’s longstanding demands for autonomous Kodavaland, constitutional special guarantee for their land, language, cultural heritage, economic and political freedom, and universal recognition for their minority nationality.The CNC volunteers, after performing the ritual encircling the Sacred Mandh, took out a procession from ‘mandh’ (gathered place) to the paddy fields. This procession ended in a paddy transplantation programme, which is a significant cultural and agricultural tradition for the Kodavas.Speaking at the Kakkad-18 celebration, Kodava National Council president NU Nachappa said that Kodava land should be given self-governance. Special dishes of Kakkad-18 were prepared.
