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Koppa, the name sounds very much home to most of us. Currently, in its 104th year of its inception to be approximate, it is
a prominent taluk in Malnad District. Koppa has carved a niche for itself over the years.
This article tries to explore the beauty of this land.
The nature where Koppa is situated is enticing to scenic-lovers. It is enclosed by Sahayadri mountain range. It is also
referred to as 'Kashmir of Karnataka' minus the snow. This makes its environment conducive
for growing coffee, tea, paddy etc. Meruthi hillock near Basrikatte is a hill station.
Koppa has been home for great personalities. Freedom fighters like Sri. Hosakoppa Krishna Rao, M.S.Deve Gowda - the force
behind modern Koppa and more prominently to Kuvempu, our National poet and Jnanapith
awardee. Other freedom fighters are -- Krishna Rao,
Subba Rao (of Gudde Tota), Puttanna Gowda (of Bele Gadde), Narasimha Desai, Araga
Dakamma and so
on.
Tunga river flows through Koppa thereby making it a heaven of many holy shrines. There are a number of temples --
Shivapanchayat Temple (in Hedase), Shiva temple (in Uttameshwara), Janardhana Swamy temple (in
Basrikatte), Kamandala Ganapathi temple (near Kesave)
and Tripurantaki Temple (near Bomlapura). A number of Meditation centres add a spiritual
touch to this place.
Koppa encovers 22 Gram Panchayats, one Town Panchayat and 3 Hobilis. Megunda Hobili is famous for Coffee. A no. of tea
processing centres - in Bappunji, Karkikonda, Koradihitlu, Agaleshwara, Balanur have made this taluk famous for Tea.
Kote Gudda Fort near Hariharpur is an attractive tourist spot. Koppa is also well known for its Ayurveda College, Co-operative
transport
system, Co-operative society for selling commodities, century-old Malleshayya choultry and Shakti Food factory in New
Koppa.
A number of well-known places around Koppa like Sringeri, Narasimharajapur, Balehonnur and Modigere have made
this as a central nodal point.
Koppa has a population of around one lakh with people relying mainly on rainfall for their occupation.
Well-known dignitaries of Kannada Sahitya Parishat are from Koppa; to name a few -- Ha.Pa.Ganapathi Prabhu, Herur
Menon, Kagga's Subbanna
(first person to publish Yakshagana), Naga Bhat (first to publish Panchanga almost 100 years ago), Hariharpur Swamiji
(who has authored many
literary works under the name Abhiramabhikshu), Harihar Subramanya, Soukur Subramanya
Adiga, Norway Nagendra Bhat, G.V.Ganeshayya (great Cartoonist), M.M Prabhakar Karanth (Journalist by hobby).
Other dignitaries are B.K.Sumitra (well known playback singer), Senani (Cinematographer), Sudhir Kumar
(Bharatanatyam dancer), Dattatreya
(Janapada Artist), K.Shankar Rao, Dr.Mangaladevi, S.D.Eeshan (Sports person and Arjun Award winner), Nandini Shetty (of
Kudregundi), Chikke Gowda (of Co-operative Transport system), Krishna Bhat (of
Bettagere) -- the list is endless.
Journalism is very active in Koppa. First newspaper was published by Subbaraya (of Gudde
tota) half century ago.
Ravikanth's Shila,
B.S.Sheshadri's Suddi Pallava, Kodandaram's Malnad Sampige, Sanjeeva's weekly Malnad, Gangadhar's
Dronachal, Yousaf Patel's
Chikkamagalur Herald, Umesh Chandra's Nagari Suddi Samachara is worth mentioning.
Education is given due importance. There are around 20,000 students at various levels of education. There are approximately
200 educational
institutions. Koppa is active politically too. Kadidal Manjappa, H.G.Govinde Gowda,
D.B.Chandre Gowda, Ramayya have shone in the political
arena. K.N.Verappa Gowda and U.K.Shamanna are also well-known.
Koppa has still a long way to go. It is looking forward to major developments in the near future. To start off, a new
bus station was
constructed recently. Many NGO's like Rotary, Lions etc are also involved. But that is not all; it is that the citizens should take a
proactive stand to make the politicians and fellow-citizens work for a better future.
--- Yatish Shivaprasad
(yatish_shivaprasad@yahoo.co.in)
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
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