DAKSHINA KANNADA

'Dakshina Kannada' (Tulu,Kannada:ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಕನ್ನಡ), (earlier known as '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 headquarter 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, Udupi and Kasargod districts are often called Tulu Nadu, as Tulu is the majority language in the region. 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.
Important towns in the district are- Mangalore,Surathkal Adyar, Bajala, Belthangadi, Kannur, Kotekara, Mudushedde, Mulki, Mulur, Munnur, Pudu, Puttur, Someshwar, Sullia, Thumbe, Kokradi and Ullal.

Contents

Background

Language

Historic Sites

Cultures,Traditions and rituals

Commerce and Industry

Education

Related Information

References

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), cashew nut & its products banking, education and of course for its exotic cuisine.

Language

Tulu is mother tongue of majority of people living in Dakshina Kannada district. Kannada, Havyaka Kannada, Kundapura kannada, Are Bhashe Kannada, Beary bashe (of Muslims) and Konkani are spoken by a substantial number of people as mother tongue. English & Kannada being the administrative languages, are understood by majority of the population.
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.

Historic Sites

★ Moodabidri: Site of the ancient Jain temples and the Bhattaraka seat.

★ Krishnapura matha : one of the matha (monastery ) belonging to ashta matha of udupi.

★ Dharmasthala : Popular temple of Lord Sri Manjunatheshwara is located here

★ Kadri

★ Kateel

★ Ullal

★ Subramanya : Famous ancient temple of the serpent lord Subramanya is located here.

Cultures,Traditions and rituals

Dakshina Kannada can be said as land of culture,tradition and rituals. Today in 21 Century
most people of district follow traditions, customs and rituals, even after receiving British implemented modern education.The district has many temples of Hindu gods and goddess, which are ancient and have deep spiritualism attached to it. 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.Kambla a form of buffalo race on muddy track in the paddy field is organised.Cock fight ( 'Kori Katta' in Tulu) is another past time of rural agarian people,but unfortunately has turned in to gambling.

Commerce and Industry

The district is connected by road rail, air and sea. There is a sea port at Panambur ( NMPT ).There is international aerodrome at Bajpe. The district is called as 'Cradle of Indian banking'. The district has very high network of branches of nationalised banks. Red clay tile (Mangalore tiles),Cashew factories once flourished in this district. Agriculture has taken back seat because of flush of money from natives settled in other areas.Farms and fields are converted into residential plots and commercial complexes.Service sector is booming with setting up of professional education institutes and information technology related services (IT & ITES). Horticulture though made some strides, has not prospered because of high labour cost and non availability of labour. Automation is not possible because of small holding of lands by farmers.

Education

The Dakshina Kannada district is in fore front in education.Primary and secondary education has reached every section of society. The district's literacy rate is far above national average. In the higher education (Degree and above), Dakshina Kannada district has made tremendous progress. The professional education has made a mark in the country. Students from different parts of India flock to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts because of high standards of education. A host of educational institutes offering courses in Medicine,Engineering ,Pharmacy,Nursing ,Hotel & catering and Management are located in this district.

Related Information

SPDK Dakshina Kannada Police News (Weblog)

Kannada News including Dakshina Kannada news from Udayavani

Official web site

DK Zilla Parishad

See South Canara district gazetteer 1894

References

1. Census data