Konkan Chronicles –Part II
A Journey to Find My Roots
Mangalore-my birthplace, land of my ancestors. I had heard so much about Mangalore before I went there in 2004. It was all that and more! A bustling city where people actually speak my native tongue-Konkani. Believe me, when you have spent all your life speaking tongues other than your own, it feels wonderful! It IS home!
Mangalore is where I found this little piece of history tucked away in locality teeming with local fishermen and their families. Sultan Battery- built by Tipu Sultan to prevent warships entering the Gurpur river. Although it is a watchtower, it gives the impression of a miniature fortress and even has openings to allow for mounting of cannons. The view is spectacular (as can be seen in the adjoining pic) and its not tough to imagine an armed lookout keeping vigil day after day.
Being a foodie, the traditional Mangalorean food interested me tremendously. I sampled a lot of the local Saraswat fare. Dishes that we don’t cook at home usually. Pan pole or neer dosa ( rice pancakes mixed with coconut) as the bunts call it. Bun roti or buns (sweet, savory fried snack). Goli bajji (spicy snack made from refined flour, yoghurt and chillies) Kori roti- a bunt specialty(Chicken with a fiery gravy made of coconut milk, served with card board like pancakes). Kane masala fry- another bunt delicacy which is a coconut oil fried river fish topped with a fiery paste of red chilies and tamarind. And, finally lots and lots of Gadbad ice-cream. A concoction that consists of fresh fruits, different flavors of ice-cream topped with dry fruits. A gastronomic delight to say the least! And I am beginning to hallucinate about food after living a food deprived life in Singapore these last few months.
From Mangalore, we visited a lot of other important places of worship for my community-the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins. They are mostly small villages which are the resting places of our spiritual gurus. My bed time stories sometimes comprised of stories of these gurus. Digression alert-Sadly I don’t remember the chronology or any other aspects of this part of my community history. Another thing to add to my list of things to do. The list just keeps getting longer- Digression alert over. The places we visited were Vittal, Mallapur, Gokarn and Shirali. All these places except for Shirali have only the family of the priest in the premises. And it scares me to think of living in the middle of nowhere with your whole life tied to the remains of another human.
The only one among these shrines or math (pronounced mutt) that truly had an impact on me is the Bhandikeri math at Gokarn. This is the samadhi (final resting place) of our first guru H.H. Shrimat Parijnanashram-I Swamiji (1708-1720). You get here after taking a winding road up a hill that overlooks the Arabian Sea. Nestled among mango and bamboo groves is a small cottage with the typical tiled roof that characterises the architecture of most houses in the Konkan. You are at peace here no matter how hard you fight it.
In the next part of my chronicles, I want to touch some more on Gokarn, Shirali and Ankola. I don’t know how many parts it will take me before I finish chronicling my journeys but obviously its made such a powerful impact on me that I visit the Konkan atleast once a year no matter which part of the world I reside in.
Mangalore is where I found this little piece of history tucked away in locality teeming with local fishermen and their families. Sultan Battery- built by Tipu Sultan to prevent warships entering the Gurpur river. Although it is a watchtower, it gives the impression of a miniature fortress and even has openings to allow for mounting of cannons. The view is spectacular (as can be seen in the adjoining pic) and its not tough to imagine an armed lookout keeping vigil day after day.
Being a foodie, the traditional Mangalorean food interested me tremendously. I sampled a lot of the local Saraswat fare. Dishes that we don’t cook at home usually. Pan pole or neer dosa ( rice pancakes mixed with coconut) as the bunts call it. Bun roti or buns (sweet, savory fried snack). Goli bajji (spicy snack made from refined flour, yoghurt and chillies) Kori roti- a bunt specialty(Chicken with a fiery gravy made of coconut milk, served with card board like pancakes). Kane masala fry- another bunt delicacy which is a coconut oil fried river fish topped with a fiery paste of red chilies and tamarind. And, finally lots and lots of Gadbad ice-cream. A concoction that consists of fresh fruits, different flavors of ice-cream topped with dry fruits. A gastronomic delight to say the least! And I am beginning to hallucinate about food after living a food deprived life in Singapore these last few months.
From Mangalore, we visited a lot of other important places of worship for my community-the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins. They are mostly small villages which are the resting places of our spiritual gurus. My bed time stories sometimes comprised of stories of these gurus. Digression alert-Sadly I don’t remember the chronology or any other aspects of this part of my community history. Another thing to add to my list of things to do. The list just keeps getting longer- Digression alert over. The places we visited were Vittal, Mallapur, Gokarn and Shirali. All these places except for Shirali have only the family of the priest in the premises. And it scares me to think of living in the middle of nowhere with your whole life tied to the remains of another human.
The only one among these shrines or math (pronounced mutt) that truly had an impact on me is the Bhandikeri math at Gokarn. This is the samadhi (final resting place) of our first guru H.H. Shrimat Parijnanashram-I Swamiji (1708-1720). You get here after taking a winding road up a hill that overlooks the Arabian Sea. Nestled among mango and bamboo groves is a small cottage with the typical tiled roof that characterises the architecture of most houses in the Konkan. You are at peace here no matter how hard you fight it.
In the next part of my chronicles, I want to touch some more on Gokarn, Shirali and Ankola. I don’t know how many parts it will take me before I finish chronicling my journeys but obviously its made such a powerful impact on me that I visit the Konkan atleast once a year no matter which part of the world I reside in.
posted by Mo @ 3:15 AM
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