page_title: Kodava people
section_title: Devarakadu
hierarchical_section_title: Kodava people / Land and agriculture / Devarakadu
caption_attribution_description: Coffee on hills of Cauvery River in Coorg
context_page_description: The term Kodava has two related usages. Firstly, it is the name of the Kodava language and culture followed by a number of communities from Kodagu. Secondly, within the Kodava - speaking communities and region it describes the dominant Kodav people. The Kodavas, are considered a patrilineal ethno-lingual tribe from the region of Kodagu, who natively speak the Kodava language. Traditionally they are land-owning agriculturists with martial customs. They practice family exogamy and caste endogamy. Kodavus are the only people in India permitted to carry firearms without a license.
context_section_description: The Kodavas revered nature and their ancestors they formerly hunted for sport, the Kodavas would even conduct ceremonies symbolically uniting in marriage the spirits of killed tigers with the spirit of the hunter, highlighting the intimate relationship between Kodava culture and the wildlife living in their forest realm. Sacred groves, known as devarakadu (devara = God's and kadu = forest), continue to be maintained in their natural state amongst the coffee plantations since the time of the Rajas. Each village has at least one devarakadu, which is believed to be an abode of the gods, with strict laws and taboos against poaching and felling of trees. These groves are also an important storehouse of biodiversity in the district.
caption: Coorg woods beside the Cauvery
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