Unwinding histories at treeside seats

Hampanakatte’, ‘Bikarnakatte’, ‘Mallikatte’ and ‘Marnemikatte’ — these are the names of some of the localities in Mangaluru.

‘Katte’ is a common postfix found in many of the localities in the city. The word refers to a pedestal built across a tree, where people gather and talk on simply rest for a while. In the olden days, kattes were also used as places to solve disputes among people in villages. The kattes served as landmarks too.

Each katte has several stories behind it. However, they are slowly disappearing from our lives due to the construction of concrete jungles.

In order to create awareness on the need for the protection of kattes, a team of architects — Sindhushree, Sitara and Sharvari — took up the work of documenting kattes. The effort was part of a project taken up by the Mangaluru chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

Apart from collecting information on the history of these kattes, the team geotagged their locations on Google Maps. So far, 133 kattes have been geotagged.

Kattes also hold religious significance, as prayers are offered here during the annual festivals of the temples during ‘savari’ (procession).

Speaking to DH, Sindhushree says that the documentation process included a visual survey, photography, sketches and measuring the tree and the katte. The past and the present use, social, religious and ecological details and possible threats to property were also recorded.

“A katte serves as a natural monument of heritage and is an important public space. As we started exploring the stories related to them, people started to get involved and shared the legends they heard about these kattes from their grandparents and parents,” explains Sindhushree.

Several kattes in the city are being maintained by temples. There are also some which are maintained by individuals or youth associations.

INTACH Mangaluru Chapter Convener Subhash Chandra Basu says that in the olden days, the kattes served as perfect pit-stops for the people who walked or took a bullock cart to travel from place to place. Even nowadays, people search for trees and kattes. However, it is not to rest but to park their vehicles.

He further adds that kattes represent a lot of details related to old habitations and settlements. References to them can be found in Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay’s biography, wherein she explains the features of a katte. A mud pot with water was usually kept at the katte for the passersby to quench their thirst.

Pieces of history

Another interesting piece of history involves the famous Hampankatte, a prominent landmark located in the heart of Mangaluru city. It is believed that the area was named after Appanna Poojary, a philanthropist who served jaggery and water at the peepul tree for the passersby in the 1920s. It was later named after him as ‘Appannana Katte’ and became ‘Hampankatte’ in the local dialect, as it is used now.

Bikarnakatte in Mangaluru was built by the Padavu Meginamane family in 1832. Initially, it was simply known as the ‘nyaya katte’, where the local court was held to address disputes between people.

The revolters during the 1837 uprising of Amara Sullia were hanged in public by the British. Five people were hanged at different kattes, according to village legends. 

The uprising of Amara Sullia which erupted in Bellare, has also found a place in folklore, recalls Anindith Gowda, the author of the book ‘Recalling Amara Sullia’. 

Eventually, the nyaya katte came to be known as ‘Bheekara Nyaya Katte’, serving as a reminder of the haunting memories of one of the earliest incidents in the Indian freedom struggle.