Hometown hockey

Jeevan Chinappa

The tiny district of Kodagu (Coorg) is often referred to as the “cradle of Indian hockey”. Kodagu’s serene surroundings, mountain ranges, brooks and rivers, culture, grand sports tradition and the famous monsoon have vastly contributed to enhancing this image. The Kodava Hockey Festival, which was introduced in 1997, counts as one more feather in the cap of this natural citadel. Come summer, all roads lead to the hockey playgrounds in Kodagu.

From just 60 teams participating in the Pandanda Hockey Festival at Karada, a remote location near Virajpet in 1997, the event has assumed the form of a carnival. The festival is now recorded in the Guinness World Records for its magnitude. The 24th edition — the Kundyolanda Cup — achieved Guinness glory in 2024. 

Carrying on the splendid march, the Muddanda Cup being held in Madikeri this year has surpassed the previous record by roping in as many as 396 teams. “We continue to take the magnificent hockey tradition of Kodagu forward,” says Muddanda Rashin Subbaiah, the convenor of the Muddanda Hockey Festival Tournament Committee.

Genuine passion for the game abounds in Kodagu. The enthusiasm of the spectators, the ebullience of the players and the efforts of the organising families, intertwined with the Kodava Hockey Festival, have given it a special aura. 

Focus on women’s hockey

The Kodira Hockey Festival organisers take credit for organising the first-ever women’s tournament in a Kodava Hockey Festival in 1998. They were under request from hockey buffs to invite women’s teams. As a result, four teams threw their hats in the ring, says Kodira Prakash Erappa, a member of the Kodira family, who also doubled up as a technical official. 

A technical table was set up at the Kodira festival for the first time. The Pattada family team emerged as the champions while Mekerira finished as runners-up in the women’s event. The other two teams were hosts Kodira and Kademada.

From just four women’s teams at the Kodira Cup, none of the Kodava hockey festivals featured competitions for women’s teams exclusively until 2024. The hiatus continued till the Muddanda Cup (currently on in Madikeri). Muddanda has featured as many as 56 women-only teams, competing in a five-a-side format.

Ammatanda Pushpa Poovaiah, Pattamada Jamuna, Shivachaliyanda Nilan, Mallamada Ponnamma are some of the women players from Kodagu, who have played for the India team, while Pullangada Rohini and late Puchimanda Anupama have officiated as international umpires. It is a matter of pride to state that as many as 17 women have featured in the India selection camp so far.

The origins

The land of the Kodavas is not just famous for three C’s — Cauvery, coffee and Cariappa (the Field Marshal). The game of hockey follows on close heels. Apart from the Guinness World Record, three different family hockey festivals have garnered special mention in the Limca Book of Records.

Where did the game of hockey originate? Hockey’s roots are said to go back over 4,000 years to ancient Egypt, where a crude wooden stick and ball were being used for play by the Ethiopians, Romans, Greeks and Aztecs. The British are credited with introducing the game of modern hockey in India sometime between the 18th and 19th centuries. It gradually made its way into the Indian army in the 1850s. The first hockey club was formed in Calcutta in 1855.

Rajya Sabha MP, Ajay Maken, recently made a passionate plea, while addressing the chair in Rajya Sabha, about the hockey credentials of Kodagu with a specific mention of the Kodava hockey festivals. He urged the central government to set up a high-altitude training centre for the national teams to train in Kodagu.

The Kodava Hockey Festival is the brainchild of Pandanda Kuttappa, a former first division hockey referee in Karnataka, and his brother, Kashi Ponnappa. The vision of both brothers resulted in the culmination of the first-ever Kodava Hockey Festival in Kodagu in 1997. Former Union Sports Minister M S Gill, who attended the Maneyapanda Cup in 2010, had termed the Kodava Hockey Festival a “special national event”. Michael Nobbs, former head coach of the Indian Men’s hockey team, was in awe of the size and magnitude of the event, while attending the Iychettira Cup in 2012.

“My father’s dreams have come true,” says Pandanda K Bopanna, son of the late Kuttappa. Pandanda Bopanna is currently steering the fortunes of the Kodava Hockey Academy. 

Kuttappa hoped that organising an annual hockey festival would be successful in bringing Kodava families together. Indeed, many families set aside their differences and came under one roof to participate in the festivals. 

The other main aim was to encourage junior hockey players in Kodagu. New rules were also introduced to include several generations. Defining moments came when grandfathers, fathers, sons and daughters from the same family were allowed to play together. There is no bar on age. From children to nonagenarians, all have played for their respective teams. The Kodava Hockey Academy came into being later. It has been vested with the authority to govern all activities related to the Kodava hockey festivals.