NAMASTE!

Kannadigas is a small community that migrated into Kochi from the Kasargode district of Kerala.

Kannadigas in  Kochi is a small community that migrated into the city from the Kasargode district of Kerala which shares borders with Karnataka. Most of them has the surname Hegde, which literally mean chieftain of the fort, suggesting that their predecessors belonged to a warrior clan. 

There are no written records about their migration. But what the community members suggest is that their forefathers came from the northern district of Kerala bordering Karnataka mostly during the Second World War period in search of career opportunities. 

There are approximately 60 Kannadiga families living in the area presently. The families are scattered across two different settlements in Mattancherry which is centered on the temple. 

They do maintain their cultural identity especially in their food and festivals. Kannada is the home and community language. However, the younger generations can’t read or write Kannada, but only speak. 

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION BY BIJU IBRAHIM: COMMUNITIES OF KOCHI

Places have souls and Mattancherry in the city of Kochi has a mystic one. Biju Ibrahim discovered this while documenting the lives of Kochi’s 38 communities through black and white pictures. Distinct in layers of identities – caste, faith, language, ethnicity and region – these communities have been welcomed over centuries and have, in turn, infused Mattancherry and Kochi with a rare and rich heritage. Historically, it has been home to Muslims, Christians, Jews and Hindus. The sea and port attracted sailors, traders from Arabia and Gujarat, preachers of Semitic faiths, colonisers such as the Dutch and Portuguese, political refugees and migrant labourers. A cross-section of India lives here in a radius of 5 kilometers. 

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AUTHOR & PHOTOGRAPHER

BIJU IBRAHIM

He captures the essence of rustic geographies, the people who are now becoming archive of the earth, the mythic & mystery of spaces & places, alleys of now filled with the density of then or before.

ART ORGANISATION

URU ART HARBOUR

URU art harbour is a cultural hub situated at Kochi. URU seeks to be a space for collaboration and a continual hub for artistic, cultural, and intellectual exploration. Founded by Riyas Komu and Zoya Riyas.

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