Tag: Coorg
Coorg
Coorg is a district in Karnataka which is known for its coffee. A part of the Western Ghats, it is a biodiversity hot spot and has an abundance of bird and wildlife. Also known as the Scotland of India, it is home to the Kodava people who are considered to be a patrilineal ethno-lingual tribe that natively speak the Kodava language. Traditionally they are land-owning agriculturists with martial customs. They practice family exogamy and caste endogamy.
Kodava
The words Kodava (the indigenous people, language and culture) and Kodagu (the land) come from the same root word ‘Koda’ of unknown meaning. Some claim it means ‘hills’, others say it means ‘west’ but both relate to the Western Ghats’ location. Kodagu is called Kodavu in the native Kodava language. The community members were called Kodava by the other natives and Coorgs (or Coorgis) by the British. They are ethnically and culturally distinct people. For centuries, the Kodavas have lived in Kodagu cultivating paddy fields, maintaining cattle herds and carrying arms during war.
Did this miniature model of entomological royalty get its name because it’s the king of animals in its weight group? Or does the Antlion’s name owe more to its voracious predation of ants? The jury has been out for a while now, and while the debate doesn’t seem to suggest an early resolution, the rule […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Antlion, Coorg | Posted in Insects | 9 Comments »
Amongst the largest of his species, this champion athlete of the treetops pulls off gravity-defying leaps of up to 6 meters that’d do a Bob Beamon proud. But you’ll never catch him advertising his prowess. Chances are that you’ll never ever see the Malabar Giant Squirrel, but will often hear him chattering away in the […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Malabar Giant Squirrel, Coorg | Posted in Mammals | 19 Comments »
The Queen is dead; long live the Queen! This could well be the leitmotif of a parallel universe that exists in the microscopic underworld of Coorg. Shades of regicide can be seen in the image above, where a worker ant is attempting to murder the Queen just as she’s emerged after a successful mating. Welcome […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Jumping Ants, Coorg | Posted in Insects | 13 Comments »
Coorg is famed for the profusion of its plant life; a patchwork quilt of green, embossed with gorgeous floral patterns. Adding to this thing of beauty is a little ray of dappled sunshine that periodically flits in to embellish this tapestry by hovering over the flowers, almost as if holding a pose for posterity. Meet […]
Tags: Coorg, Coorg birds, Indian birds, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Loten's Sunbird, Coorg | Posted in Birds | 9 Comments »
It’s early morning in Coorg and you’re sitting back, eyes closed, enjoying a steaming mug of Sidapur coffee, when you hear a scratchy Ku-kayak-kyuk-kyuk sound interrupted by a familiar click, followed by a torrent of unprintable language. Chances are the former sound was a Grey Jungle Fowl pottering about for food, and the latter, a […]
Tags: Coorg, Coorg birds, Indian birds, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Grey Junglefowl, Coorg | Posted in Birds | 14 Comments »
Most of us have grown up to develop a very healthy dose of cynicism about most things in life. While the promises and peccadilloes of our politicians is at one end, the bumbling fallibilities of our weather forecasters is at the other, and rarely fails to bring a smile that both mocks and forgives in […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Malabar Pit Viper, Coorg | Posted in Reptiles | 44 Comments »
If one were to go by the adverts we see on TV, women who use a certain brand of perfume can have it all: an alluringly fragrant presence, supreme self confidence, and unlimited male attention. In Coorg however, there’s one lady who makes her own fragrance and uses it quite liberally, both as a body […]
Tags: Coorg, Coorg birds, Indian birds, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Common Hoopoe, Coorg | Posted in Birds | 23 Comments »
Forget the old debate about which came first. In the swamplands of Coorg, there exists a hen that knows the answer, and as if to emphasize the point, brazenly steals and eats eggs to beat the monotony of an otherwise vegetarian diet. Cannibalism? Not really, for her taste runs to duck’s eggs which she eats […]
Tags: Coorg, Coorg birds, Indian birds, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Purple Swamphen, Coorg | Posted in Birds | 18 Comments »
Forget Cannes, Ibiza, Jamaica, Rio and other playgrounds of the sun worshipping jet set. Some of the world’s most beautiful bodies are to be found sunbathing in the hills and vales of Coorg. While the strips in the south of France and the Caribbean have their acolytes, discerning members of the animal bourgeois find their […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Baronet Butterfly, Coorg | Posted in Insects | 19 Comments »
Long, long ago, in the days before PCs and video games, when TVs were tourist attractions at the homes of the connected, children in South India prospected for precious metals in their backyards. When you did strike gold, or any other likely gem, you tucked away the precious catch in miniature safe deposit lockers, which […]
Tags: Coorg, Indian wildlife, Lifescapes, Orange County Resorts
Jewel Bug, Coorg | Posted in Insects | 27 Comments »
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