KUMTA

KUMTA

BLEND OF NATURE,CULTURE & ART

Famous for its Beaches, Historical monuments,Sandal wood carving ,Art

Festivals, mythological yakshagana, Beetle nuts, cuisines

is a town in Uttara Kannada district in the state of Karnataka. It is a sea-coast town and is about 40 miles (60 km) south of the city of Karwar

HISTORY: During the British Raj, it was a part of the North Kanara district of Bombay Presidency. It had an open roadstead, with a considerable trade, especially in cotton. Carving in sandalwood was a speciality. The commercial importance of Kumta had declined after the opening of the Southern Mahr -atta railway system.

image courtesy: Girish bhat bavikatte

DEMOGRAPHICS: As of 2001 India census India, Kumta had a population of 27,597. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Kumta has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 73%. In Kumta, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Kannada and Konkani are spoken languages in Kumta.

ECONOMY: Kumta is known for its betel nut, cashew, coconut and banana cultivation.

EDUCATION: Kumta has also been a pioneer learning center in the Uttar Kannada District with presence of Dr A.V Baliga College and Gibb High School. and BBA college and BEd. college under Kanara Education Society.

LANGUAGE: The chief language of the district is Kannada, with minorities of Konkani, Marathi, and Tulu speakers. The population is predominantly Hindu, comprising of many communities like Havyaka, Nadavas, Gowda Saraswat brahmins, Vokkaligas, Sherugars, Namdharis and Vanis.
COMMUNITIES: Namdhari people form the major community of Uttara Kannada. They use Naik in their sur-name. Few people also use Nayak. However, all the people who have Naik or Nayak are not Namdharis, since few other communities also use these words with their names. Hence, Namdharis refer themselves as Namdhari Naik or Namdhari Nayak. Another major sect is Sherugars. They also use their sur name as Naik actually their sur name was Nayak that means Leader/Ruler. They are Rama Kshatriyas and called as Sherugar Naiks.

Nadavas/Nadavaru also have surname by Naik/Nayak and appear to be affiliated to the Nadavas and Bunts from South Kanara.The Nadavara is a well-educated, small Kshatriya community (Nadavara Samaj) with 30,000 people in Uttar Kannada, Karnataka, India. The Samaj boasts about its literacy rate of 99%, probably among the highest in India

Another major community is called the havyaka brahmins. They live mostly in taluks of Sirsi, Siddapur, Yellapura, Kumta, Honnavar. The havyaks use a dialect of kannada called havyaka Kannada and use as their surnames, ‘Gadde’, ‘Desai’,’Hegde’, ‘Bhat’, ‘Rao’, ‘Joshi’, ‘Shastri’, ‘Gaokar’, ‘Hebbar’ etc.

The vokkagilas in Uttara Kannada are mianly known as GramVokkaligas and have the surname Gowda/Gouda(In Honnavar,Siddapura,Sirsi) and Patgar/Patagar(In Kumta).

Muslims in the district are mainly Urdu speaking ‘Dakhnis’ and Nawayath,. Nawayaths live mostly in taluks of Bhatkal, and Honnavar. The Nawayaths use a dialect of konkani called Nawayathi which uses persian script. Navayaths use as their surnames, ‘Syed Mohiddina’, ‘Manna’, ‘Chadkhan’, ‘Sukri’,’Shahbandri’,’Kazia’,’Kadli’,’Siddiqa’,’Damda’, ‘Mohtesham’, ‘Kola’,’Ruknuddin’,’Faqqi Bhao’ etc.