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Mysuru: The Ainmanes, which are the ancestral residences of Kodava clans, are facing a precarious situation, only 30% of these homes, known or documented, have managed to endure said statistician and writer B. Nanjamma Chinnappa.
She was speaking at the 5th edition of the Mysuru Literary Festival organised by the Mysore Literary Association at the Maharaja’s College Centenary Hall on Sunday.
There are approximately 1700 okkas or patrilineal clans, and around 20 years ago, Ms. Nanjamma Chinnappa and her husband extensively studied and documented 800 Ainmanes, photographing them in the process, according to The Hindu report.
She highlighted that each Kodava clan had its own ancestral house, serving as a cultural focal point, but lamented its rapid disappearance. Describing Ainmanes as exquisite structures reminiscent of Totti Mane, featuring pillars and open courtyards with intricate woodwork crafted by carpenters from Kerala, she expressed concern about their vanishing heritage.
Ms. Nanjamma Chinnappa mentioned that they had uploaded their comprehensive documentation of Ainmanes on a website, providing a directory complete with the status of each of these ancestral homes.
In the course of their fieldwork, Ms. Nanjamma Chinnappa and her husband undertook extensive travels, engaging with senior citizens to revive certain words that had fallen out of use. It was during these travels that they encountered and subsequently documented the Ainmanes.
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