The district’s first formal celebration commenced at the historic Paadi Shree Igguthappa Temple, where the traditional ritual of cutting the first stalks of paddy was performed. Madikeri/Virajpet: Kodagu witnessed vibrant Puthari celebrations on Thursday, 4 December, as households, temples, and paddy fields across the district came alive with rituals marking the annual harvest festival. Despite clouds hovering overhead and fears of rainfall, the festive spirit remained undeterred. The...

Forest officials and family members with the two-year-old girl after she was rescued from the coffee estate in South Kodagu. Virajpet : In a remarkable rescue that has drawn widespread praise in Kodagu, a pet dog named ‘Oreo’ played a crucial role in locating a two-year-old girl who had gone missing from a coffee estate situated along the forest boundary. The child, identified as Sunanya, was found after an extensive joint search operation involving forest personnel, local residents and...

Map used for representation only; not to scale Madikeri: Karnataka, India’s leading pepper-producing State, is heading into a second consecutive year of severe crop loss, with growers warning that the forthcoming 2026 harvest may register an even sharper decline than the previous season. Pepper farmers according to The Hindu report that the State witnessed a dramatic 44.3% drop in yield during the 2024-25 crop year, and early indications suggest a similarly grim scenario for the harvest...