The annual Convention of Kodavas in North America was held in Dallas on the auspicious day of Kailpoudh. This was the largest convention ever in NA with 385 people from all parts of USA and Canada attending. The presence of some visiting parents from India added to the charm.
Kodavas of Dallas did a wonderful job in arranging this event and put up a truly enjoyable and traditional show. The pre-convention on September 2nd had the local cowboy theme while the main event on September 3rd was truly traditional. Attention to little details was unbelievable with every table having vases with “Thok poo” shipped from Oregon and table cloths that had the colors of Kuppiya Chale. The booths set up to showcase our 3 festivals were impeccable. The sight of beautiful kodavathis in our traditional saree and jewelry and men in kuppiya chaele and the more traditional check vastra instead of the readymade mande thuni was a sight to behold. yes, the sweltering heat of Dallas did not deter most men from wearing our dress that we are so proud of. The dances performed by the hosts like “parey kali” was breathtaking and the skits performed on some of our unique rituals like bale kettho, ganga pooja, batte thadpo were educative besides being entertaining. Hand rolled Kadumbutt, pandi curry and koot curry added the kodava flavor to the exotic local Tex Mex cuisine. Valaga did not stop until midnight and men and women, young and old enjoyed our Kodava aat well into the midnight.
The formation of a non-profit organization called Kodava Koota with the purpose of unifying the Kodavas of NA and help preserve our customs and traditions besides helping networking for education, jobs and business interests of the Kodavas was announced during the occasion.
You can visit the facebook page ” Kodavas of North America” for updates/ pictures from the event or please click on the link below for pictures