PICHIGUNTALA @ HELAVA TRIBES IN KARNATAKA
dr.ramakrishnal@gmail.com / 9010621504 / 6303097347
Pichiguntalas are basically the legal heirs of the ancient legendary saint Kunti Mallareddy of Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. The heirs born to Pichamma & Kuntimallanna were referred to as Pichakunti-intivallu as a household name, and later become the word Pichikuntala to Pichiguntala. Presently, the word Pichiguntala in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States in India are being referred at Caste Names in synonym with Vamsharaju in the Caste Lists. These people were primarily the brotherhood from Reddy Community and hence the legendary Maribethi Reddy @ Rathod family migrated from the City of Gods to the present-day Deogiri near Aurangabad in Maharastra. The family migrated to Srisailam to serve in search of lord Mallikarjun / the Jothirling to pray for the children of the issue-less couples in the family. During the later stages of their stay in Srisailam, a lame boy born in the family (physically handicapped) was named Mallareddy and given the education to practice genealogy to the other Reddy heirs of Maribethi Reddy. The Mallareddy who was a physically handicapped person commonly referred as Kuntimallanna (Kunti means limping person in the Telugu language), was nominated as the Kulaguru for Reddy Community and as advisers to the Reddy Rulers. An agreement was made on a Copper Plate in this regard mentioning that the Reddy Families are bound to give a share of their cultivation and maintenance to the legal heirs of Kuntimalla Reddy. The Kuntimallareddy was married to one Pichamma of a different caste (?). The family was referred to as Pichikunta-intivallu which later become the Pichikuntala family name/household name. Whereas, during the 12th Century of Religious Revolution, some of the heirs of Kuntimallareddy and Pichamma migrated to the to Kannada speaking areas of Bijjala Kingdom (the present day Basavakalyan in North-Western Karnataka) on behest of the legendary Saint Basavanna with the assignments of preaching Shaivism and Genealogy to the families under newly incorporated Lingayuth Community. These people without the reading and writing knowledge of Kannada were on preaching and telling family details by way of stories and singing were called as Heluvavau (means a person who can speak). Thereafter, the Pichiguntalas of Srisailam were become the Vamshavali Heluvavaru to the Kannada-speaking community then became Helava in the later stages. Few practiced nomadic wondering livings and other few families settled among the other communities such as Kadu Golla and Kadu Kurubas in hamlets on the outskirts of the villages such as Thandas and Hundis. We can observe in some areas in the northern parts of Karnataka the living hamlets of Helavas are known as Helavarahandi, etc. Similarly, few migrants to the southern parts of Karnataka and Tamilnadu are continued as Telugu People with their original caste and community names as Pichikuntala @ Pichiguntalas. Presently, these people in the northern districts of Karnataka such as Belgaum, Dharwad, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Haveri, Gadag, Ballary, Uttar Kannada, Davangere, and Chitradurga are traditionally practicing the Genealogy works are referred to as Helava @ Helawar; whereas those in the southern districts of Karnataka such as Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Ramanagaram, Mysore, etc., who speak Telugu as Mother Tongue are referred as Pichiguntala. Even their Caste Certificates by the Revenue Authorities are being issued accordingly. The Report of the Second Backward Classes Commission, Volume III, by the Government of Karnataka, 1986, shows that the total Hindu Pichiguntala @ Helava population as of 1984 is 24441 in Karnataka forming 0.07% of the total population in the State. The data highlights the population of Karnataka for the year 2011 shows that the percentage share of the population in the Kolar District accounts for 2.51% of the State with a total population of 6,10,95,297. These people are living as socially-educationally-economically backward classes in Kolar District of Karnataka. The proposed study on these people in Kolar District will bring out some significant results and details on socioeconomic profiles, housing, land, and livelihood, seasonal migration, educational profiles, living conditions, identity cards, and access to entitlements, access to public services, educational attainments, spoken languages, mother tongues, medium of instruction, etc.
DR. L. RAMAKRISHNA
