The Panar (singular ''Pana'') are a community found mainly in
Kundapura Taluk
Kundapura Taluk is a taluk located in Udupi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kundapur town is the taluk headquarters of Kundapur Taluk.
Demographics
As of the 2011 Census of India, Kundapura Taluk had 79573 households with a populat ...
,
Udupi District
Udupi district (also Udipi or Odipu in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara coastal region, there are seven taluks, ...
, Karnataka, India.
The Panar are classified as
Scheduled caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
by the government of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
.
They are
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
-speaking and show expertise in singing ''
paddanas
Būta Kōlā,/buːt̪ʌ/ is the local pronunciation while the standardised Kannada pronunciation is /bʱuːt̪ʌ koːlɑː/ also referred to as daiva kōlā or nēmā, is a ritual dance performance prevalent among the Hindus of Tulu Nadu and ...
'' (folk songs), mainly in their native Kannada, and also in
Tulu language
Tulu () in Kannada script, ml, തുളു ഭാഷെ in Malayalam script. ''bhāṣe'', , ''bhāśe'', and ''bāśe'' are alternative spellings for the Tulu word ''bāse'' in the Kannada script. The correct spelling for the word ...
s.
They claim to have originated from the Tulu-speaking Nalike/panar of
Tulunadu
Tulunad or Tulu Nadu, also called Bermere sristi or Parashurama Srishti, is a region and a proposed state on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva' (plural 'Tuluver'), speakers of Tulu, a Dravidian language, are ...
.
The name "pana" comes from the word "pan" which means "song" and ''Panan'' of Kerala, who are also called ''panar'' in Kerala are by and large identical with this caste. ''Panan'' caste is classified as
Scheduled caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
State.
''Chikku'' cult
Panar community are specialised in performing religious cult devoted to ''Chikku'', a group of spirits, by singing folk songs
combined with dance, which are (spirits) widely believed and prayed by common people in coastal districts. The songs sung by Panar community in Kannada language are generally related to
Siri Paddana
The ''Siri Sandhi'' also Siri Paddana (pronounced: ''Siri Paadhdhana'') or ''Epic of Siri'' is an epic poem in the Tulu language. Consisting of 15,683 lines of poetry, it is the longest poem in Tulu. The epic is essentially a biography of a leg ...
songs of Tulu language.
They also perform ''bhootha nruthya'', roughly translated to "nemosthava/thaiyyam", which is similar to "spiritual dance" practiced by
Panan
Pan'an County () is a county of central Zhejiang province, China. It is under the administration of the Jinhua city.
Administrative divisions
Towns:
* Anwen (安文镇), Shanghu (尚湖镇), Fangqian (方前镇), Xinwo (新渥镇), Jiansha ...
community of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
In Tamil Nadu, the women bards and dancers belonging to "panar" community were called as 'viraliyar' as mentioned in
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
.
See also
*
Tamil Panar
The Tamil Panar (or , ) were an ancient musical community of the Tamil area in India, attested from the classical Sangam texts onwards through medieval inscriptions. They sang their songs to the accompaniment of the yāl harp.
__NOTOC__
In fact ...
References
{{Udupi District
Social groups of Karnataka
Scheduled Tribes of India
Shudra castes
People from Udupi district