Hebbar Iyengars are migrants?

 It was nice to oo Okie’s discover Girija Kuppuswamy’s post on FB, and the responses! It lost was timely.

“Hello to other Hebbar Iyengars. Wanted to see origin of each member - just for fun! Please post the original place you hail from and where you now live. You never know, maybe will find a neighbour and don't know? My father was from l; my husband is from Anekal and I now live in Toronto Canada.

Please continue the chain..........

I had just then sought information about Hebbars thru my blog, hoping to highlight the contributions made by this special group of people. (https://nidhibengaluru.blogspot.com/2021/01/contributions-of-iyengars-in-armed.html )

Knowing more about our origins adds a new dimension! The responses have been great. We learn about the many places of our origin! We also get to know about their various professions and occupations. We learn about the many more contributors in addition to the already well known Hebbar Iyengars!  

 It is fascinating. It would be wonderful to see pictures of the villages and towns our people inhabited. Surely there will be Anecdotes and Memories! We have also adapted to newer places and some have married outside our community. We could be surely called 'cosmopolitan'

It will be fun to put it all together. I have already blogged about a few notable contributors! It was unplanned, but almost all have originated from Nuggehalli! I guess it is time to move on to other places. Gorur could be next! One thing for sure, we can all feel proud to know about them and feel fortunate to have known some of them as well.

 Information about our origin, our religion and beliefs and our customs is available on the web. The fact that we were immigrants or converts or both tells us that borders, caste and language were never issues in the past. Our ancestors were literate, many worked as teachers and as administrators.  Many would have owned farmlands, coffee estates and so on. We see that our earlier generations sent their children to study in the cities. The migration has continued, to other cities and abroad!

 If we consider Melukote as the starting point for this migration, we have moved around plenty in our pursuits. Hassan could be one of the earliest destinations! Also the journey could have radiated from Melukote in different directions right from the beginning.

Names of places mentioned in reply to Girija's request:

Anekal, Ambuga, Ambegaluru, Agrahara, 

Barthur, Bindignavale, Belur, Belagola, Belkavadi..

Chikmagalur, Chunchanakatte,  

Doddamallur

Eashwarshali.

Gorur, Grama (Shanthigrama), Gumlapura

Harve, Holenarsipura, Halthore, Hulugundi, Hiremagaluru, Hassan, Hampapura

Javagal

Kalkunte, Kollegal, Kadur, Kadaba, Kitthaane

Marehalli, Maloor, Mandya, Mallur, Mavinkere, Mudlapura, Melukote, Mysore

Nonavinakere, Nagamangala, Nuggehalli, Navyoga

Ramnathpura,

Sampige,  Shimoga, Setlur, Shanka, Sakkarayapattana, 

Tumkur, Tangali

As we try to collect more data about our earlier generations, I feel it fills a basic need, let me add that I know very little about my Grandparents. Both my father and my mother lost their parents early in their lives. My father lost his parents in his teens! My mother was still a baby when her father passed on. So both my parents stayed with their sisters!  Hence our bond with my aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides has been very close!

 I have great memories about my only grandmother. But for some reason we never spoke about my grandfather! My only visit to Grama (Shanthigrama) with my father on the way to Madhugere, to offer prayers to our family deity, stays with me. As he walked around the street he grew up, an older person recognized my father and they had a small chat. My father, who was a calm person, looked emotional at that moment.