Kannada Koota was born in America on April
3, 1971. Since then the organization has participated
in numerous activities and accomplished various goals. At present,
there are about twenty kannada associations in the United States
and Pampa Kannada Koota is the mother of them all. Ardent love
for the language
and culture of Karnataka and the selfless dedication of many kanndigas
toward this task has made this dream possible.
Kannadigas started coming in
great numbers to the United States in the 1960's. This created
the need for a common platform for them to come together as one.
The pioneering efforts toward this were first initiated by Mr.
K.S.Shripadha Raju, Mr. S.N.Prakash,
and Mr. M.Krishnappa who were
then students at Universities in the Michigan area. Beginning
from preparing a list of kannadigas locally, they moved ahead
to collect the names of many kannadigas living across the United
States, which came to a surprising number of 400. Thus, with the
encouragement and support of many of the kannada enthusiasts,
the first meeting of kannada Koota was organized on April 3, 1971
at Ann Arbor, MI. The meeting along with the celebration of Ugadi
was a huge success. However, the Koota was aspiring to do more,
such as,
- Arranging for the general
body meeting for Kannadigas from all over the country.
- Starting various branches
of kannada koota,
- Maintaining a membership
directory and bring out a nationwide newsletter in kannada.
The kannada koota was first established
as Pampa Kannada Koota in February 1972.
As intended, the first general
body meeting was held on April 8, 1972 at Hammond, Indiana. Efforts
were made to find able kannada supporters to start branches in
different states. As a consequence, kannada associations were
started at Chicago, Charlotte, Baltimore, North and South California,
Georgia and New York. The kannada koota at Baltimore, even succeeded
in bringing out the newsletter Belli Bugge in 1985.
Since the beginning of kannada
koota, 29 committees have worked hard toward organizing various
activities like celebration of festivals, talent exhibitions,
dances, music, dramas of karnataka and picnics. Let us hope for
Pampa Kannada Koota to continue and grow in splendor.
Please click here for an article
in the "Karnataka Patra" by Shri Harihareshwara, to find some
more details about how Kannada Sanghas (viewed best with Netscape
browser) are spreading in US.
