INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

My name is Krishnamurthy Irwathraya. I hail from BENDRALA house, situated in Thotathady Village, Beltangady Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka. Irwathraya is our family surname. This is one of the hundreds of surnames of Tulu Shivalli Brahmins of Dakshina Kannada. We are the disciples of Udupi Pejavar Mutt of Madhwa tradition. We belong to Vishwamithra Gothra and Madhuchchanda Dhananjaya Pravara. My father is late Anantha Irwathraya. My mother is late Saraswathi. I was born on 10th Dec 1952 as third son to my parents.  My eldest brother is Sri Ramakrishna Irwathraya. Elder brother is Sri Rajagopala Irwathraya. Younger sister is Smt Lalitha. Younger brother is Sri Gopalakrishna Irwathraya.

Up to the 70s of the last century, we were living in a joint family, my father Anantha Irwathraya being the head of the family. He was having three younger brothers – Sri Sreenivasa Irwathraya, Sri Vishnumurthy Irwathraya & Sri Venkatakrishna Irwathraya. His youger sister was Smt Jalajakshi.  Presence of Brahmin community is very rare feature in our village, especially Tulu Shivalli Brahmins. Ours is the only Tulu Shivalli Brahmin family in our entire Thotathady Village. Our Village is surrounded by mountains and dense forest. It is told that, during the childhood of my father, our place was dreaded by the presence of Tigers and other ferocious wild animals.  Under the circumstances, many times I was wondering as to why our family got settled in such a difficult mountain terrain, and how long our family has been living in this place.  My inquisitive nature has yielded many details & informations, which, most of the present generation may not be knowing. These  hearsay informations are gathered from various sources including the elders in the family. Though there may be some inconsistencies in the informations gathered by me, I have thought it fit to  put on record  and share these informations, through this blog for the benefit of the future generations of Bendrala Irwathraya Family.

Approximately  for over past 150 years, the Irwathraya family has been living at BENDRALA. This family was engaged in Agriculture, Pourohithya & Mantravada.  It was the time when the village was a part of the Bailangady Kingdom ruled by Jain kings of Moolar dynasty. King’s palace was situtated at about half a kilometer from our Bendrala house, and our Irwathraya family was the Rajapurohits. Daily morning, one of the members of our family had to perform PANCHANGA SHRAVANA to the King at the Bailangady Palace.   Bendrala Irwathraya family was having the Pourohithya jurisdiction of about 17 surrounding villages. Mantravada practice was spread to cover many  places even beyond this jurisdiction. Main clients belonged to the communities like – Tulu Gowda, Kannada, Poojari, Male Kudia, Daasa, Aachari,  Naada shivalli Brahmins, Maale Brahmins,   Sthanika Brahmins, Kota Brahmins, Chitpavana Brahmins , Konkani, Jain, Indra, Moily, Vaarya, Moolya, Naika, Madiwala, Bhandari, Samagara,  Byari, Malayali Nayar, Kochi Christian,  Kumbhara,  Mera, Mansa, Maari Mansa,  Raanya, Koraga, Nalike, Parava etc.  

With this introduction this blog continues to provide various informations & histories surrounding the Bendrala Irwathraya Family. – in various different posts.