Koti and Chennaya: Twin Heroes of Billava Heritage

Ask a Billava family in Tulunadu about Koti and Chennaya (ಕೋಟಿ ಚೆನ್ನಯ), and you will hear more than a story. You will hear about two brothers who stood up to injustice, a mother who healed others, and the garadis, the gymnasium-shrines, where their memory is kept alive.

This guide retells the tale in brief, using the Tulu paddana (sung oral epic) as its source. It also explains the garadi tradition, the places linked with the twins, and how the names Billava, Billawa and Biruver relate to one another. Where tellings differ, we say so, because much of this story has lived in song rather than in documents.

Who were Koti and Chennaya?

Koti and Chennaya are twin brothers, the heroes of the Tulu paddana that carries their name, Koti-Chennaya. Koti and Chennaya were born at Padumale in Puttur taluk, Dakshina Kannada. According to the paddana, their mother was Devi Baidethi, a herbal healer, and their father is named as Kantha Baider. Scholars who have studied the epic describe the twins as heroes of the Billava (Biruva) community, and see the paddana as an expression of that community's cultural identity.

Over the generations, many Tuluvas have come to revere the twins as daivas, protective spirits. We write about them in that spirit of respect, and we keep a clear line between what the paddana says and what can be shown from records.

The story in brief: from Devi Baidethi to the battle at Enmur

Tellings vary in detail, but most follow the outline below. Everything here is "according to the paddana".

• A healer's gift. Devi Baidethi is a herbal healer who was raised by her foster-brother, the Billava healer Sayana Baida. She cures King Perumale Ballala of Padumale of a painful wound, and he promises her a reward. Some tellings open with a legend of a baby girl found in a golden egg who grows up to be Devi; others begin with the healer already grown.
• The twins are born at Padumale. The king names the newborns Koti and Chennaya. Devi passes away soon after, and the boys are raised partly in the palace and then by their uncle Sayana Baida.
• Training, and an insult. At the garadi they learn wrestling, archery and swordplay. As they grow, the king's minister Budyanta insults them over their background. A quarrel over land follows, and Budyanta is killed, by Chennaya in some tellings and by both brothers in others.
• Leaving Padumale. The king does not keep his promise to Devi, and the twins leave.
• Panja and Enmur. In Panja they meet their elder half-sister Kinnidaru. Panja's minister Chandugidi fears their growing fame and traps them in a building, but they escape after praying to their family deity, Kemmalaje Nagabrahma. They reach Enmur, where the just ruler Deva Ballala welcomes them, and they help turn barren land into farmland.
• War. A boar hunt on the border leads to war between Panja and Enmur, and the king of Padumale joins Panja. Chennaya kills Chandugidi. Koti spares the king of Panja and is struck by an arrow from behind. Grief-stricken, Chennaya does not survive him.
• Afterwards. The paddana says the twins are never reborn and that they protect those who believe in them.

Scholars of the epic point to three big themes in it: the struggle to rise in society, the search for a fair patron, and the idea of justice. That last theme, standing against unfair treatment and local lords who break their word, is why the story still speaks to people today.

The Koti-Chennaya paddana: a 14-hour oral epic

A paddana is a story sung in Tulu and passed on by voice. The Koti-Chennaya paddana is one of the two great long epics of Tulu, the other being Siri. In one well-known recording by a folklore research team, it runs for about 14 hours.

Parts of the paddana are sung in many settings: at the annual nema (worship), while tapping toddy, while women plant seedlings in the fields, and, scholars note, on the eve of weddings during the madarangi ritual of decorating the hands. The tale was first written down in the 19th century by Basel Mission collectors, and the first English translations appeared in the Indian Antiquary in the 1890s.

What is a garadi? From gymnasium to shrine

A garadi (also written garodi) was originally a traditional training hall for body-building, archery, swordplay and wrestling. According to the community, many garadis later became shrines to the twins, often called Brahma Baidarkala garadis. Counts differ between sources, but there are over 200 garadis across coastal Karnataka, Kasaragod and cities such as Mumbai. Traditions also differ on whether garadis existed before the twins or grew up in their memory, and we mention both views here.

The best-known city shrine is the Shree Brahma Baidarkala Garodi Kshetra at Kankanady, Mangaluru. The Billava community is organised in Sanghas (associations) in places such as Bantwal and Kalladka, in the Gulf through the Gulf Billawa Sangha, and in Mumbai through the Billawar Association, founded in 1932. The Mumbai association names its annual athletics meet "Koti Chennaya".

Nema and worship: how the twins are remembered today

At the annual Baidarle (Brahma Baidarkala) nema, also called kola, performers take on the roles of Koti and Chennaya in costume. According to folklore scholars, the largest portions of the epic are sung at this rite, and also during the agelu seve offering at the garadi.

Places linked with Koti and Chennaya

• Padumale in Puttur taluk, Dakshina Kannada, is the birthplace of Koti and Chennaya. It has a medicinal park named after Devi Baidethi.
• Enmur in Sullia taluk is remembered as the place of the final battle and the twins' resting place.
• Kankanady, Mangaluru is home to the Brahma Baidarkala Garodi Kshetra mentioned above.
• The Koti-Chennaya Theme Park at Karkala, in Udupi district, was inaugurated on 28 January 2012. A 2016 news report describes a museum, an open-air theatre and a statue park there. It is not the same as the separate Parashurama Theme Park, also in Karkala.

Koti Chennaya on stage and screen

The epic has been adapted into Yakshagana and drama. On film, there are three Tulu titles to know. Koti Chennaya was released in 1973. A second Koti Chennaya, released in 2007, won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Tulu at the 54th National Film Awards. Deyi Baidethi came in 2019, and its title refers to the twins' mother.

Billava, Billawa and Biruver: one community, three spellings

Readers often ask which spelling is correct. All three point to the same community. Billava is the spelling used in most reference books, academic writing and Kannada media. Billawa is common in association names and news reports, such as the Billawar Association in Mumbai and the Gulf Billawa Sangha. Biruver (also written Biruve or Biruva) is the Tulu form of the name. In Tulu, biru means "bow", and the community understands Biruve to point to elite warriors, as explained in the box below. The endings -ar and -aru simply make the word plural or respectful, so Billawar and Billavaru mean "the Billava people". In Kannada script the name is written ಬಿಲ್ಲವ.

Surnames are a related question. Poojary (also spelled Poojari) is a widely used surname among Billava families, and it is also the word for the person who conducts worship at a shrine. Baidya is another name heard within the community, and the epic links it to the healer lineage of Devi Baidethi. Billava families use many other surnames as well, and none of these names says anything about status.

Warriors and toddy tappers: skills the community is proud of

Billava ancestors were known for more than one skill. The community remembers its warrior tradition, from the garadis and the heroism of Koti and Chennaya. It also remembers kali murunu, toddy tapping, the careful craft of tapping toddy from palm trees, which scholars describe as the community's traditional work. The paddana itself mirrors this: parts of it are sung while tapping toddy, and in one 19th-century text the healer Sayana Baida is found tapping toddy when he finds the abandoned girl who becomes Devi Baidethi.

Seen this way, strength in the garadi and patient skill on the palm are two sides of one inheritance, a source of pride in hard-won skills. Neither says anything about one community being above another.

What stays oral tradition: how we handled uncertainty

Everything we know about the twins comes from the paddana, which was sung long before it was written. Scholars say it is very difficult to place its composition in a particular period. So we avoid firm claims where the sources disagree.

Why these stories still matter to Billava families

For Billava families, whether the surname is Poojary, Poojari, Baidya or something else, the paddana is a shared inheritance. Many readers find in it a set of values: standing against unfairness, loyalty between brothers, and honouring one's mother, the healer Devi Baidethi. Scholars also note that the twins opt for farming, and that their strength and skill earned them standing, a story of self-reliance that families still relate to.

Because portions of the paddana are sung at weddings, it also sits close to family life. Families who value heritage often care about lineage as well, and our guide to bari in Billava matchmaking explains one such tradition. You can find more heritage and wedding guides on our blog.

Further reading

• The Tale of the Twin Warriors, an English telling of the epic published by Sahitya Akademi in 2009.
• Epic of the Warriors: Koti Chennaya Pardana, an English translation of the paddana, National Folklore Support Centre, 2007.
• The scholarly volume Oral Traditions in South India (Harrassowitz, 2017), which discusses the 19th-century texts of the epic.
• Say Solmelu's retelling of Koti and Chennaya, a Tulu culture explainer with footnotes.
• The Billawar Association Mumbai's Koti Chennaya page, the community's own retelling.
• Thurston's entry on the Billava in Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909), for an early colonial-era account of the community.

If your family is exploring a match within the Billava community, our FAQ explains how privacy-first matchmaking works on NammaBillava, and you are always welcome to create a free profile.