A Village Full of Pandavas

Bannikoppa, a village 6 km away from Shiggaon taluk,Karnataka, doesn't wake up to cock-a-doodle-doo. There are no fowl here. Nor for that matter, goat or sheep.  Elders of this 250-household village believe they shouldn't rear domesticated livestock like sheep or goats, neither poultry for traditional reasons. Legend has it that the Pandavas lived here for one year and since then no other animal than cows are bred here. They give some examples of ill-luck too. Fakirappa once tried to breed 15 fowl but they soon fell prey to a rare disease and died. Another villager tried to rear goats but the animals met the same fate.  Dharmappa Pujar, priest of the only temple here, claims the belief is that the Pandavas were not particularly in favour of domesticating fowl. The temple built during the British reign was named after the five brothers of the Mahabharata. The belief isn't frowned upon by the 18 graduates of this village. They say they've got the fruits of life by worshipping the idols in the Panchapandava temple.  The village, dominated by the Lingayat panchamasali community whose primary occupation is agriculture, also believes people of no other community can live here. Carpenters, masons and professionals who do other odd jobs would rather finish their work during the day and leave the village. Nobody stays here overnight.  True to their veneration of the Pandavas, the male members of the village adopt the names of the five brothers. Many men here are called Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Dharmanna or Bheemappa. The women's monikers, though don't resemble the epic characters; their common names are Basavva, Yallavva and Mallavva.