Also known as Kodagu, this district in the Western Ghats of south-western Karnataka can be pictured thus: 1,593 square miles of undulating topography carpeted in green, often covered by thin white mist. Bamboo, sandalwood, rosewood forests. Streams and rivulets, children of the river Cauvery, wending their way through the land. Waterfalls, deep ravines, paddy fields, grassy downs. Coffee bushes with red berries. Pepper, cardamom, oranges, nutmeg, turmeric, lemon grass…. A land fecund beyond belief. Denizens including elephants, the Malabar squirrel and tigers. The highlanders, a martial race of men and women who compel a second glance with their chiselled profiles, stately bearing and striking dress.
