The Legend
Vorvady, 20 km east of Udupi, was a later acquisition of the feudal manor of Anjar where the chieftain carried the title of Kurla Heggade. This title conferred on him a lifelong trusteeship of the assets of the manor including the temples. As customary among matrilineal Bunts, the hereditary title passed on to the nephew (and not the son). The powerful Anjar manor must have been 'alive and kicking'as far back as 1600 A.D.at least 150 years before Shankar Kurla Heggade, a contemporary of Hyder Ali of Mysore.
The aggressive phase of the Anjar manor started in late 18th century when Shankara who had no nephew to succeed him adopted a boy from Brahmavar who later came to be known as Manjaya Kurla Heggade. Shankara’s another radical action was to bring a girl, Bhagamma from Gudde Guthu near Mangalore in marriage to Manjaya. The progeny of this couple, Manjaya and Bhagamma became inheritors of the Vorvady lands, acquired from Jains and gifted by Manjaya to his children.
Manjaya’s daughter, Rukmini moved from her family house in Muthoor to Vorvady in her twilight years, where her son, Timmappa built the present Vorvady House in 1893. Rukmini’s daughter, Durgalakshmi inherited the house in 1916. Twentysix years later, the House was bequeathed to two of her daughters, Rajivi (d.1928) and Akkaya (d. 1985). The children of Rajivi and Akkaya are presently the custodians of Vorvady House. However, other daughters of Rukmini got their share of Vorvady property located in nearby villages like Nerma (near Shirva), Parkala and Kudi where their families lived in grand houses and prospered.
The branching out of the Vorvady family to nearby villages was an economic convenience. But the focus of the socio-religious life of the entire family is Vorvady House where the family deities are housed. The annual rituals of the family like Kambla, Kola and Tambila are held in the grand old Vorvady House itself. The extended family members of Vorvady, wherever they are located, take part in the annual rituals of the House like Kambla and Kola performed with fervour and gaiety. Until the land reforms in 1966, the Vorvady House virtually owned a large number of villages covering the tract from Pernankila to Parkala in the west, Kudi in the north, Belle in the south and Nerma (Shirva) in the east.
The century old Vorvady House has all the features of a grand manorial mansion. The carved wooden pillars of the House are exquisite and stunning.
