Mangaluru Town Hall to be named after social reformer Kudmul Ranga Rao

[email protected] (CD Network )
July 30, 2016

Mangaluru, Jul 30: The Mangaluru City Corporation has resolved to name the Town Hall after social reformer late Kudmul Ranga Rao, who fought for the rights of depressed classes and strived for their welfare.

kudmol

The decision comes about six months after the renovation of the five decade old Town Hall of Mangaluru, which hosted thousands of political, social and cultural events in the past 50 years.

Who is KRR?

Kudmul Ranga Rao (29 June 1859 – 30 January 1928) was a social reformer from Kudmul, a village in the erstwhile Madras Presidency, (in the present-day Dakshina Kannada district) who established "Depressed Classes Mission" in 1897 in Mangaluru for providing education, better housing, drinking water and empowering the backward classes socially by guarding them against exploitation by upper classes.

He was born into a middle-class Goud Saraswat Brahmin community. His father, Devappayya, worked as a clerk under a landlord and his mother, Gauri, a housewife. Rangarao completed his primary education in Kasaragod, before losing his father when he was 16.

Moving to Mangaluru in search of a job, he began working as a teacher for a monthly salary of R 8. Completing his matriculation amid financial difficulties through a correspondence course, he cleared the pleadership examination, that certified him argue for a client in courts. Following this, he began his career as a lawyer in Mangaluru.

Rangarao as an advocate in profession was better known as 'the poor man's lawyer'. 'Education is the source of progress' was his tenet. At a time when the depressed classes had no schools, when they were treated with scorn, Rangarao stepped forward as a crusader for the cause. Albeit facing grave opposition, Kudmul Rangarao continued to combat the orthodox beliefs of the then superstitious Indian society.

Rangarao set up schools in Kankanadi, Bannanje, Mulki, Beloor, Udupi, Nejaru, Atthavara, Baabuguddde, Dhaddal forests for the downtrodden. He called them 'Panchama schools'. To persuade the kids to attend schools, he arranged for mid day meals and 2 paise per day to the parents to develop an interest and motivate the families to get their progeny to schools. It is said that he bathed the young kids, sat with them for lunch, slept in their huts to win over their hearts. He freed many servants and slaves from the clutches of demanding and barbarous masters. Despite being threatened myriad times, his grit and gusto could not be dampened.

By marrying off his own daughter, RadhaBai to Dr. Subrayan of Madras, he set an example of inter-caste marriage in India. Following his inspiration, M K Gandhi's son entered wedlock with Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's daughter. Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "I discerned social loyalty from Mr. Rangarao. He is an inspiration and a guide for me. He is my teacher when it comes to the upliftment of the untouchables".

Comments

LEON F VIEGAS
 - 
Thursday, 8 Dec 2016

There are other citizens who have done lots for the mangalore city. what about them ? town hall is good name please dont change it.

LEON F VIEGAS
 - 
Thursday, 8 Dec 2016

i feel town hall is the good name.

Raghuraj.
 - 
Sunday, 7 Aug 2016

Thank u city corporation.

Raghuraj.
 - 
Sunday, 7 Aug 2016

Good work done by mangalore city corporation .i personally apriciating you all.thank u im also one of the devotee of shri kudmul ranga rao.

Sameer
 - 
Sunday, 31 Jul 2016

If thy decide to name is has Late APJ Abdul Kalam, then we could have seen the frustation here!

Mehul Kamdar
 - 
Saturday, 30 Jul 2016

Great people who worked for their fellow human beings deserve to be honored. Kudos to Mangaluru for renaming it's Town Hall in the memory of this great gentleman.

True commentator
 - 
Saturday, 30 Jul 2016

Why not. It can be named as KRR Town Hall.
Let us start discovering our old ancestors who fought for us.

Let this be a good beginning.
But we should name all those regardless from what community.

Narendra Nayak
 - 
Saturday, 30 Jul 2016

Kudmul Ranga Rao is a much sweeter name. I strongly support the belated decision of the Mangalore City Corporation authorities to the name the town hall after him. It is not a honor done to him- the honor is for the city to have a town hall named after this great man. He said the day a dalit boy becomes a DC and comes to my village in his car raising the dust, I will make a tilak of that on my forehead and consider my life's ambition as fulfilled.

Ahmed
 - 
Saturday, 30 Jul 2016

Town Hall is the sweet name please no need to change in to KRR.....

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 13,2020

Mangaluru, May 13: Dakshina Kannada today recorded its fourth death due to novel coronavirus.

The victim, identified by number P-536, is a 58-year-old woman from Boloor area of Manglauru. She was tested covid-19 positive on April 30. 

A patient with TB meningitis, the woman had been treated and discharged from Mangaluru’s First Neuro Hospital, which has emerged as covid-19 hub of coastal Karnataka.

In hospital she had reportedly come in contact with patient No 501 who worked as a sweeper in the same hospital. 

With this death, the number of active covid-19 cases reduced to 16 in Dakshina Kannada. The district has so far reported 34 covid-19 cases including four deaths. 14 have been discharged.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 12,2020

Mangaluru, June 12: Juma prayers were held in dozens of mosques across coastal district of Dakshina Kannada including the city of Mangaluru for the first time in nearly three months upholding all the safety norms including physical distancing. 

For the first time in the recent history of Mangaluru, juma prayers were stalled in all the mosques for 11 consecutive weeks as part of nationwide coronavirus lockdown. 

While many mosques were reopened for the congregational prayers in the region on June 8 (Monday) after receiving approval from the government, many others are yet to be opened as Muslim religious leaders are taking additional precautionary measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 apart from following all the guidelines issued by the government.

“Around 400 people participated in the Juma prayer at Zeenat Bakhsh Juma Masjid. All the safety guidelines were followed. Sadaqatul Nadwi delivered the sermon and led the prayers,” S M Rasheed Haji, executive member of the mosque committee told coastaldigest.com.

“As per the guidelines, devotees performed Wudu (ablution) at their homes and also carried their own musalla (prayer mat) to the mosque,” said a Jalaluddin, a cleric who offered Juma prayers in Ullal.  

The guidelines issued by the government to the mosques also include disinfecting the premises at regular intervals, maintaining physical distance, wearing masks and finishing prayers in “minimum permissible time”.

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News Network
March 21,2020

Kasaragod, Mar 21: The lack of self-restraint and social distancing by people here, the ones who come from the Middle East regions, in particular, has been a cause of concern for the district authorities who have time and again been reiterating the need to follow tips from health authorities to counter the spread of Novel Coronavirus.

But as things are feared to go out of control, the district authorities including the Collector Dr. Sajith Babu have come out to the streets and bazaars only to impose social distancing instructions now in place in the district strictly since six more persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

According to health authorities, the new cases were caused by a few people who recently returned from abroad and who did not follow the self-quarantine measures.

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