UDUTADI
Udutadi(uDutaDi)
(ಉಡುತಡಿ) is a small village that is associated with Akka Mahadevi, without doubt
the best poetess in Kannada. This is the place where she was born and brought up.
It is located at a distance of about 14 kilometers from Shikaripura
a talluk head quarters in Shivamogga
district. All most of all literary works concerning Mahadeviyakka
mention Udutadi. Harihara
begins this tradition in his biographical account ‘Mahadeviyakkana
Ragale’. Scholars have opined that
Udutadi is in the proximity of Balligame(baLLigAme) made famous
by another Veerashaiva saint Allama
Prabhu. There are two small hamlets called ‘uDupagaNi’
and ‘taDagaNi’ near Balligame.
There is a fort near Udutadi which is shown as the fort
of Kaushika the suitor(Husband?)
of Mahadeviyakka. A small shrine was
bulit in 1975, in this village to commemorate Akka.
This village contains temples of Surya (Sun God) and
Chennakeshava. The ruins of a matha called Gurulinga
Channa Mallikarjuna Matha
is linked with her life. Some scholars have disputed the contention that
this is the
But they have not offered any alternatives.