Even though many languages are spoken here, there are many common factors in food, culture, rituals, traditions. Rice, fish and coconut oil are commonly used ingredients in the food of the people of Karavali region. Spirit worship (Bhuta Kola), Serpent worship (Nagaradhane), Buffalo race (Kambala), Yakshagana are some of common traditional rituals followed. Major ethnic groups are the Konkanis and Tuluvas.
The main languages spoken in this area are Tulu and Konkani. Konkani is mainly spoken in the northern part while Tulu is predominantly spoken in the south. The majority of the people follow Hinduism. Other religions practiced include Christianity and Islam. Tulu speakers are exclusively Hindus. This region has many sites of Hindu pilgrimage including Kollur, Kadri Manjunath Temple,Sharavu, Mangaladevi, Dharmasthala, Kukke Subramanya Temple, Udupi Srikrishna Matha (Temple), Kateel, Murdeshwara, Idagungi and Gokarna.
The region is known for its wide variety of vegetarian dishes. Fish is the staple diet among the non-vegetarians here. Coconut is used generously in all the dishes.
[IMAGE via Cupahr]
