New Discovery
The earliest documented evidence
referring to a Baliga or Balo
can be found in the book “The Ancient History of South Canara”
written by Sri Ganapathi Rao
Aigal which mentions one Damarsa
Bale, among other Samasthas of Bantwal,
signing a letter of offering to Sri Bhadra Narasimha Temple of Manjeshwar.
Inscribed on a copper plate in Kannada Language and script, this letter of
offering was created in the year 1747 A.D. The full text of
the letter in Roman script given below.
Namasthunga shirashumbhi
Chandra chaamara chaarave thrayilokya nagaraamba moolasthambaaya shaambavi swasthi shri jayaabhyudaya
nrupa shaalivaahana shaka varusha 1668 ne kshaya samIda
chayithra shuI 2lu shrimatthu manjeshwara bhadra narasimha devara bhandaarakke Bantuvala Pete Daamarsa Baale I Bappaya Naayaka I Range Prabhu I Soyira Kamathi I Abbaya Sonabova I munthaada samastharu barashikotta dharma saasanada patte kramavanthendare devara amrutha padi nandaa deepthi
munthaada viniyogada bage naavu maaduva
vevahaaradalu varusha 1ra bhandaarakke koduvudu ga 9 varahaamnu thappadanthe kaalkaalam prathilukottu bandevendu barashikotta patte hatthara salurutthadinda bhadranarasimha devara padakke Damarsana bimnahaa, Bappayana bimnahaa, Rangayana bimnahaa, Shoyirana bimnaha, Abayana bimnahaa, ee prakaara
barakotta thaamra shaasana patte.
The Only Damarsa
Bale in our family tree is Damarsa aka Nirvana Baliga, the second
son of Ramayya Baliga (the
original ancestor). But to conclude that he was the person in the above
inscription, we have an obstacle.
Another inscription found on a
stone slab of 59 cms x 70 cms
infront of the Babbale Katte, near Shri Tirumala Venkatramana Swamy Temple, Bantwal, was
installed by one Srinivasa Baliga
the fifth son of Venkatesha Baliga
on February 8, 1887 A.D. as clearly mentioned in the inscription. He had
erected a lamp post in memory of Shri Bhuvanendra Theertha Swamiji of Kaashi Math Samsthan who attained Samadhi in 1886.
The only combination of Srinivasa Baliga being a fifth
son of Venkatesh Baliga is
found in our family tree is in the 4th generation.
This Srinivas
Venkatesh Baliga is
grandson of Subba Ramayya Baliga elder brother of Damarsa aka Nirvana Ramayya Baliga. (You can view the relationship tree of Srinivas Venkatesh Baliga and Damarsa aka Nirvana Baliga here.) But we
can see a large gap of 140 years between them if we consider Damarsa aka Nirvana Baliga as Damarsa Bale.
The evidence of identifying Srinivas Venkatesh Baliga is more clear than that of Damarsa
aka Nirvana Baliga as Damarsa Bale.
Taking in to consideration the
relationship between above individuals, if we calculate with the standard
generation gap measure of 26 years, and an average gap of 3 years between each
sibling, the gap between Srinivasa Venkatesh Baliga and Damarsa aka Nirvana Baliga will be only 70 years, which is short of another 70
years to match the record in the copper plate.
This not only prevents us in
concluding Damarsa aka
Nirvana Baliga as Damarsa
Bale and proves that they are different individuals, Damarsa
Bale being the older one.
In our existing database our family
tree starts from Ramayya Baliga
the father of Damarsa aka
Nirvana Baliga. We have no clue about any ancestors
of Ramayya Baliga.
The above calculations show us that
Damarsa Bale mentioned in the copper plate
inscription of Manjeshwar could be either father or
grand father of our earliest ancestor Ramayya Baliga not the son as we presumed earlier. Our custom to
name the new born after his grandfather, further gives us strength in assuming Damarsa Bale as
grand father of Damarsa aka
Nirvana Baliga.
He even can be a Baliga of different lineage to which Ramayya
Baliga was connected with a little distance.
The origins of our ancestral
association with Bantwal are not clear. Did Ramayya Baliga settle down in Bantwal in search of a livelihood? Was he born in Bantwal? It’s hard to say.
In fact, no evidence marking the
year of establishment of our town diety-