In a record of sorts, the membership of the Facebook group Coorg/Kodagu books, a virtual encyclopaedia on Coorg, has crossed 5,000.
Started in May, 2012, by journalist P.T. Bopanna, the group page has one of the most exhaustive knowledge bases on Coorg.
Some of the topics covered include, the origin of Coorgs, DNA test to find origin of Coorgs, list of books on books on Coorg, book reviews, Kodava script, Coorg audio video, and rare photographs.
Bopanna, the administrator of the group, said initially the group was started as a forum for discussion on Coorg-related books. However, in the course of time, the number of members increased. To cater to the thirst for information on Coorg, the scope of the Group was enlarged to include all matters pertaining to Coorg, instead of just books.
Commenting on the phenomenal increase in the membership of the Group, Bopanna said: “Though I used to get a lot of requests for membership in the Group, I had to filter the requests. I enrolled only those who were from Coorg, or those genuinely interested in Coorg.”
Elaborating, Bopanna said that ideally the name of the Group should be ‘Coorg Encyclopaedia’ because it is one of the biggest storehouses of information on Coorg. “I understand that Facebook does not permit the change in the name of the Group, once the membership reaches a certain level,” Bopanna added.