If you put a timeline to it, it has nearly been 4 decades since Malgudi days catapulted into India’s collective imagination on the teletube. But no traces of it can be found in this tiny hamlet on the edge of western ghats as I passed through it recently. I was on a trip to Shringeri from Manipal and after climbing an arduous Ghat section, the main road took us through Agumbe which was basically a stretch of a one kilometer road that meandered through houses and some tea stalls on either sides. There was are no traces of Malgudi except for the familiar sight of old world tiled roof houses one of which was ‘Dodda Mane’ (of which I will come to shortly).
Agumbe, the village that became Malgudi days (the iconic TV serial) - old charm, the sleepiness, the rustic ambience
Agumbe received more recognition for ‘Malgudi Days’ serials than the highest average annual rainfall it receives in India after Cherrapunji. Agumbe beat Nanjangudi town which the director of this TV serial dallied and courted for a while for his ‘Malgudi days’ before zeroing on this town on the edge of western Ghats. The search for this fictional town of Malgudi actually began in Mysore and surrounding areas. Mysore where RKN lived and wrote this masterpiece initially conceived of this heritage city but by the time Shankar wanted to flesh it out on the small television canvas it could no longer fit the bill of an idyllic place as urbanization had taken over
While Shankar was searching in the old Mysore region, it was Anant Nag (his elder brother) who asked him to check out Agumbe. Story goes that Anant Nag discovered the old world charm of Agumbe when his car broke down in one of the treacherous hair pin bends of the steep ghats in the vicinity of Agumbe. He could have probably gone there for help and was impressed by the beauty of the malnad heartland
Some people say the word Malgudi comes from two old locality names in Bangalore, Mal as in (Malleswaram) and Gudi (Basavangudi). RKN may have liberally borrowed from the people living in these localities to smoke out his characters. Many of the old houses and streets here still show some traces of the Malgudian world. “ Malgudi is a town habited by timeless characters, who could be living anywhere in the world…….It is where we all belong and where we wish we lived” RKN once said.
AI (ChatGPT 4.0 rendered image created to capture the essence of Malgudi Days as described in the blog post
The unknown faces behind 'Malgudi days', the TV serial that captured the imagination of the global television audience
There are many known people who contributed to the success of Malgudi days. It was Ananth Nag (brother of Shankar Nag) who prodded a disinterested Shankar to take up the project. Producer TS Narasimhan (of Banker Margayya fame) who was related to R K Narayan joined hands, Vaidyanathan came up with his signature tune “Taa Naa Naa Tana Nana Naa” are well known names behind the scenes.
Some of the lesser known names like Ramesh Bhat (production assistant), John Devraj (art director) and town planner gave Agumbe some makeover like water fountain and colonial ‘Robert’ statue also take credit
However names like Kasturi Jayrao of Doddamane of Agumbe may not appear on the credit scroll. But without her, the whole idea of hosting 100 plus crew of Malgudi days in this hamlet with no lodges, hotels, or even a telephone exchange would have been impossible. It was Kasturi Jayrao who encouraged Shankar Nag who came scouting around and took lead in hosting them in her Dodda mane where a few episodes like “Naga’ were shot (Go to 7 minutes 12 seconds to see the house). She persuaded others in the town to do so and as Ramesh Bhat puts it, every house in Agumbe hosted 2 or 3 crew members.
The whole town did it with no commercial arrangement, no money was taken for lodging them. They lent their brassware’s and other household items for recreating 1940s scenes in the serial. Some of these houses were converted into make believe Post Office and Police station of Malgudi. The crew even jokingly put up name boards like “Taj Continental’, ‘Ashoka Palace’ on the houses they were hosted to identify who was put-up where and what food parcel was to be served.
The town practically had no facilities , even for ration and other essentials, they had to go down the ghats to Hebri regularly recalls Ramesh Bhat (noted actor and product assistant). The Malgudi village is still more or less the same even now devoid of any modern trappings
Dodda Mane (meaning big house) is a colonial two storied tiled house with lovely inner courtyard. Its exquisite wooden carvings and stone pillars first set the imagination of shankar Nag rolling. The lady of the house Kasturi Jayrao actually set in motion a series of events that went to become 39 episodes beginning 1985 until a road accident snuffed out Shankarnag’s life in 1986.
As per Manjunath Nayaker who played Swami in Malgudi days, most of the shooting (Swami's home) took place in this house of Shankar Rao at Handalasu which is a small Village/hamlet in Tirthahalli Taluk in Shimoga
District of Karnataka State (below)
The extent to which Shankar Nag went to recreate Malgudi days
The three seasons of 13 episodes each, set in a 1940s British India, was created to meticulous detail. colonial props were created, background characters pulled in from surrounding villages, vintage cars like Austins were borrowed from friends….elephants, a road roller and such other stuff brought from Bangalore. Shankar even created the freedom movement by showing ‘andolan kartas’ in mundane scenes
The biggest challenge was to recreate the railway station of Malgudi. Since it had no station, Shankar Nag went to the nearby tiny railway station in Arasalu village, then a meter gauge line. Here he had to shoot a bored Swamy standing on a bench in the classroom and watch the train go by through the window. The problem was there was no railway station in Agumbe, so he tore down the school window, took it 78 kms away to Arsalu and recreated the scene masterfully with just the window separating Swamy and the train at Arsalu on opposite sides. The train could not be halted for the shoot, so the first and second shot was taken on opposite platforms. First when the train arrived in the morning and the second one in the opposite platform when it came back 20 minutes later
A tribute to the Malgudi Days (the iconic television serial) facilitator on the first death anniversary
By some strange coincidence, it was the first death anniversary of Kasturi Jayarao when i visited Doddamane last Sunday (5th December 2021) . Her photo adorned the entrance and a few dozen friends & relatives of the lady were having ‘Tithi Oota’ in the adjacent makeshift tent. I met one of her relatives who said that all youngsters/progeny of the three sq km Agumbe, with its about 500 strong populace, have spread out across the world and it is only the elders staying back.
This blog article is a tribute to Kasturi Jayarao and countless others behind the scenes who quietly made the wonderful world of ‘Malgudi days’ come to life
| Location | Shimoga district, Karnataka, India |
| Famous for | Snakes, known as 'Cobra Capital' of India |
| The Cherrapunji of South India | |
| Nearby places | Shringeri Sharadamba Temple (25 Kms) |
| Manipal (47 Kms) | |
| Where to stay | Seethanadi Nature camp, Hebri (15 Kms away) |
| seethanadi@junglelodges.com | |
| Fares - 750 Camp tents, 1500 Cottages, fare includes coracle ride down the seethanadi river | |
| Where to party | Pubs & Bars like (Eye of the tiger) in Manipal |
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