Cukkemane or Kukkemane or Cuckemane is surname or a family name belonging to members of the Havyaka Brahmin Community. They belong to the Gautama gotra; they originate from and are mainly based in Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka, a state in South India. They are from Kukke which was part of Amara Sulya district, formerly in the old kingdom of Kodagu. Origins of Cukkemane Many centuries ago, a Brahmin family of Gautama gotra from Sagara taluka in Shimoga (Shivamogga) district in Karnataka migrated to the hamlet Saravu in Kodapadavu village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district. During a particular point in history, there was no male heir to continue the family. The then family members went to the Kukke Subramanya Temple & prayed to Subramanya to bless them with a male heir. They brought home a Shiva Linga for daily worship from the temple. Within the same temple complex, they also sought the blessings of Lakshmi Narasimha, with an assurance to him, that he would be the kuladevaru or Kuldevta of the family henceforth. A male heir was thus born and the family continued. Then on the descendants of this family identified themselves as belonging to Cukkemane or Kukkemane deriving it from "Kukke" - the name of Subramanya & "Mane" – which in Kannada means house, therefore the name meant the House of the Kukke Subramanya. Prior to accepting Lakshmi Narasimha as the Cukkemane family deity, Goddess Sri Durgaparmeshwari was the Kuladevaru or the family deity. Therefore, even today some members of the Cukkemane in Saravu, worship Lakshmi Narasimha as the Mane Devaru - God of the House, at noon and Goddess Sri Durgaparameshwari as the kuladevaru – God of the Clan or family, at night. History and myth and fact It is said that centuries ago one of the ancestors of Cukkemane, was a staunch devotee of Shiva and possessed a Shivalinga & worshipped it with a great devotion. As he sensed his life on earth nearing an end, he was worried as to who would perform the daily rituals and care for them at all times as he did. Possessed with this thought, he decided to install this shivalinga in the garbha gudi – the sanctum sanctorum of the Subramanya in the Kukke Subramanya Temple. Having done so, when his time came, he died, content with the knowledge that they would be well taken care of. However, many years