Kodakar was the Malayalam word for a Kodava, and it comes from the word "Kodag-kara". The ancient Kodavas of Kodagu had land trade with Northern Malabar, especially with Thalassery (Tellicherry) port on the coast, and would also go on regular pilgrimage to the temples of the region. Devotees from Kodagu were, and still are, frequent visitors to the temples of Kannur and Waynad (districts of North Kerala). These temples are in places like Baithur or Bythoor (Vayathur and Ulikkal), Payyavoor, Parassinikkadavu, Thirunelli, Kanjirath, Nileshwar and Payyanur. Also the Nambima (Namboothiri) priests of North Malabar traditionally served as the temple priests in the temples of Kodagu. The folk songs of the Kodavas speak of the temple deities having originated in North Malabar. These folk songs while talking of Kodagu and its people also mention the temple regions as well as the Thiyyar, Nambiya (Nambiar), the Nambima (Namboothiri) and the Nayamma (the Kodava word for Nair – in Malayalam Nayanmmar means Nairs) people of Northern Malabar. Baithurappa (Bythoorappa) is a chief deity of the Kodavas. The Puggera family of Kodavas were hereditary temple managers at the Bythoor (Vayathur, in Kerala and near Karnataka's Kodagu border) temple which was in the dominion of the Mannanar raja, who like the Kolathiri (Chera Raja) was an ally of the Kodavas. Every year Kodavas from Southern Kodagu pilgrimage to this place. Likewise the Bovverianda and the Mundiolanda families of Kodavas were the hereditary temple managers at the Payyavur temple which was under the Kolathiri (Chera) kings. This is because a few of the Kodavas lived in North Malabar in the Taliparamba (ancient capital of the Cheras) region in the ancient past and fought on their side as mercenary soldiers. Firearms The Kodavas revered weapons, such as guns and the traditional sword and dagger, which are essential for their ceremonial purposes and in accordance to their religious and cultural customs. The Kodavas stood guard at the Mysore, Mangalore and Malabar boundary posts. The support of the Kodagu native police, army and offices, held by Jamma ryots (native militia farmers, also called jamma tenure-holders), who were mostly Kodavas while including people from a few other communities as well, exempted the Kodavas from the 1861 Indian Arms Act. The 1878 Indian Arms Act listed among those groups of persons not restricted by the Act: "all persons of Kodava race, and all jumma tenure-holders in Coorg who by their tenures