Tulu is a language mainly spoken in Coastal Karnataka and part of northern Kerala. Tulu is one of the Dravidian languages like Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu , but is less developed compared to its sister languages.
Geography
The coastal city of Mangalore in Karnataka, is the main center of Tulu people. It is spoken by different castes and subcastes of Hindus, Jains and Christians of this region, which is also known as Tulunadu. Tulunadu is a beautiful hilly region.
9 26.9.2016=The coastal city of Udupi is also main centre for tulu ( THULU ) speaking people called tuluvaas ( TULUVAAS ). In fact the language tulu is being spoken in D.K , UDUPI and Kasaragod of Kerala . It is also spoken by Muslims in addition to their BYAARI language. ( TULUNADU to write in Transiliteration as THULUNAAD:U to spell the way it is pronounced. Otherwise it can be read in different way by those who are not well acquineted with the word or language which will gradually mislead. Yes this is the basic principle of my second book THULU LIPI BARELE =BARAVUGU NIREL< written to learn Thulu Lipi and published nin Mumbai on 22.6.2013. It gives many guidelines as to how to read and write THULU nad also Thulu Lipi ) Thulu naad:u is both hilly and coastal region. Infact its origin is said from hilly background as PARASHURAMA SHRASHTI and it name derived from the COASTAL background . ( Tulu means like liquid, theli,thalipu, tholipu, theli, thelike all resemble form of liquidity and mild natuer. ( JAYAKAR DEJAPPA POOJARY MUMBAI. authorised user 26.9.2016 )
Script
Though Tulu has an ancient script, it is generally referred to as a language without script. This is because, the script is totally unknown among its own people. It has been known only among the Tulu brahmins, who mainly used it for maintaining the Sanskrit Mantras (hymns used in Hindu religious ceremonies), in Astrology and in medicinal reference books, in which these brahmins where revered in the entire west-coast of India. However, recent researches have revealed that, Tulu has got a number of ancient books with scholarly written literature, all of them written in this -currently almost extinct -Tulu script. But currently, a few periodicals published in Tulu language and books written now and then in Tulu - all use Kannada script (though it is not suitable for certain peculiar pronunciations of Tulu).
Dialects
One more notable thing about this poor sister of Dravidian Language family, is that, even though it is now confined to just 2-3 districts, it has a number of dialects. These dialects are mainly regional and also based on castes and subcastes of Tulu speaking Hindus. One of these dialects spoken by the Tulu brahmans namely Sthanika brahmans and Shivalli brahmans is the one which is mainly used for all the literary works found in the language.
Specialities
It may be worth noting here that, most of these ancient Tulu literary works have been located and published by a single man -Venkataraja Puninchathaya of Kasaragod, . This quite interesting language has got a very rich vocabulary for expressing the rural coastal life of the Tulu people. This has been proved by the voluminous Tulu Encyclopedia published in eight volumes from Udupi.
Culture
Tulu people have got their own unique culture, art, traditions and rituals. Daiva Kola, Yakshagana and Nagaradhane are a few examples.
The People
The Tulu people are learned, highly entrepreneurial and cultured. This area has been declared as Fully Literate and the area always stands first in the general board exam results. Tulu people are contributing in all the fields and are spread all over the country and abroad.
History and present situation
Historically, Tulunadu was ruled by only some small rulers who ruled under one or other great dynasty of Kannada kings. Tulu is not a medium of teaching and administration even in a 100% Tulu village and Kannada has occupied that place. Now a days, Tulu is studied only at Post-graduate level in the Mangalore University.