63.Baikampadi

North of the Mangalore city near the New Mangalore Port is a place called Baikampadi, now occupied by an industrial estate sponsored by the Government. The area is flanked by marshy area of Tokur lying between Baikampadi and Jokatte.Geologically, the area was a paleo-fluvial channel which subsequently diverted by natural processes.
This place is called Baikampadi: a bit odd sounding word.What is the meaning of the word Baikampadi?
Local Tulu people rather funnily describe that Baikampadi stands for ‘Bai+ kanth+padi’, which means ‘bring and put the hay’!
An Old Kannada word
The ‘Baikam’ appears to be an Old Kannada word, meaning ‘beggar’. It is found in ‘Oddaradhane’, an old Kannada classic text of 10th century AD. The’Padi’ is an common Tulu word meaning shrubby land.Therefore Baikampadi possibly means the camping ground reserved for beggars, vagabounds or recluses.
The word appears to have been coined during the reign of Kannada rulers during the Ballal or Vijayanagar period between 10th and 13th centuries AD.