The Kannada people or Kannadigaru nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)">IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/> nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)are an ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry to the South Indian state of Karnataka">IAST">nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)are an ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry to the South Indian state of Karnataka in India and its surrounding regions. Kannada stands among 30 of the most widely spoken languages of the world as of 2001. Evidence for human habitation in Karnataka exists from at least the 2nd millennium BCE, and the region is postulated to have had contact with the

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kash ...

civilization. The existence of artifacts (such as Roman coins) shows Karnataka was engaged in trade as early as the 1st century CE. In the 3rd-4th century BCE the land was ruled by the

Mauryas The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

and Jainism was very popular. After the Mauryas, parts of Karnataka were variously ruled by dynasties who were either ethnically Kannadiga or from the outside. The

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bellar ...

, Kadambas,

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynast ...

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta ( IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

s and

Hoysalas The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later move ...

were some of the many major Kannada kingdoms and dynasties ruling the region. The

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

was founded by Kannada chieftains who were great patrons of Kannada art and literature. The Kannada language has written inscriptions since 450 CE. Kannada literature is mostly composed of poems and treatises on religious works. Kannada architecture is dominated by stone-carved sculptured palaces and temples. The ruins of

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th&n ...

are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

History

The

Brahmagiri archaeological site Brahmagiri is an archaeological site located in the Chitradurga district of the state of Karnataka, India. Legend has it that this is the site where sage Gautama Maharishi (also spelt Gauthama Maharshi) and his wife Ahalya lived. He was one amon ...

near

Chitradurga Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka. Chitradurga is a place with historical significance which is locate ...

district, central Karnataka attests to evidence of settlement in the Karnataka region from at least the 2nd millennium BCE. Excavations at the

Chandravalli Chandravalli is an archaeological site located in the Chitradurga district of the state of Karnataka, India. The region is a valley formed by three hills, Chitradurga, Kirabanakallu and Jolagudda.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p97 It is a semi-arid re ...

historical site has revealed interaction with Roman and Chinese travelers around the 2nd and 3rd century BCE. Talagunda and

Halmidi Halmidi is a small village in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India, near the temple town of Belur. Halmidi is best known as the place where the oldest known inscription exclusively in Kannada language, the Halmidi inscription, was di ...

inscriptions stand as the oldest known full-length inscriptions in Kannada. The language was once popular from the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu di ...

Godavari The Godavari (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Godāvarī'' Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganges river, Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in Indi ...

rivers as mentioned in the Kannada classic

Kavirajamarga ''Kavirajamarga'' ( kn, ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗ) (850 C.E.) is the earliest available work on rhetoric, poetics and grammar in the Kannada language.Kamath (2001), p 90Narasimhacharya (1988), p 2 It was inspired by or written in part by ...

of 850 CE.Sastri (1955), pp. 355–356 Archaeological evidences show Kannada inscriptions found as far north as

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

(inscription of

Krishna III Krishna III whose Kannada name was Kannara (r. 939 – 967 C.E.) was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring b ...

) and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

.Thapar, Romila (2003), p. 433, ''The Penguin History of Early India, From Origin to 1300 AD., 2003'', Penguin, New Delhi, Karnataka Expansion provides insights to kingdoms of

northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

whose originators were from Kannada country.Kamath (2001), pp. 84, 90 The major empires and kingdoms, their regal capital and most distinguished kings were: *

Western Ganga Dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ...

Talakad Talakadu (ತಲಕಾಡು) is a town on the left bank of the Kaveri river 45 km (28 miles) from Mysore and 133 km (82 miles) from Bangalore in Karnataka, India. Latinizations of the towns name vary, but include Talkād, Talakadu, Ta ...

u -

Durvinita Durvinita () is seen as the most successful ruler of the Western Ganga dynasty. Son of the previous ruler, Avinita, Durvinita's accession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of the Pallavas and Kadambas. There ...

* Kadamba Dynasty -

Banavasi Banavasi is an ancient temple town located near Sirsi in Karnataka. Banavasi was the ancient capital of the Kannada empire Kadamba that ruled all of modern-day Karnataka state. They were the first native empire to bring Kannada and Karnataka ...

Mayurasharma Mayurasharma or Mayuravarma (reigned 345–365 C.E.), a native of Talagunda (in modern Shimoga district), was the founder of the Kadamba Kingdom of Banavasi, the earliest native kingdom to rule over what is today the modern state of Karnataka, ...

(Mayuravarma) * Badami Chalukya -

Badami Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from CE 540 to 757. It is famous for its rock cut monumen ...

Pulakeshin II Pulakeshin II ( IAST: Pulakeśin, r. c. 610–642 CE) was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya kingdom expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in ...

Manyakheta Malkhed originally known as Manyakheta ( IAST: Mānyakheṭa, Prakrit: "Mannakheḍa"), and also known as Malkhed,Village code= 311400 Malkhed (J), Gulbarga, Karnataka is a town in Karnataka, India. It is located on the banks of Kagina river ...

Amoghavarsha I Amoghavarsha I (also known as Amoghavarsha Nrupathunga I) (r.814–878 CE) was the greatest emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and one of the most notable rulers of Ancient India. His reign of 64 years is one of the longest precisely dated mo ...

Hoysala The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later move ...

- Belur and

Halebidu Halebidu ( IAST: Haḷēbīḍ, literally "old capital, city, encampment" or "ruined city") is a town located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Historically known as Dorasamudra (also Dwarasamudra), Halebidu became the regal capital of the ...

Veera Ballala II Veera Ballala II ( kn, ವೀರ ಬಲ್ಲಾಳ 2) (r. 1173–1220 CE) was the most notable monarch of the Hoysala Empire. His successes against the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Southern Kalachuris, the Pandyas of Madurai and the wanin ...

Kalyani Chalukya The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in th ...

Basavakalyan Basavakalyana is a city and municipal council in the Bidar District of the Indian state of Karnataka. History Before India's independence, Basavakalyan was called Kalyani. After independence and division of states on linguistic basis in 1956, ...

a -

Vikramaditya VI Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory.Sen ( ...

* Southern Kalachuri -

Kalyani Kalyani may refer to: Film and television * ''Kalyani'' (1940 film), a Hindi film * ''Kalyani'' (1952 film), a Tamil film * ''Kalyani'' (1971 film), a Kannada film * ''Kalyani'' (1979 film), a Telugu film * ''Kalyani'' (1983 film), an Oriya ...

Bijjala II Bijjala II (1130–1167 CE) kn, ಇಮ್ಮಡಿ ಬಿಜ್ಜಳ was the Mahamandaleshwara of the Kalyani Chalukyas. He was the most famous of the southern Kalachuri kings who ruled initially as a vassal of Chalukya Vikramaditya VI. He r ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hun ...

Bukka Bukka Raya I (reigned 1356–1377 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.Phrof A V Narasimha MurthyRare Royal Brothers: Hakka and Bukka He was a son of Bhavana Sangama(Unofficial). Background The early life of B ...

, Krishnadevaraya *

Keladi Nayakas Nayakas of Keladi (1499–1763), also known as Nayakas of Bednore and Ikkeri Nayakas, were an Indian dynasty based in Keladi in present-day Shimoga district of Karnataka, India. They were an important ruling dynasty in post-medieval Karnata ...

Ikkeri Ikkeri is a hamlet situated in Sagara taluk (township) about 6 km to the south of the town centre in Sagara, it's known for the Aghoreshvara Temple, dedicated to an avatar of Shiva. The word ''Ikkeri'' in Kannada means "two streets". Nay ...

Shivappa Nayaka Shivappa Nayaka (ಶಿವಪ್ಪ ನಾಯಕ) (r.1645–1660), popularly known as Keladi Shivappa Nayaka, was an Indian king and ruler of the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom. The Keladi Nayakas were successors of the Vijayanagara Empire in the c ...

* Chitradurga Nayakas -

Raja Veera Madakari Nayaka V Ontisalaga Madakari Nayaka or Madakari Nayaka V or Karigundi Nayaka (1742 - 1782) was the last Nayaka ruler of Chitradurga, India. He belongs to Bedar Nayaka caste and is considered to be the greatest of the Nayakas of Chitradurga and also ...

Haleri Kingdom The Kingdom of Coorg (or Kingdom of Kodagu) was an independent kingdom that existed in India from the 16th century until 1834. It was ruled by a branch of the Ikkeri Nayaka. From 1780 to 1788, the kingdom was occupied by neighbouring Mysore b ...

Kodagu Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupie ...

- Mudduraja *

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary alliance with Brit ...

Mysooru Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude ...

- Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar Minor dynasties that have played an important role in the development of

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, culture and polity were

Chutu The Chutu dynasty ( IAST: Cuṭu) ruled parts of the Deccan region of South India between first and third centuries CE, with its capital at Banavasi in present-day Karnataka state. The Chutus probably rose to power as Satavahanas feudatories, an ...

s of Banavasi (feudatory to

Satavahana Empire The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the lat ...

), Moraes (1931), p 4Purava HaleGannada or Pre-old Kannada was the language of Banavasi in the early Christian era, the Satavahana and Kadamba eras (Wilks in Rice, B.L. (1897), p 490

Tuluva Dynasty Tuluva is the name of the third Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. The dynasty traces its patrilineal ancestry to Tulu-speaking who are Bunt Nagavamshi Kshatriyas () Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, a powerful warlord from the westerly Tulu speaking regi ...

of Canara,Narasimhacharya (1988), p 68 Rattas of Saundatti (Belgaum), Guttas of Guttal (Dharwad region),Cousens (1996), p15 Banas of Kolar,Mahalingam in Adiga (2006), p 130

Nolambas The Nolamba dynasty the area they held sway over is referred to as ''Nolambasa-37'' of Henjeru (Hemavathi), ''Nolambalige'' (''Nolambavadi''-32000), etc. R. Narasimhacharya states that the Nolambas were a native Kannada dynasty. Officers and kings ...

of Nolambavadi,Their territory included modern Tumkur, Chitradurga, Kolar, Bellary and Bangalore districts. Chopra et al. (2003), part 1, p. 163 Vaidumbas,Adiga (2006), p. 142They were an Andhra dynasty who ruled over Kurnool, Cuddappah in the 10th century. There inscriptions are in Telugu and Kannada. Chopra et al. (2003), part 1, p. 163 Chengalvas, Kongalvas, Sendrakas of Nagarkhanda (Banavasi province), Yalahanka Nadaprabhu Kempegowda,Also known as the Kempegowda family, builders of modern Bangalore-Kamath (2001), pp. 240–241 Sindas of Yelburga (Bijapur-Gulbarga),

Kadamba of Hangal The Kadambas of Hangal was a South Indian dynasty during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Hangal in Karnataka. Chatta Deva who reigned from 980-1031 CE founded the dynasty. He helped Wester ...

.Two coins of the Hangal Kadambas exist, one with the Kannada inscription ''Saarvadhari'' and other with ''Nakara''. They are preserved in the Royal Asiatic Society and Indian Historical Research Institute, Mumbai - Moraes (1931), p 385 In addition, other well known kingdoms that patronized Kannadiga poets and Kannada language were: *

Eastern Chalukyas Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they becam ...

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty ( IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. T ...

Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri ( IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a Medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of ...

Kamath (2001), pp. 143-144 *

Shilahara The Shilahara Kingdom (IAST: Śilāhāra; also Sinhara, Shailahara, Shrilara, and Silara) was a royal dynasty that established itself in northern and southern Konkan in 8th century CE, present-day Mumbai and Southern Maharashtra ( Kolhapur) ...

* Kadambas of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

The coins of the Kadambas of Goa are unique in that they have alternate inscription of the king's name in Kannada and Devanagari in triplicate. This shows that the native vernacular of the Goa Kadambas was Kannada. Moraes (1931), p 384

Immigrants from Karnataka

In addition to those empires that ruled from the Karnataka region, based on inscriptions and literary evidence historians have discussed the possibility that kingdoms of Kannada origin were established in other parts of India as well. *The

Karnata Dynasty Karnata was a southern kingdom, mentioned in the great epic Mahabharata, This kingdom gave the name to the South Indian state Karnataka. The Karnata Kingdom forms the total portion of ancient Karnataka state of India. References in Mahabharata ...

(founded by Nanyadeva I) of

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

,Kamat, Suryanath U., (2001), p.8, ''A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present'', Jupiter books, MCC, Bangalore, 2001 (Reprinted 2002), OCLC: 7796041Makhan Jha, (1997), pp52-53, ''Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Perspective'', M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd, S.R. Bakshi, S. Gajrani, Hari Singh (2005), p.254, ''Early Aryans to Swaraj'', Sarup & Sons, Sengupta, Nitish K (2011), p50, ''Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib'', Penguin Books, Chapter:''The Sen Dynasty'', Desai, Pandurang Bhimarao (1970), p.213, ''A History of Karnataka: From Pre-history to Unification'', Kannada Research Institute, Karnatak University, OCLC:203297Mishra, Jayakanta in Ayyappa Paniker (1997), p.280, p.289, ''Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections'', Sahitya Akademi, Pollock, Sheldon (2006), p.417, note.79, ''The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India'', University of California Press, *The Chalukyas of Gujarat,Altekar in Kamath (2001), p. 73Altekar 1934, pp. 21–22 *The Chalukyas of Vengi (

Eastern Chalukya Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they bec ...

),Keay (2000), p 170The Eastern Chalukyas were originally of Kannada stock who later encouraged Telugu *The

,Shrinivas Ritti and A.V. Narasimha Murthy in Kamath 2001, p. 137Seuna coins carry Kannada legends from the beginning of their rule (O.P. Varma in Kamath 2001, p. 137)Majority of the Seuna inscriptions are in Kannada and during the formation of the kingdom, the Nasik-Ahamadnagar region (Seuna Desa) was a Kannada territory (Kamath 2001, p. 137) *The Rashtrakuta family ruling from

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra Province, India, historically known as Berar *Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates * Berar Subah (1596–1724), a Subah of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province (172 ...

(modern Amravati district, Maharashtra),A Kannada dynasty may have been created in Berar under the rule of Badami Chalukyas, (Altekar 1934, pp. 21–22) *The Rashtrakutas branch of Gujarat (Lata branch),The Gujarat Rashtrakutas signed even their Sanskrit records in Kannada because that was the language of the place of their origin (D.R. Bhandarkar in Kamath 2001, p 73)The Gujarat Rashtrakutas would not have signed their inscriptions in Kannada language in far away Gujarat unless they were Kannadigas (Altekar 1934, pp 21–22) *The

Sena dynasty The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcon ...

of BengalB.P. Sinha in George E. Somers, Dynastic History of Magadha, p. 214, Abhinav Publications, 1977, New Delhi, Sen (1999), p282Majumdar, R. C. (1977), Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, p. 320, New Delhi, *The Eastern Gangas of Orissa (descendants of the Western Ganga Dynasty)

Culture

Architecture

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

and

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

has been the epitome of art in Karnataka. Be it the musical pillars of

, which is listed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, the (

monolithic A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Monolith or monolithic may also refer to: Architecture * Monolithic architecture, a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated ...

) statue of Gommateshvara

Bahubali Bahubali (), a much revered figure among Jains, was the son of Rishabadeva (the first ''tirthankara'' of Jainism) and the brother of Bharata Chakravartin. He is said to have meditated motionless for a year in a standing posture (''kayotsarg ...

that was voted by Indians as the first of Seven Wonders of India, the '' Yelu Sutthina Kote'' of

(The Fort of Seven Laps) cutting across hill or the wholesomeness of carvings of temples which bared down all desires to be left out of it and formless (above all forms) all encompassing — the inner

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the '' sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ...

s. The temples of Karnataka had in them many ''shaili'' or varieties to credit. A majority of the temples were built using the locally available stones. Gomateswara

Some of the places of interest are: *

Ellora Caves Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temple cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 CE., Quote: "These 34 ...

houses the Kailasanatha temple of Ellooru was built by the Rashtrakutas Dynasty and is declared a

Elephanta Caves The Elephanta Caves are a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. They are on Elephanta Island, or ''Gharapuri'' (literally "the city of caves"), in Mumbai Harbour, east of Mumbai in the Indian state of Mah� ...

island was a summer resort of Rashtrakuta kings and is declared a

. *

Konark Sun Temple Konark Sun Temple is a (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about northeast from Puri city on the coastline in Puri district, Odisha, India.World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. * Ajanta Caves have sculptures of Rashrakutas and Badami Chalukyas and is declared a

. *

houses the ruins of the

and is declared a

Pattadakal Pattadakal, also called Paṭṭadakallu or Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka (India). Located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River in Bagalakote district, this UNESCO World Her ...

is a

vesara Vesara is a hybrid form of Indian temple architecture, with South Indian plan and a shape that features North Indian details. This fusion style likely originated in the historic architecture schools of the Dharwad region. It is common in the survi ...

style of Hindu temple

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, a

Badami cave temples The Badami cave temples are a complex of Hindu and Jain cave temples located in Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district in northern part of Karnataka, India. The caves are important examples of Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Bad ...

, a regal capital of the

Badami Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynast ...

, now famous for its

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

cave temples *

Aihole Aihole (pronounced "Eye-hoḷé"), also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in Karnataka, India that dates from the sixth century through the twelfth c ...

is known for its many temples and inscriptions of

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

in the

Old Kannada Old Kannada or Halegannada ( kn, ಹಳೆಗನ್ನಡ, Haḷegannaḍa) is the Kannada language which transformed from ''Purvada halegannada'' or ''Pre-old Kannada'' during the reign of the Kadambas of Banavasi (ancient royal dynasty of K ...

script *

, a major centre of social and religious movement in the 12th century by

Basava Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Cha ...

, consists of temples in Chalukyan architecture *

Itagi Itagi is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India.Village code= 78100 It is located in the Khanapur taluk of Belgaum district in Karnataka. History Itagi is the site of Narayan Swami temple. This temple was built in the 12 ...

is home to the

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

temple built by

Vikramāditya Vikramaditya ( IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and ''Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Prati ...

. Considered to be the best specimen of Kalyani Chalukyan art, it has as many as 68 decorated pillars, an ornate tower and a doorway of great workmanship *

Lakkundi Lakkundi, also referred to as Lokkugundi, was a major city prior to the 14th-century, and is now a village in Gadag District of Karnataka, India. By 10th-century, it was already a major economic and commerce center with mint operations for South ...

* Belur *

Halebeedu Halebidu (IAST: Haḷēbīḍ, literally "old capital, city, encampment" or "ruined city") is a town located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Historically known as Dorasamudra (also Dwarasamudra), Halebidu became the regal capital of the ...

Shravanabelagola Shravanabelagola () is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is from Bengaluru. The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas (pilgrimage des ...

* Saumyakeshava Temple, Nagamangala *

Lakshminarayana Temple, Hosaholalu The Lakshminarayana Temple is a 13th-century Hindu temple with Hoysala architecture in Hosaholalu, Mandya district of Karnataka, India. Dedicated to Vishnu, this three-shrine monument is notable for its finely carved plinth (''adhisthana'') with ...

Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu The Mallikarjuna temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is in Basaralu, a small town in the Mandya district, Karnataka state, India. Basaralu is close to Nagamangala and about 65 km from the culturally important city of Mysore. The tem ...

Keladi Keladi is a temple town in Sagara Taluk of the state of Karnataka in India. Keladi is located about 8 km from the town of Sagara. History It is the place whence the ''Ikkeri'' chiefs derived their origin, which is thus related: Two bro ...

Pioneer sculptors include: *

Amarashilpi Jakanachari Jakanachari was a legendary Indian sculptor credited with building many fine temples for the Kalyani Chalukyas and Hoysalas. He is popularly known by the epithet ''Amarashilpi'' (). His life Jakanachari was born in a small village ca ...

Ruvari Malithamma Ruvari Malithamma was a famous 'Viswakarma' architect and sculptor in the 12th century who made many important contributions to temples built by the Hoysala Empire in Karnataka state, India. His contributions greatly enriched the idiom called Ho ...

Chavundaraya Chavundraya or Chamundaraya (Kannada ''Cāmuṇḍarāya, Cāvuṇḍarāya'', 940–989) was an Indian military commander, architect, poet and minister. He served in the court of the Western Ganga dynasty of Talakad (in modern Karnataka, In ...

* Siddalinga Swami *

K. Venkatappa K. Venkatappa (1886–1965) was a pioneer painter, sculptor and an exponent of veena. He was born into a family of court painters in the princely state of Mysore, present day Karnataka. He was a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore. He was best kn ...

Modern day contemporaries include visionary architects such as: *

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (15 September 1861 – 12/14 April 1962), also referred to by his initials, MV, was an Indian civil engineer, administrator, and statesman, who served as the 19th Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918. Visvesvaraya i ...

, father of modern Indian engineering, ''Kannambadi Katte'' or KRS dam *

Kengal Hanumanthaiah Kengal Hanumanthaiah (14 February 1908 – 1 December 1980), also spelt as Kengal Hanumanthaiya, was the second Chief Minister of Karnataka (then, Mysore State) from 30 March 1952 to 19 August 1956. He contributed to the construction of Vidhana ...

, Vidhana Soudha Mysore Painting

Modern Kannada art is primarily influenced by Raja Ravi Varma and his realism. Popular visual arts generally revolve around puppetry. Most traditional religious paintings include works that are very colorful. These are many of the places where art is displayed. *

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath ( kn, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಚಿತ್ರಕಲಾ ಪರಿಷತ್) is a visual art complex located in Bangalore. The complex has 18 galleries. 13 of these galleries carry a permanent collection of painting ...

Chowdiah Memorial Hall Chowdiah Memorial Hall is a cultural centre in Bangalore which provides a home for musical and theatrical performances as well as competitions. Located in Malleswaram, it was built as a tribute to Tirumakudalu Chowdiah.Gaayana Samaja *

Ranga Shankara ''Ranga Shankara'' is one of Bangalore's well known theatres. It is located in the south Bangalore area of J.P Nagar and is run by the Sanket Trust. The auditorium, which opened in 2004, was envisioned by Arundathi Nag, in remembrance of her la ...

* Nrithya Grama *

Ravindra Kalakshetra Ravindra Kalakshetra is a cultural centre in Bangalore which provides a home for musical and theatrical performances. Located in heart of Bangalore city, it was built to commemorate the birth centenary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Many ...

* Gubbi Veeranna Rangamandira *

Janapada Loka Jaanapada Loka (), is a folk museum that has an exclusive display of the village folk arts of Karnataka. It is under the aegis of the Karnataka Janapada Parishat. Loka Mahal, a wing in the museum has a display of 5,000 folk artifacts. It is situ ...

Rangayana Rangayana ( kn, ರಂಗಾಯಣ) is a theatre institute which operates from Mysore, Karnataka, India. It works as an autonomous cultural institute. The organization consists of a professional repertory company, a theatre-training institute ...

Ninasam Ninasam (Kannada: ನೀನಾಸಂ) is a cultural organisation located in the village of Heggodu in Sagar Taluk of the Shivamogga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Ninasam (also spelt as Neenasam) is the short form of Sri NIlakantesh ...

Prabhat Kalavidaru Prabhath Kalavidaru ( kn, ಪ್ರಭಾತ್ ಕಲಾವಿದರು) is a theatre group based in Bangalore, India. Started in the year 1930, this group has staged many drama performances and is famous for its ballets. One of the most popular ...

Music

Dasa sahitya is the literature of

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6th cen ...

composed by devotees in honor of

Lord Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Prese ...

or one of his

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

s. ''Dasa'' is literally "servant" in Kannada and ''sahitya'' is literature. ''Haridasas'' ("servants of God") were preachers of Bhakti to Vishnu. The bhakti literature of these Haridasas is collectively referred to as Dasa Sahitya. It is composed in the Kannada language. Haridasa Contribution to Kannada Literature The

Haridasa The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement (sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and ...

s richly contributed to the heritage of Karntataka music. They made an indelible impression on the religious and cultural life of Karnataka by spreading the

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need t ...

teachings in a musical form to the hearts of the common folk. Like other doyens of Indian classical music, these scholars offered prayer to Vishnu through music, called ''naadopasana.'' The Lord is described as ''Samagana priya,'' and bhakti through music is the most preferred path to 'reach' Him. The Haridasa compositions are popularly known as ''Devaranamas.'' Compositions like ''

Krishna Nee Begane Baaro Krishna Nee Begane Baro is a famous classical song in Kannada language. It is composed in Raga Yamunakalyani by Vyasatirtha. The Tala is ''Misra chapu''. Composer and Singer Vyasaraya Tirtha or Vyasatirtha (1460–1539) (also known as Vyasaraja ...

, Venkatachala Nilayam, Jagadoddharana,

Tamboori The tamboori (also called a tambra) is a long-necked bowed string instrument found in Indian music. The tamboori is very similar to the tanpura, despite being smaller and played with a bow. A tamboori is played as a melodic instrument, unlike the ...

Meetidava'' are some of the many examples of their scholarly work. Veena (close view)

Some noted Haridasas or composers of Dasa Sahitya are: *

Purandara Dasa Purandara Dasa ( IAST: Purandara dāsa) ( 1470 – 1565) was a Haridasa philosopher and a follower of Madhwacharya 's Dwaitha philosophy -saint from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding ...

, widely regarded as ''Karnataka Sangeeta Pitamaha'' or "Father of

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

" *

Kanaka Dasa Kanaka Dasa (1509–1609) was a Haridasa saint and philosopher, popularly called Daasashreshta Kanakadasa (ದಾಸಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕನಕದಾಸ). He was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, reformer and musician. He is k ...

, a younger contemporary of Purandara Dasa *

Sripadaraja Sripadaraja ( sa, श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulb ...

Vyasatirtha Vyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called ''Vyasaraja'' or ''Chandrikacharya'', was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vi ...

Vadirajatirtha Sri Vadiraja Teertharu (1480 – 1600) was a Dvaita philosopher, poet, traveller and mystic. A polymath of his time, he authored many works, often polemical, on Madhva theology and metaphysics. Additionally, he composed numerous poems and as ...

* Jagannatha Dasa *

Jayatirtha Sri Jayatirtha (), ''also known as'' Teekacharya () (1345 - 1388), was a Hindu philosopher, dialectician, polemicist and the sixth pontiff of Madhvacharya Peetha from (1365 – 1388). He is considered to be one of the most important seers i ...

Gopala Dasa Gopala Dasa (1721–1769) was a prominent 18th-century Kannada language poet and saint belonging to the Haridasa tradition. With other contemporary Haridasas such as Vijaya Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa, Gopala Dasa propagated the Dvaita philosophy ...

Vijaya Dasa Vijaya Dasa ( kn, ವಿಜಯದಾಸ) (c. 1682– c. 1755) was a prominent saint from the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka, India in the 18th century, and a scholar of the Dvaita philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saint ...

Naraharitirtha Narahari Tirtha ( 1243 - 1333) was a Dvaita philosopher, scholar, statesman and one of the disciples of Madhvacharya. He is considered to be the progenitor of the Haridasa movement along with Sripadaraja. Though only two of his scholarly w ...

One of the oldest forms of music in the region is Karnataka Shastreeya Sangeetha which has evolved over ages. Both

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

and Karnataka variations are respected and nurtured by Kannadigas.

Bhavageete ''Bhaavageete'' or ''Bhavageeth'' (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of poetry and pop music in India. Most of the poetry sung in this genre pertain to subjects like love, nature and philosophy, and the genre itself is not much different from ...

and

Sugama Sangeetha Sugama Sangeetha, a variety of Bhavageethe, is an Indian musical genre in which poetry in the Kannada language is set to music. It gained recognition with the work of P. Kalinga Rao in the mid -20th century. Mysore Ananthaswamy and C. Aswat ...

are some innovations. Other forms of music include Gamaka, Joogera Pada and

Lavani Lavani () is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra, India. Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the beats of '' Dholki'', a percussion instrument. Lavani is noted for its powerful rhythm. Lav ...

Yakshagana Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur district, Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines da ...

is considered a unique and indigenous form of both music and dance of Karnataka. Contemporary musical thespians are: Veene Sheshanna

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the ''khayal ...

, recipient of the

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

— India's highest civilian honor *

Gangubai Hangal Gangubai Hangal (5 March 1913 – 21 July 2009) was an Indian singer of the ''khayal'' genre of Hindustani classical music from Karnataka, who was known for her deep and powerful voice. Hangal belonged to the Kirana gharana. Early life G ...

, awarded both

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

and

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 1971 and 2002 respectively *

C. Aswath Channarayapatna Ashwath ( kn, ಸಿ. ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥ್ , lit=C. Ashwath; 29 December 1939 – 29 December 2009) was an Indian music composer and exponent of Bhavageete ("expressive poetry") in the Kannada language. He was also a si ...

, recipient of Karnataka Rajyotsava Prashasti for his immense contribution to

* Veene Doraiswamy Iyengar *

Puttaraj Gawai Pandit Puttaraj Gawayigalu (3 March 1914 – 17 September 2010) was an Indian musician in the Hindustani classical tradition, a scholar who authored more than 80 books in Kannada, Sanskrit and Hindi, a music teacher and a social servant. A memb ...

Honnappa Bhagavathar Chowdasandra Honnappa Bhagavathar (14 January 1915 – 2 October 1992; kn, ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಭಾಗವತರು) was an Indian theatre and film actor, producer, musician and singer. He was best known as a singer and as one of the pio ...

P. Kalinga Rao Pandeshwara Kalinga Rao (1914 – 21 September 1981) was an Indian Bhavageete and Sugama Sangeetha singer and composer in the Kannada language. Biography Kalinga Rao was married to Meenakshamma (d. 2015). The had four children together: ...

Balappa Hukkeri Balappa Hukkeri ( kn, ಬಾಳಪ್ಪ ಹುಕ್ಕೇರಿ) (1911–1992) was a singer of folk songs and Bhavageetes in Kannada language and a freedom fighter in his early years. He is mainly credited for popularizing Sugama Sangeetha ...

* Mallikarjuna Mansur *

Basavaraja Rajguru Pandit Basavraj Rajguru (24 August 1920 – 1991) was a leading Indian classical vocalist in the Kirana gharana (singing style). Early life and training Basavraj was born into a family of scholars, astrologers and musicians in Yaliwal, a v ...

Veene Sheshanna Veene Sheshanna ( kn, ವೀಣೆ ಶೇಷಣ್ಣ) (1852—1926) was an exponent of the Veena, an Indian string instrument, which he played in the classical Carnatic music style. He was a concert musician at the court of the princely state ...

T. Chowdiah Tirumakudalu Chowdiah ( kn, ಸಂಗೀತ ರತ್ನ ತಿರುಮಕೂಡಲು ಚೌಡಯ್ಯ) (1895 – 19 January 1967) was a violin maestro from India in the Carnatic classical tradition. Early years Chowdiah, was born in ...

Sawai Gandharva Ramachandra Kundgolkar Saunshi, popularly known as Pandit Sawai Gandharva (19 January 1886 – 12 September 1952), was a popular Hindustani Classical vocalist from Karnataka. He was a master in the genre of Kirana Gharana style. He was the fir ...

Kumar Gandharva Pandit Kumar Gandharva (pronunciation:, Kn: ಕುಮಾರ್ ಗಂಧರ್ವ; 8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992), originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style ...

Mysore Ananthaswamy Mysore Ananthaswamy (ಮೈಸೂರು ಅನಂತಸ್ವಾಮಿ) was one of the pioneers of Kannada Bhavageethe in Karnataka. He was a very popular composer and singer of Kannada Sugama Sangeetha. He composed music for several poems an ...

Mysore Manjunath Mysore Manjunath (born in Mysore, India), is an Indian violinist. The son and disciple of violinist Prof. Mahadevappa, Manjunath performed his first concert at the age of eight in Mysore as a child prodigy storming in to the music world. Train ...

Theater

Rangabhoomi or the theater culture is a tradition with Kannadigas. While a lot of (literature) is written in praise of the heroic characters of the epics and puranas, there are major works depicting the kings and their rule. These are called (plays having wide-ranging stages for performance like Rangamancha staged in either theaters or on streets) and ''

Bayalata Bayalāṭa ( kan, ಬಯಲಾಟ, or Bayalāṭada ) is a generic term for all open air theatre form, including form of Yakshagana found in southern Indian region of Karnataka.The Mask and the Message By Ke Chinnappa Gauḍa · Madipu Prakas ...

'' (). As its etymology indicates, ''bayalu'' means open-air field and ''ata'' means theater. In southern Karnataka, the eastern and western varieties of

are termed Bayalata, whereas in the north, several other distinct genres are included under the name.

Harikathe ''Harikatha'' (Kannada: ಹರಿಕಥೆ : ''Harikathe''; Telugu: హరికథ : ''Harikatha;'' Marathi: हरीपाठ '': Haripatha'', ), also known as ''Harikatha Kaalakshepam'' in Telugu and Tamil (), is a form of Hindu traditional ...

which covers an entire night is another form where one (or more) person tells a story in an outstanding manner accompanied by music at background. It is a common feature to narrate battles, stories, devotions or ''

vratha Vrata is a Sanskrit word that means "vow, resolve, devotion", and refers to pious observances such as fasting and pilgrimage ( Tirtha) found in Indian religions such as Jainism and Hinduism. It is typically accompanied with prayers seeking hea ...

'' in front of temples on auspicious days like

Dasara Dasara may refer to: Festivals *In South India, the Nine-day festival of Navratri **In Mysore, Mysore Dasara ***Dasara Elephants, an integral part of the Mysore Dasara festival **In Madikeri, Madikeri Dasara **In Mangalore, Mangalore Dasara *In N ...

and

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

. Harikathe is a composite art form composed of story telling, poetry, music, drama, dance, and philosophy. Today, late-night Harikathe sessions are organized overseas where Kannadiga population is considerable.

Togalu gombeyaata Togalu gombeyaata is a puppet show unique to the state of Karnataka, India. ''Togalu gombeyaata'' translates to "a play of leather dolls" in the native language of Kannada.A description of ''togalu gombeyaata'' is provided by It is a form of ...

, is a unique puppet show form of shadow puppetry, Gombe ata involves story telling using character made from dolls, Whose performance is controlled by the humans in the background using invisible threads ''

Vasanta Habba Vasanta Habba ( kn, ವಸಂತ ಹಬ್ಬ), which means ''spring festival'' in the Kannada language, is a cultural festival organised by the Nrityagram foundation in the city of Bangalore, India. It is a very popular event and is considered th ...

'' (ವಸಂತ ಹಬ್ಬ), which means "spring festival" in Kannada is a cultural festival organized by the Nrityagram foundation in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. It is a very popular event and is considered the classical

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

of India. First held in 1990, it now attracts the best musicians, dancers and cultural artists from across India. Similarly,'Bengaluru Habba (ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಹಬ್ಬ is a congregation of art performances at places in the city which is successfully celebrated every year. It aims to provide aesthetic entertainment to a wide cultural, social and demographic cross-section of the city's people by partnering with corporates and other stakeholders since 2003. In 2006, the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

tried to bring the folklore and art into the city of Bengaluru by initiating Jaanapada Jaatre which was hugely successful and received well by art lovers. It is usually held on select weekends in Lalbagh and other parts of the city. Some famous theatrical,

cinematic Cinematic describes anything related to ''cinema''. It may refer to: any movie updates, cinema nights, cinematic review Film-related * Cinematic cutscene, a sequence in a video game that is not interactive * Cinematic music, original music writte ...

and television personalities like

T P Kailasam Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer Kailasam (Kannada: ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ಪರಮಶಿವ ಐಯ್ಯರ್ ಕೈಲಾಸಂ, 1884–1946), was an Indian playwright and prominent writer in the Kannada literature. Literary criticism in Kannada l ...

Gubbi Veeranna Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which pla ...

, C. Honappa Bhagavathar,

G V Iyer Ganapathi Venkataramana Iyer (3 September 1917 – 21 December 2003) was a well-known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma", and was the only person who made films in Sanskrit. His film '' Adi Shankaracharya'' (1 ...

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

Puttanna Kanagal Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma (1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of Kannada cinema's most influent ...

, Kalpana,

B. S. Ranga Bindiganavile Srinivas Iyengar Ranga (11 November 1917 – 12 December 2010) was an Indian photographer, actor, producer and director who has made many landmark movies in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil. He was also the owner of Vikram Studios. He ...

B V Karanth Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (Kannada: ಬಾಬುಕೋಡಿ ವೆಂಕಟರಮಣ ಕಾರಂತ) (19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, co ...

Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, includin ...

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

T.S. Nagabharana Talakadu Srinivasaiah Nagabharana (born 23 January 1953), commonly known as T. S. Nagabharana, is an Indian film director, in the Kannada film industry and a pioneer of parallel cinema. He is one of the few film directors to have straddled th ...

T N Seetharam Thalagavara Narayanarao Seetharam (born 6 December 1948) is a prominent Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern Indi ...

have contributed for its richness.

Dance forms

The mystic and spirited reliving of legends and epics are the major depictions in dance forms. With the theater of battle scenes of heroism, loyalty and treachery, colour and pageantry are the main subjects. More are adapted with the course of nature and seasons adding colour to the harvesting seasons. Tribal forms of dance can be found limited in the regions inhabited by Soligas, of which ''Pinasee'' is a traditional dance form. The people of

in the Western Ghats also have their own dance forms. Some of the folk dances and classical dance forms in Karnataka include: *

Dollu Kunitha Dollu Kunitha ( Kannada:ಡೊಳ್ಳು ಕುಣಿತ), is a major popular drum dance of Karnataka. Background In all temples of Beereshwara, the major instrument Dollu is hung by means of a thick thread tied to hooks in the ceiling. Ev ...

, a popular drum dance accompanied by singing *

Veeragase Veeragase/Guggla is a dance form prevalent in the state of Karnataka, India. It is a vigorous dance based on Hindu mythology and involves very intense energy-sapping dance movements performed by Jangama. Veeragase is one of the dances demonstra ...

, It is vigorous dance which involves very intense energy-sapping movements performed by jangamas *

Kamsale Kamsale ( kn, ಕಂಸಾಳೆ) is a unique folk art performed by the devotees of God Mahadeshwara. Kamsale is a brass made musical instrument. Its origin is traced to the Mythological period. Instrument and group Kamsale is a rhythm instr ...

, is a folk dance performed by the devotees of lord Male mahadeshwara with rhythmic instrument *Somana Kunitha / Chamana kunitha, a Form of mask dance, Somana kunitha is ritualistic performance during the festivals in temples, prominently glorifying village deities worshipped by the people since ages *Pooja Kunita, A religious folk dance of Karnataka which is performed by holding Shakti devata on the head *Suggi Kunitha, is performed during harvesting festival in Karnataka, Haalakki tribe living in coastal part of north canara perform this dance at the time of holy harvesting festival *

Goravara Kunitha Goravara Kunitha is a traditional dance of Kuruba Gowdas of Karnataka. Kuruba Gowdas are devotees of lord Mailara Linga, men belonging to this community take Deekshe or the process of initiation to follow the tradition of Gorava. The Deeksh ...

is a treditional dance of kurubas which is dedicated to lord mialara linga *

is a form of dance which is popular in coastal Karnataka *Bhootha (Gana) Aradhane /

Buta Kola Būta Kōlā,/buːt̪ʌ/ is the local pronunciation while the standardised Kannada pronunciation is /bʱuːt̪ʌ koːlɑː/ also referred to as daiva kōlā or nēmā, is a ritual dance performance prevalent among the Hindus of Tulu Nadu an ...

, This form of dance is widely performed in coastal regions. A dancer personifying a bhoota (holy spirit) dances around the plinth with sword & jingling bells. *

Gaarudi Gombe Gaarudi Gombe is a folk dance prevalent in the state of Karnataka, India. Dancers adorn themselves with giant doll-suits made of bamboo sticks. The term ''Gaarudi-Gombe'' means ''magical-doll'' in the native language, Kannada. This dance is perf ...

, where dancers adorn themselves with giant doll-suits made of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

sticks *

Kolata Kolata (ಕೋಲಾಟ) is the traditional folk dance of the state of Karnataka, located in Southern India on the western coast. Unlike its North Indian counterpart Dandiya Ras, it comes in two forms. First, it is performed with coloured sticks ...

, a stick dance *Huttari, is a form of dance performed by Kodavas during harvest festival *Moodalapaya, is the eastern form of Yakshagana which is popular in North Karnataka *

, featuring stories of

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

rendered as dance *

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

is classical dance of Karnataka, too. It is referred to as Bharata Natya in Kannada. The form was mentioned in the Kannada text

Manasollasa The ' also known as ''Abhilashitartha Chintamani'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka . It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, gov ...

, written by Someshwara lll. *Jaggahalige Mela, is performed in hubli-dharwad region on the auspicious occasion of Holi & ugadi *

Karaga (festival) Karaga is a folk dance of Karnataka and parts of Karnataka which originated as a ritual dedicated to Draupadi as known in these parts as Droupadmma. The ritual is performed on a full moon day. The ritual pot filled with water and adorned with ...

, is celebrated annually which is dedicated to draupadi, Bengaluru Karaga is a notable event.

Martial arts

The martial arts more prevalent in parts of North Karnataka with Garadi Mane present in every village and a head to train the youngsters into fit individuals.

Kusthi ''Kusthi'' is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Raj Kapoor, starring Prabhu and Karthik , while Vadivelu, Manya, Flora, Vijayakumar and Radha Ravi play supporting roles. The music is composed by D. Imman. The film releas ...

, Malla Yuddha, Kathi Varase (which can be seen depicted in Veeragase and similar to sword fighting), Malla Kambha (gymnastics on a pole structure with/without rope) are some of the prominent arts practised. The Mysore

Odeyar The Wadiyar dynasty (formerly spelt Wodeyer or Odeyer, also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore), is a late-medieval/ early-modern South Indian Hindu royal family of former kings of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city. ...

s arrange kaalaga or fights like

Vajra Mushti The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shape ...

during

festival which is made less frightening these days as they are publicly staged. Rock lifting, Bull race, Kusthi, and Kabaddi are popular sports.Details regarding Dasara Wrestling competition held in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

is provided by Yogasana, Praanayama and health-related camps are very popular throughout the state and some of the best

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-conscio ...

practitioners can be found here. Art of Living is one such organization immensely popular all over the world. * Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swami *

K. Pattabhi Jois K. Pattabhi Jois (26 July 1915 – 18 May 2009) was an Indian yoga guru who developed and popularized the flowing style of yoga as exercise known as Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. In 1948, Jois established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mys ...

Festivals

Kannadigas celebrate festivals throughout the year presenting the diverse culture and belief of the ethnicity. Festivals have varied reasons to celebrate. * Agriculture: Upon onset of monsoon, sowing or harvest there are festivals celebrated like Chaandramana Ugaadi (marking of new year),

Makara Sankranthi Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...

and Huttari. * Monsoon:

Navarathri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is o ...

Ayudha Puja Ayudha Puja () is a Hindu observance that falls on the ninth day of the bright half of the moon's cycle of 15 days (as per the Hindu calendar) in the month of September/October, popularly a part of the Navaratri festival. While the Navaratri fes ...

, and

Deepavali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...

. * Puraana: Maha Shivarathri,

Varamahalakshmi Vrata Varalakshmi Vratam , also called Varalakshmi Puja, is a Hindu observance to propitiate the goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi. Varalakshmi is the manifestation of Lakshmi who grants boons (''vara''). It is a puja primarily performed by married Hin ...

, Bheemana Amavasye, Swarna Gowri Vratha,

Ganesha Chaturthi Ganesh Chaturthi ( ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes an ...

, Naagara Panchami, Ratha Sapthami,

Krishna Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami , also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. According to the Hindu lunisolar calendar, it is observed ...

, Rama Navami,

Vijaya Dashami Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hind ...

, Vaikunta Ekadashi, Naraka Chaturdashi,

Bali Padyami , also called as ''Bali Padyami'', ''Padva'', ''Virapratipada'' or ''Dyutapratipada'', is the fourth day of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. It is celebrated in honour of the notional return of the daitya-king Bali to earth. Bali Padyami ...

and others. In the countryside, a ''dana jaathre'' (livestock fair) is held which is a conglomeration of people where a local demigod is worshiped and a '' ratha'' or ''theru'' (chariots) are moved by the bhakthas and daasoha (free food) is arranged for the visitors. North Karnataka has a unique blend of Hindu and Muslim brotherhood with people celebrating festivals in unison and exchanging goodwills owing to great revolutionary

Shishunala Sharif Muhammad Sharif was an Indian social reformer, philosopher and poet. Birth and early life Santa Shishunala Sharifa was born on 7 March 1819 in Shishuvinahala, a village in Shigganvi (now Shiggaon) taluk (in Haveri district), Karnataka. He ...

and Guru Govinda Bhatta who had displayed their religious tolerance and spiritual unity of all religions.

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

is celebrated at large in Bengaluru and Mangalooru which host some of the oldest churches and educational institutions of the country.

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

Mahaveera Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...

, Shankara,

nna and

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

are remembered on their birth anniversaries.

Cuisine

The cuisine of Karnataka includes many

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetaria ...

and non-vegetarian dishes. One of the earliest Indian books with chapters on culinary preparations,

, was from Karnataka, written during the reign of Kannada emperor Someshwara , , , . The varieties reflect influences from the food habits of many regions and communities from the three neighbouring

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

states, as well as the state of Maharashtra to its north. Soopa Shastra is notable medieval Kannada literally work written in 1508 A.D on the subject of Kannada cuisine. Some typical everyday dishes in Kannadigas homes include Bisi Bele Bath,

Jolada rotti Jolada rotti is an unleavened Indian bread made of sorghum bicolorhttps://iihs.co.in/knowledge-gateway/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/UrbanARC2019_ConferenceProceedings.pdf#page=96 It is coarser than a roti. It can be either soft or hard in texture ...

Ragi rotti Ragi rotti ( kn, ರಾಗಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ) is a breakfast food of the state of Karnataka, India. It is most popular in the rural areas of southern Karnataka. It is made of ''ragi'' (finger millet) flour. ''Ragi-Rotti'' means ''ragi-pancak ...

Akki rotti Akki rotti ( kn, ಅಕ್ಕಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ) is a rice-based breakfast item unique to the state of Karnataka, India. ''Akki rotti'' means "rice bread" in the native language, Kannada. It is made of rice flour which is mixed with salt an ...

, Masale rotti,

Saaru Rasam refers to: *Rasam (dish) Rasam is a spicy South Indian soup. While it is sometimes served on its own as a soup, it is usually served as a side for rice, puttu, idiyappam, or dosa. In a traditional South Indian meal, it is part of a c ...

Huli Huli may refer to: * Huli (dish), a lentil-based dish, also called Sambar, common in South India and Sri Lanka * Huli people, indigenous people in Papua New Guinea * Huli language, language of Huli people * Huli District, district in Xiamen, Fujia ...

Benne dose Davangere benne dose or Butter Dose is a type of dosa which traces its origin from the city of Davanagere in Karnataka, India. The term "''benne dose''" in English language simply corresponds to butter dose. It is prepared by addition of genero ...

Ragi mudde Ragi mudde, ragi sangati or kali, colloquially simply referred to as either (which means 'lump') or '','' i.e. 'flour'); is a wholesome meal in the state of Karnataka and the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh. It is mainly popular with th ...

, Chitranna, Chapathi, Poori, Avalakki, Puri Usli,

Puliyogare Pulihora, also known as puliyogare, puliyodarai, pulinchoru, kokum rice, or simply lemon or tamarind rice, is a very common and traditional rice preparation in the South Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tam ...

(tamarind rice) and

Uppittu Upma, uppumavu, or uppittu is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent, most common in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtrian, and Sri Lankan Tamil breakfast, cooked as a thick porridge from dry-roasted ...

Dosa (food) A dosa, also called dosai, dosey, or dosha, is a thin pancake in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground black lentils and rice. Dosas are popular in South Asia as well as around the world. Dosas are served hot, often with ...

origin is linked to

Udupi cuisine Udupi cuisine is a cuisine of South India. It forms an important part of Tuluva cuisine and takes its name from Udupi, a city on the southwest coast of India in the Tulunadu region. Udupi cuisine is strictly vegetarian and has its origin in ...

. A recipe for dosa (as dosaka) can be found in Manasollasa. Plain and rave

Idli Idli or idly () is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from the South India,popular as breakfast foods in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and ri ...

Masala Dosa Masala Dosa, also called Masale dosey ( ಮಸಾಲೆ ದೋಸೆ ), is a South Indian dish. It is a type of dosa and has its origin in Udupi cuisine of Karnataka. It is made from rice, lentils, Urad dal, Chana dal, fenugreek, puffed ric ...

or Masale dosey and

Maddur Vade Maddur vada, also known as Maddur vade ( kn, ಮದ್ದೂರು ವಡೆ) (pronounced "ma-ddur vah-daa", "ma-ddur vah-dey"), is a savoury fritter-type snack from South India. The snack derives its name from the town of Maddur which is in th ...

are very popular in South Karnataka.

Neer dosa Neer dosa, literally meaning water dosa in Tulu language, Tulu is a crêpe prepared from rice Batter (cooking), batter. Neer dosa is a delicacy from Tulu Nadu and part of Mangalorean cuisine. Overview ''Neer'' is the word for water in Tulu lang ...

is a delicacy from coastal Karnataka.

Davanagere Davanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly know ...

is a notable flavourful dosa. Kadubu, a kind of rice dumplings, is a popular and ethnic food in South Malnad regions such as

Sakaleshpura Sakleshpur, Sakleshpura or Sakleshapura is a hill station town and headquarters of Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Economy The town lies in the Malnad region on the hills of the biodiversity hotspot, the W ...

Mudigere Mudigere is a Town Panchayath and Taluk in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is 30 km from the district headquarters. Nearest airport is at Mangalore which is at a distance of . Mudigere is known for coffee and b ...

, Somwarapete, etc. and is consumed with (

black sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

) chutney. Among sweets, Mysore Pak,

Dharwad pedha Dharwad peda ( kn, ಧಾರವಾಡ ಪೇಡ) is an Indian sweet delicacy unique to the state of Karnataka, India. It derives its name from the city of Dharwad in Karnataka.This sweet's history is around 175 years old. Dharwad peda has been ac ...

, Chiroti, Jalebi, and Belagavi Kunda are well known. Hurnagadab,

Karadantu Karadantu ( kn, ಕರದಂಟು) is a sweet delicacy unique to the state of Karnataka, India. ''Karadantu'' means ''fried-edible gum'' in the local language, Kannada. It is made of edible gum mixed with dry fruits and has a chewy texture. ...

Gokak Gokak is a taluka headquarters in the Belgaum district of Karnataka state, India. It is located around 70 km from Belgaum at the confluence of two rivers, the Ghataprabha and the Markandeya. The population of the city is according to 2011 ...

and Amingarh,

Obbattu Puran puri (પુરણ પુરી), Puran poli (पुरण पोळी), Holige (ಹೋಳಿಗೆ), Obbattu (ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು), or Bobbattlu (బొబ్బట్టు) , Poley( పోళె) , Bakshamulu( బక్ష్� ...

(bele hurana holige), Kaayi Kadubu, Kaayi (coconut) Obbattu, Shenga holige, Thambittu (tamta), Karji Kai, Ellu unde, Ginna, Halubai, Rave Unde, Shavige Kaayi haalu, a variety of Payasa (Shavige payasa, kadle bele payasa, Hesaru bele payasa, Sabakki payasa), Sajjige, and

Kesari bat Kesari bat or kesari baat ( kn, ಕೇಸರಿ ಬಾತ್) is a sweet Indian food that is common throughout the country. The classic ingredients used for its preparation are semolina, sugar, ghee (usually), water, and milk. The sweet is more com ...

are popular sweets. Indis (

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sau ...

s) of Karnataka have a very distinct taste and flavour. Some popular ones include Shenga indi (

groundnut Groundnut may refer to: * Seeds that ripen underground, of the following plants, all in the Faboideae subfamily of the legumes: ** ''Best Basketball Player'', Obinna Udunni ** ''Arachis villosulicarpa'', a perennial peanut species ** '' Vigna subt ...

), Agashi indi, Karal indi, Inichi indi, and Mavina indi (mango). Similarly, Karnataka (

pickles Pickles may refer to: Dogs * Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966 * Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball * Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in a ...

) too are very distinct from the rest, like Mavina (fine mango pickles), (lemon pickles), (entire mango pickle), (carrot pickle), and (chili pickle). Some non-vegetarian dishes include: Dhonne biriyani, Bamboo biriyani, Mutton pulao, Mangalore fish curry, fish fry, Mangalore mutton and chicken Sukka, Mandya naati style Baaduta, Ragi mudde - Koli saaru, rice with Mutton sambar, Egg curry, Pork curry, chicken sambar, or gravy, and Boti gojju, among others.

Clothing

The costume of Kannada people varies from place to place. The Kannadiga male costume mainly include

panche The following purported languages of South America are listed as unclassified in Campbell (2012), Loukotka (1968), ''Ethnologue'', and ''Glottolog''. Nearly all are extinct. It is likely that many of them were not actually distinct languages, only ...

(some tie as Kachche) or

lungi The lungi is a type of sarong that originated in the Indian Subcontinent. The Lungi, which usually multicoloured, is a men's skirt usually tied around the lower waist below the navel. it can be worn as casual wear and night wear, in places a ...

(wrapping style depends on the region),

Angi Angi (formerly Angie's List) is an American home services website owned by Angi Inc., a publicly-traded subsidiary of IAC. Founded in 1995 by Angie Hicks and William S. Oesterle, it allows users to search for contractors to provide paid home ...

a traditional form of shirt and

Peta Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, ...

turban worn in Mysuru style or Dharwad style.

Shalya In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', King Shalya ( sa, शल्य, lit. ''pointed weapon'') was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), and the ruler of the Madra kingdom. Skilled with the mace and a formidable warrior, he was tri ...

is a piece of long cloth which is put on shoulder commonly seen in countryside. Many use

Khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as ''swadeshi'' (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent, and the term is used throughout India, Pakistan ...

in their clothing until date of which politicians are prominent ones. Female costumes include

Seere The demons' names (given below) are taken from the ''Ars Goetia'', which differs in terms of number and ranking from the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' of Johann Weyer. As a result of multiple translations, there are multiple spellings for some of ...

of which Ilakal Seere and

Mysore silk Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk of a total of 20,000 metric tons of mulberry silk produced in the country, thus contributing to nearly 45% of the country's total mulberry silk. In Karnataka, silk is mainly produced in th ...

are famous. Seere has variations of draping depending on regions like Kodagu, North and South Karnataka and

Karavali Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The region comprises three civil districts, ...

. Young women in some parts of Karnataka traditionally wear the Langa davani after puberty.

Kasuti Kasuti ( kn, ಕಸೂತಿ) is a traditional form of folk embroidery practised in the state of Karnataka, India. An exhibition of Kasuti work is reported by Kasuti work which is very intricate sometimes involves putting up to 5,000 stitches b ...

is a form of embroidery work which is very popularly sought-after art on dress and costumes. An Urban male costume comprises trousers, a shirt and sandals, while that of females include

shalwar Salwar or Shalwar is cloth worn from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately. It is the lower-garment of the Shalwar kameez suit which is widely-worn in South Asia. It is known for its lively hues, rich fabrics, and embroidery. It ...

and moderate heeled sandals. Jeans are popular among the youth, while new age Khadi/silk printed with art or emblem also find place. Karnataka has the only village in the country which produces authentic Indian national flags according to manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the

Bureau of Indian Standards The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standar ...

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad di ...

Literature

Kannada literature is filled with literary figures and pioneers all through. With an unbroken literary history of over a thousand years, the excellence of

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half ...

continues into the present day: works of Kannada literature have received eight Jnanpith awards and fifty-six

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

awards.

Pampa The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...

Ranna Ranna may refer to: *Ranna, a subdivision of the town Auerbach in der Oberpfalz in Bavaria, Germany * Ranna, Estonia, a village in the former municipality Pala Parish, Estonia * Ranna (Danube), a river of Bavaria, Germany and of Upper Austria, tri ...

and

Ponna Ponna (Comasco: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about north of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 264 and an area of .All demographi ...

are considered as three jewels of Old Kannada (''Halegannada'').

Janna Janna (Kannada : ಮಹಾಕವಿ ಜನ್ನ) was one of the well-known Kannada poets of the early 13th century who also served in the capacity of a minister and a builder of temples. He graced the court of Hoysala empire King Veera B ...

was another notable poet of this genre. R.S. Mugali (2006), ''The Heritage of Karnataka'', pp. 173–175

Basavanna Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chal ...

Akka Mahadevi Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayat Shaiva sect in the 12th century. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spon ...

Allama Prabhu Allamaprabhu ( kn, ಅಲ್ಲಮಪ್ರಭು) was a 12th-century mystic-saint and '' Vachana'' poet (called ''Vachanakara'') of the Kannada language, propagating the unitary consciousness of Self and Shiva. Allamaprabhu is one of the ce ...

Vidyaranya Vidyaranya ( IAST: Vidyāraṇya), usually identified with Mādhavācharya (not to be confused with Madhvāchārya (13th c.)), was Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from ca. 1374-1380 until 1386 - according to tradition, after ordina ...

Harihara Harihara (Sanskrit: हरिहर) is the fused sattvika characterisation of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) from Hindu theology. Hari is the form of Vishnu, and Hara is the form of Shiva. Harihara is also known as Shankaranarayana ("Shankara ...

Raghavanka Raghavanka ( kn, ರಾಘವಾಂಕ) was a noted Kannada writer and a poet in the Hoysala empire, Hoysala court who flourished in the late 12th to early 13th century. Raghavanka is credited for popularizing the use of the native ''shatpadi' ...

Kumara Vyasa Narayanappa ( kn, ನಾರಾಯಣಪ್ಪ), known by his pen name Kumara Vyasa ( kn, ಕುಮಾರವ್ಯಾಸ), was an influential and classical Vaishnava poet of early 15th century in the Kannada language. His pen name is a tribut ...

Sarvajna Sarvajña (Kannada: ) was a Kannada poet, pragmatist and philosopher of the 16th century. The word "Sarvajna" in Sanskrit literally means "the all knowing". His father was Kumbara Malla and his mother was Mallaladevi. His birth anniversary is ...

Shishunala Shareefa Muhammad Sharif was an Indian social reformer, philosopher and poet. Birth and early life Santa Shishunala Sharifa was born on 7 March 1819 in Shishuvinahala, a village in Shigganvi (now Shiggaon) taluk (in Haveri district), Karnataka. He ...

Raghavendra Swami Raghavendra Tirtha () (1595 – 1671) was a Hindu scholar, theologian and saint. He was also known as Sudha Parimalacharya (). His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, interpretation of the ...

etc. were pioneers of Nadugannada. All these have been involved with social and cultural movements and hence this was the golden era of literature which brought about a renaissance in Kannada literature. This period was amalgamation of literature works which crossed across boundaries under a vast roof encompassed by art and theater fields. The literature works of Kannada in Navodaya is crowned with eight

Jnanpith The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

awards.Jnanpith for Kambar
TheHindu.com; accessed 16 January 2022. Some of the contemporary active institutions of Kannada literature are: *

Kannada Sahitya Parishat Kannada Saahithya Parishath ( kn, ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಪರಿಷತ್ತು, Kannaḍa Sāhitya Pariṣattu; ) is an Indian non-profit organisation that promotes the Kannada language and its literature. Its headquarters ar ...

* Academies operating as its wings include

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People * Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Ka ...

, Konkani, Kodava, and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

. A

Byari The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. They are an ethnic group of Indian Muslims with their own distinct ...

academy is the latest academy opened in Karnataka. Noted travellers and linguists who contributed during the pre- and post-imperial eras include Germany's

Ferdinand Kittel Reverend Ferdinand Kittel was a Lutheran priest and indologist with the Basel Mission in south India and worked in Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka. He is most famous for his studies of the Kannada language and for producing a Kannada ...

, England's

Thomas Hodson Thomas Hodson was a Wesleyan Missionary, who served in India, in the Wesleyan Canarese Mission, at the Bangalore Petah and Gubbi. He helped in running the first Wesleyan Mission Canarese school in the erstwhile Mysore State. Hodson was a ...

, Persia's

Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī ( fa, کمال‌الدین عبدالرزاق بن اسحاق سمرقندی, ''Kamal-ud-Din Abd-ur-Razzaq ibn Ishaq Samarqandi''; 1413–1482) was a Persian Timurid chronicler and Islamic scholar. He was for a while th ...

and China's

Huen-tsang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

Kannada journalism

Mangaluru Samachara ''Mangaluru Samachara'' or ''Mangalooru Samachara'' which literally means ''"The news of Mangalore"'' is the first newspaper published in Kannada. It was produced by a German, Rev. Hermann Friedrich Mögling of the Basel Mission beginnin ...

'' was the first Kannada news publication as early as 1843 by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Hermann Mögling Hermann Friedrich Mögling (1811–1881), also spelt Herrmann Friedrich Moegling, was a German missionary from the Basel Mission who spent most of his career in the western regions of the state of Karnataka, India. He is credited as the publishe ...

.Hermann Mögling's contribution to the Kannada literature is mentioned by Followed by Bhashyam Bhashyachar who is credited with publishing the first Kannada weekly from Mysore "''Mysuru Vrittanta Bodhini''" in 1859 under the royal patronage of

Krishnaraja Wadiyar III Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (14 July 1794 – 27 March 1868) was the twenty-second maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. Also known as Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the maharaja belonged to the Wadiyar dynasty and ruled the kingdom for nearly seventy y ...

. Shortly after Indian independence in 1948,

K. N. Guruswamy K. N. Guruswamy or Kanekal Nettakallappa Guruswamy (1901–1990) was a liquor businessman and newspaper publisher from Bangalore, Karnataka. Founder He founded The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited, the company that publishes ''Deccan Herald'', ...

founded ''The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited'' and began publishing two newspapers, Deccan Herald and Prajavani. Presently the Times of India and Vijaya Karnataka are the largest-selling English and Kannada newspapers respectively.

D. V. Gundappa Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa (17 March 1887 – 7 October 1975), popularly known as DVG, was an Indian writer, poet and philosopher in Kannada-language. He is one of the stalwarts of modern Kannada literature. His most notable work is th ...

was notable Kannada journalist, he was awarded third-highest civilian award

Padmabhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service o ...

in 1974. List of a few major newspapers: * ''

Prajavani ''Prajavani'' (Kannada:''Voice of the People'') is a leading Kannada-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in Karnataka, India. Having a readership of over 2.01 million, it is one of the largest circulated newspapers in the state. His ...

'' * ''

Samyuktha Karnataka ''Samyukta Karnataka'' is a major Kannada newspaper which has its headquarters in Hubballi, Karnataka. It is also published from Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Bagalkot, Kalaburgi and Davanagere. The incumbent editor is Hunasavadi Rajan. The newspaper i ...

'' * ''

Kannadaprabha ''Kannada Prabha'' is a morning daily jointly owned by Jupiter Capital a company founded by Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is Bharatiya Janata Party’s member of parliament and ''The New Indian Express'' Group, is a major Kannada newspaper in Karna ...

'' * ''

Udayavani ''Udayavani'' ("Morning Voice" in Kannada) is a Kannada daily newspaper with editions from Manipal, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hubballi, Davanagere and Gulbarga. Launched in January 1970 by Mohandas Pai and T. Satish U Pai, Udayavani with a combined ci ...

'' * ''

Vijayavani ''Vijayavani'' (Kannada: ವಿಜಯವಾಣಿ) is a Kannada-language newspaper distributed in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is published by VRL Group owned by logistics tycoon Vijay Sankeshwar. Having launched on 1 April 2012, Vijayav ...

'' * ''

Hosa Digantha ''Hosa Digantha'' (Kannada:ಹೊಸ ದಿಗಂತ) is a Kannada morning daily in Karnataka. "Hosa Digantha" has the literal meaning of "New Horizon". With its tag line ''Rāshtra Jāgrutiya Dainika'' (Kannada:ರಾಷ್ಚ್ರ ಜಾ� ...

'' * ''

Vishwavani News Vishwavani daily has around 56 years of history, published by Patil Puttappa from Hubballi. Vishweshwar Bhat is the managing director and chief editor of the news paper. The tag line on its masthead is " Vishwasave Vishwa". Karnataka Chief Min ...

'' * ''

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It wa ...

Contemporary popular Kannadigas

Spiritual leaders

Shivakumara Swami Shivakumara Swami (born Shivanna; 1 April 1907 – 21 January 2019) was an Indian humanitarian, spiritual leader, educator and supercentenarian. He was a Veerashaiva Lingayatism, Lingayat religious figure, he joined the Siddaganga Matha in 19 ...

Siddaganga Matha Sree Siddaganga Matha (also called Siddaganga Kshetra) is a Lingayat matha with an attached educational institution. The matha was established by Sri Haradanahally Gosala Siddeshwara Swamigalu in the 15th century in a village in the southern ...

Tumkur Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

Balagangadharanatha Swamiji Shri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji (18 January 1945 – 13 January 2013) was an Indian religious leader who was the seer of Adichunchanagiri, Nagamangala Taluk, Mandya district. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honou ...

Sri Adichunchanagiri Maha Samsthana Math Adichunchanagiri, also called ''Mahasamsthana Math'', is a hill township in Nagamangala Taluk, Mandya District, Karnataka State, India, 110 km west of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, India and 6 km from Bangalore-Mangalore Nationa ...

Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji Dr Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji () is the founder president of STJ education society and current seer of Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, Sirigere, () . He hails from Sugur village, Shimoga District. Education He obtained PhD from Banara ...

Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, Sirigere Sri Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath is an organization in Sirigere, India. Sadar Lingayats, a dominant sub sect of Lingayat community, owe their allegiance to this math. It is well known in Karnataka for its yeoman service in the field of rura ...

Beerendra Keshava Tarakananda Puri Beerendra Keshava Tarakananda Puri is the first pontiff of the Kaginele Kanaka Guru Peetha, the cultural and spiritual centre of Kuruba Gowdas Kuruba is a Hindu caste native to the Indian state of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Te ...

Gandhian philosophers

Kadidal Manjappa Kadidal Manjappa (1908–1992) was the third Chief Minister of Karnataka (then, Mysore State) for a short period of time in 1956 (19 August 1956 – 31 October 1956). He hailed from the village of Kadidal in the nature rich Tirthahalli taluk o ...

former chief minister of Karnataka *

H. Narasimhaiah H. (Hanumanthappa) Narasimhaiah (more popularly Hossur Narasimhaiah; 6 June 1920 – 31 January 2005) was an Indian physicist, educator, writer, freedom fighter and rationalist from Karnataka. Publicly known as "HN", he was the Vice-Chancellor ...

Kollur Mallappa Kollur Mallappa, also referred to as Malappa Lingappa Kollur (1905 – 24 October 2004) was the first President of Hyderabad Pradesh Congress Committee, prior to the merger of Hyderabad state into Andhra Pradesh. He was a Member of Parliament f ...

B D Jatti Basappa Danappa Jatti () (10 September 1912 – 7 June 2002) was the fifth vice president of India, serving from 1974 to 1979. He was acting President of India from 11 February to 25 July 1977.He also served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. ...

- former president and vice president of India *

Mailara Mahadevappa Mailara Mahadevappa (8 June 1911 – 1 April 1943), also known as Mahadeva, from Motebennur of Karnataka state, India, was an Indian revolutionary, known for resisting British Raj, British rule. Martandapp alias Martand and Basamma are his par ...

- only person from Karnataka to accompany Gandhiji in Dandi salt sathyagraha/march *

Gudleppa Hallikeri Gudleppa Hallikeri (1906–1972) was an Indian freedom fighter who is a native of Hosaritti in Haveri district of Karnataka state. He started a residential school Gandhi Grameena Gurukul in Hosaritti. Hallikeri worked with many other freedom f ...

Modern science and technology

N. K. Naik Niranjan Krishna Nayak (born on 1944) is an Indian aerospace engineer and Professor Emeritus at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He is known for his research work on thermomechanical behavior of textile composites and ballistic impact, lo ...

- Professor Emeritus at IIT Bombay. *

Raja Ramanna Raja Ramanna (28 January 1925 – 24 September 2004) was an Indian physicist who is best known for his role in India's nuclear program during its early stages. Having joined the nuclear program in 1964, Ramanna worked under Homi Jeh ...

- Indian nuclear scientist and father of the Indian nuclear bomb. * Dr. M.C. Modi - Ophthalmologist and humanist. *

C. N. R. Rao Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao BR, (born 30 June 1934), is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 84 universities from around the world and has authored around 1,77 ...

- Notable Solid-state scientist and chairman of Science Advisory Council of GOI. Recently awarded with India's highest civilian award

K. N. Shankara Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapathi Shankara was a space scientist from India. He was the Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore. He was the Director of Satellite Communications Program Of ...

- Indian space scientist and master in satellite payload technology. *

Shakuntala Devi Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of ''The Guinness Book of World Records''. However, ...

- Mathematics. *

Vivek Murthy Vivek Hallegere Murthy (born July 10, 1977) is an American physician and a vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who has served as the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States under Presidents Obama ...

American physician serves as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States. *

Narayan Hosmane Narayan S. Hosmane is an Indian-born cancer research scientist who made the featured article in NRI Achievers magazine and is currently distinguished research professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He received the Humboldt Research Award f ...

- Biochemistry and Cancer research. *

S. K. Shivkumar S. K. Shivakumar (1953 – 13 April 2019) was an Indian scientist from Karnataka state who worked at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015. Ea ...

- Scientist, ISRO telemetry (

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman of ...

), associated with

Chandrayaan-1 Chandrayaan-1 (, ) was the first Indian lunar probe under the Chandrayaan program. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impac ...

lunar probe. *

Shrinivas Kulkarni Shrinivas Ramchandra Kulkarni (born 4 October 1956) is a US-based astronomer born and raised in India. He is currently a professor of astronomy and planetary science at California Institute of Technology, and he served as director of Caltech Op ...

- Professor of astrophysics and planetary science at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. *

S. Shankar Sastry S. Shankar Sastry is the Founding Chancellor of the Plaksha University, Plaksha University, Mohali and a former Dean of Engineering at University of California, Berkeley. From 1996-1999, he was the director of the Electronics Research Labora ...

- Dean of the College of Engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. *

L. S. Shashidhara Lingadahalli Subrahmanya Shashidhara (born 1963) is an Indian developmental biologist, geneticist and a professor of biology at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, and is currently on lien to the faculty of Biology at As ...

- Developmental biologist, geneticist and a professor and chair of Biology at Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER). *

M. Visvesvaraya Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (15 September 1861 – 12/14 April 1962), also referred to by his initials, MV, was an Indian civil engineer, administrator, and statesman, who served as the 19th Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918. Visvesvaraya i ...

- Indian scholar and engineer, who also served as the Diwan of Mysore

Environmentalists

Karnataka is one of the few states which, while a leading contributor for GDP of the country and home for industries, has preserved its forests and wildlife. The evergreen Sahyadri and Western Ghats are home to protected

Wildlife of Karnataka The state of Karnataka in South India has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. It has a recorded forest area of 38720 km2 which constitutes 22.3467719% of the total geographical area of the state.Statistics related to forests in Karnataka i ...

. The Kannada culture protects and balances Kaadu (forest) and Naadu (state) as can be seen. Although seen scantly still the state enjoys the diversity owing to tribal sects of Soliga, Badaga,

Jenu Kuruba The Jenu Kuruba are a tribal group from the Nilgiris, numbering around 37000. They are concentrated in the districts bordering the states of Kerala and Karnataka. 'Jenu' means 'honey' in Kannada, referring to their traditional occupation as collect ...

, Hakki Pikki,

Lambani The Banjara (also known as ,Vanzara,Lambadi,Gour Rajput,Labana) are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan. Etymology The Banjaras usually refer to themselves as ''Gor'' and outs ...

Siddis The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived to ...

and other inhabitants of forests. See Appiko Chaluvali. Noted environmentalists include: *

Ullas Karanth Kota Ullas Karanth is a conservation zoologist and a leading tiger expert based in Karnataka, India. He was the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's India Programme. He is notable for pioneering the scientific use of camera traps ...

(tiger research biologists/zoologist) *

Tulsi Gowda Tulsi Gowda is an Indian environmentalist from Honnali village, Ankola taluk in Karnataka state. She has planted more than 30,000 saplings and looks after the nurseries of the Forest Department. Her work has been honoured by the Government of ...

Saalumarada Thimmakka Saalumarada Thimmakka, also known as Aala Marada Thimmakka, is an Indian environmentalist from the state of Karnataka, noted for her work in planting and tending to 385 banyan trees along a forty-five-kilometre stretch of highway between Hulika ...

Suresh Heblikar Suresh Heblikar ( kn, ಸುರೇಶ ಹೆಬ್ಳೀಕರ) is a Kannada filmmaker, director and actor. Life He is also a environmentalist, founding the Eco-Watch NGO in 1998. He has produced many movies in Kannada of which ''Kadina Benki ...

Poornachandra Tejaswi Kuppali Puttappa Poornachandra Tejaswi (8 September 1938 – 5 April 2007) was a prominent Indian writer and novelist in Kannada. He also worked as a photographer, publisher, painter, naturalist, and environmentalist. He made a great impress ...

(ornithologist / littérateur) *

Snake Shyam M. S. Balasubramania (alt spelling Balasubramanya; born 1967), popularly known as Snake Shyam, is a snake enthusiast, wildlife conservationist and lecturer in Mysore, India.Special correspondent. (14 February 2008A prize catch for the ‘natura ...

* Krupakar-Senani

Current cricketers

KL Rahul Kannanur Lokesh Rahul (born 18 April 1992) is an Indian international cricketer who currently is the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team in test cricket. He is a Right-handed batter and occasional wicketkeeper. He plays for Karnataka in ...

Prasidh Krishna Muralikrishna Prasidh Krishna (born 19 February 1996) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He is a right-arm medium fast bowler who regularly bowls a ...

Manish Pandey Manish Krishnanand Pandey (born 10 September 1989) is an Indian international cricketer. He is primarily a right-handed middle-order batsman representing Karnataka in domestic cricket and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL). ...

Mayank Agarwal Mayank Anurag Agarwal (born 16 February 1991)
ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2012-02-01. is an Indian in ...

Abhimanyu Mithun Abhimanyu Mithun (born 25 October 1989) is an Indian cricketer. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Mithun was called up to the India squad for the first Test against South Africa in 2009–10, only ten weeks after making his first-class debut. He ...

Vinay Kumar Ranganath Vinay Kumar (born 12 February 1984) is a former cricketer who has represented India at Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 levels. He is a right-arm medium fast bowler who played domestic cricket for Karnataka and also in ...

Stuart Binny Stuart Terence Roger Binny (born 3 June 1984) is an Indian former international cricketer, who had played One Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals, and Tests. He played for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. On 30 August ...

* Sreenath Arvind *

Krishnappa Gowtham Krishnappa Gowtham (born 20 October 1988) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Karnataka cricket team, Karnataka. He made his international debut for India national cricket team, India in July 2021. His father M. Krishnappa represented Karnatak ...

R Samarth Ravikumar Samarth (born 22 January 1993) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Karnataka cricket team. He is a right-handed top-order batsman and occasional right-arm off break bowler. He played for Karnataka at various age-group levels such as ...

Shreyas Gopal Ramaswamy Shreyas Gopal (born 4 September 1993) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Kerala in domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed, and bowls leg break. He played three ODIs for India Under-19 cricket team in 2011. H ...

Retired cricketers

Anil Kumble Anil Kumble (; born 17 October 1970) is a former Indian cricket captain, coach and commentator who played Test and One Day International cricket for his national team over an international career of 18 years. Widely regarded as one of the best ...

Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of ...

Javagal Srinath Javagal Srinath, (, born 31 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and currently an ICC match referee. He is considered among India's finest fast bowlers, and was the first Indian fast bowler to take more than 300 wickets in One Day Inter ...

Gundappa Vishwanath Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath (born 12 February 1949) is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath was rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances ...

Vijay Bhardwaj Raghvendrarao Vijay Bharadwaj (; born 15 August 1975) is a former Indian cricketer & cricket coach. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler. He won the '' Man of the Series'' award on his debut one day international series ag ...

Venkatesh Prasad Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad (; born 5 August 1969), is a former Indian cricketer, Cricket Coach , Commentator who played Tests and ODIs. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling ...

B.S. Chandrashekhar Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar (informally Chandra; born 17 May 1945) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a leg spinner. Considered among the top echelon of leg spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi and ...

E. A. S. Prasanna Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna (born 22 May 1940) is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowler, specializing in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of National Institute of Engineering, Mysore ...

Roger Binny Roger Michael Humphrey Binny (born 19 July 1955) is an Indian former international cricketer who is the 36th and incumbent president of Board of Control for Cricket in India. He was the president of Karnataka State Cricket Association from 2019 ...

Sunil Joshi Sunil Bandacharya Joshi (; born 6 June 1970) is an Indian former cricketer and former selector of the India cricket team. He played as an all-rounder who bowled slow left arm spin and batted left-handed. Sunil Joshi was appointed as chief se ...

Syed Kirmani Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani (; born 29 December 1949) is an Indian cricketer who played cricket for India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in India. Internation ...

Sujith Somasunder Sujith Bijjahalli Somasundar (born 2 December 1972) is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Karnataka and played two One Day Internationals for India in 1996 Early domestic career Somasundar got his chance on the basis of ...

Dodda Ganesh Dodda Narasiah Ganesh (; born 30 June 1973) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 4 Tests and one ODI in 1997. He was a right-arm seam bowler and useful lower-order batsman. Ganesh failed to make an impression in his limited Test opportuni ...

* David Johnson

Culture

Purana

The Puranas describe the region as Kishkindha in the age of the Ramayana. There is also literary evidence that the region of Mysore was called "Mahisha Mandala" after the mythological demon Mahishasura. Parashurama and Hanumantha are some epic characters to be cited relating to this place. Hanumantha (Hanuman) is said to be born in Kishkindha, Karnataka.

Punya Koti

One of the most popular and acknowledged

Jaanapada {{Use Indian English, date=January 2020 Jaanapada is a word made by two words ''Jana'' - People or tribe ''Pada'' - a kind of short verse joined as a sandhi- a grammatical term. The folk culture and colloquial tongue of Kannadiga and probably Telu ...

songs is "Dharani mandala madhyadolage" which narrates an incidence between mother cow and an aggressive tiger in a place called Karnataka.

Vishwa Maanava

Karnataka as now can be viewed as a multicultural state – almost all the religions that can be found in India can be found here and there has been lot immigration as well due to which

multi-ethnic Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

diaspora can be seen. As the kingdoms provided a safe centres for development of all cultures we can see a huge diversities from region to region. Even the language and dialects varies from place to place. The language has evolved distinctly in both the backyard (folk/basic/prakrutha) and frontyard (refined and related to Samskrutha/Sanskrit) of the culture. It can be said that the major works of Sanskrit have originated and continues to evolve here.

Shringeri Sringeri (IAST: Śṛngēri) also called Shringeri is a hill town and Taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the site of the first maṭha ( Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham) establis ...

, Udupi are some of nerve centres. One of the leading examples include a village near

Shivamogga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region o ...

where people speak only Sanskrit until date. Bengaluru being Kannada majority has almost all language speakers of India, and kannadigaru are said to be tolerant and welcoming people. One of the most acknowledged concept is to be a ''Vishwa Maanava'' or universal being. In Kuvempu's ideology this has a renowned explanation "Every Child is born as a Vishwa Maanava or a Universal Human. It is we who make him Alpa Maanava or Little Human by putting various constrictions of borders rituals and castes. It hence becomes responsibility of our culture to again make him a Universal Being unbound and free." The Kannadiga culture is known to provide shelter and self-respect to people by owning them and their culture. Two colonies for refugees from Tibet are formed, one near

Mundgod Mundgod is a town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state in India, Mundgod is known for its Tibetian Colony it is also called as Mini Tibet. Characteristics it is bounded by Maje-Pur village in the north, Malagankoppa village in th ...

and one near

Kushalanagara Kushalanagara or Kushalnagar is a city located in the Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Surrounded by Kaveri river, it is the gateway to Kodagu district. It also serves as the headquarters of Kushalanagar Taluk. By population, ...

, protecting them from Chinese atrocities. Karnataka has sheltered flood victims of northeastern India like Assam and provided them jobs. One of the easily seen diversity is the surnames which vary from hugely like some may involve names involving a Hindu and Muslim name or having a Hindu Christian name (more found in Mangaluru) or even a Muslim Christian name.

Political sphere

After the Odeyar era who already had established democracy by naming elected representative called Saamantha in southern regions as early as the 19th century, the 1947 partition brought a centre into being under democracy and Karnataka accepted a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gro ...

legislature. But this was a functionally a failure as there always has been a tug of war from centre and states to an extent that from the 1990s to 2010 there have always been different political parties operating at centre and state. North Karnataka had other problems of getting independence more from Nizams. So there were two spheres. Lack of will and coordination and constant fights have been hallmark of politics which has prevented a regional party/media from arising in the land.

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

being a neighbour where hugely successful communist ideology in bringing up literacy levels has a backing here and a few naxalite outfits function in Karnataka. Functional failure of all pillars of democracy even being upper riparian state can be clearly seen in the Kaveri River Water Dispute issue. The failure extended to bureaucracy and Karnataka reached the position of being fourth most corrupt state of India due to political and bureaucratic lobby. Because of this, Lokayukta (see

N. Venkatachala Nanje Gowda Venkatachala ( kn, ನಂಜೇಗೌಡ ವೆಂಕಟಾಚಲ; 3 July 1930 – 30 October 2019) was a judge of the Supreme court of India and Lokayukta of state of Karnataka. He was popular for his approach of taking actio ...

) was formed but could not get the required powers to deal with the powerful. In the field of press and journalism

P. Lankesh Palya Lankesh (8 March 1935 – 25 January 2000) was an Indian poet, fiction writer, playwright, translator, screenplay writer and journalist who wrote in the Kannada language. He was also an award-winning film director. Early life and career ...

and

S. Gurumurthy Swaminathan Gurumurthy is a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Ideologue. He is also a journalist editing the Tamil political weekly ''Thuglak'' and a Chartered Accountant. He is also the editor of Rajasthan Patrika. He is the co-convenor of the ...

are some of the noted ones famous for their leftist affiliations.

Caste and Communities

Just like other Ethnolinguistic groups in India, Kannada speaking people also form a number of distinct communities. The two single biggest communities numerically are the

Lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have been ...

and the

Vokkaliga Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community, or a group of closely-related castes, from the Indian state of Karnataka. They are also present in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. As ...

from North and South Karnataka respectively, while Scheduled Castes make up the largest cohesive group of communities. There are also numerous OBC (other backward communities) including the former

pastoralist Pastoralist may refer to: * Pastoralism, raising livestock on natural pastures * Pastoral farming, settled farmers who grow crops to feed their livestock * People who keep or raise sheep, sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the r ...

community of

Kuruba Kuruba is a Hindu caste native to the Indian state of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are the third-largest caste group in Karnataka. Traditionally, they were agriculturalists and cattle farmers. The origins of kuruba ...

, Scheduled Tribes like the Boya/Valmiki, scheduled castes like Banjara and Adi Karnataka.

Kannada Brahmins Kannada Brahmins are Kannada-speaking Brahmins, primarily living in Karnataka, although a few of them have settled in other states like, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They belong to one of the three main sects: Smartism, Sadh Va ...

are divided into several communities. Although historically

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

in Karnataka had dominant presence, Kannada Jains today form a small minority. In Karnataka, 5 communities — Brahmin, Jain, Aryavaishya, Nagarthas and Modaliars — are outside the existing reservation matrix.

Horanadu Kannadigaru

Horanadu Kannadigas (or non-resident Kannadigas) are Kannadigas who have migrated to another state or country, people of Kannada origin born outside Karnataka, or people of Kannada origin who reside permanently outside of Karnataka.

N R Narayana Murthy Nāgavārā Rāmarāo Nārāyana Mūrthy (born 21 August 1946) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of Infosys, and has been the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of the company before ret ...

, speaking at the 2011 World Kannada Conference, opined that Kannadigas who move out of the state are respected everywhere. Although the failure in political arena has reflected in the cultural isolation of emigrants, some of the successful functional bodies include Singara (

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

), Dehali Kannadiga (

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

), Mumbai Karnataka Sangha (

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

), Mallige Kannada Balaga (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

), North America Vishwa Kannada Association (NAVIKA) and

Association of Kannada Kootas of America Association of Kannada Kootas of America ( kn, ಅಮೇರಿಕದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಕೂಟಗಳ ಒಕ್ಕೂಟ, also referred to as AKKA) is a non-profit organization primarily aimed at networking for Kannadigas in the United States and ...

(AKKA) in the United States have promoted cultural involvement through events such as Kannadotsava. Significant Kannada minorities are found in the Indian states of Maharashtra in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is k ...

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

and

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

;

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

in Nilgiri,

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...

Dharampuri Dharampuri is a town and headquarters of a tehsil in Dhar district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is situated on banks of river Narmada. It is a place of some historical and archaeological interest. Geography Dharampuri is located ...

and

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hosur is one of the municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state c ...

;

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

in Madakasira, Rayadurgam, Anantapura, Chitoor and

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also se ...

;

Waynad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

; and in other Indian states. The Kannadiga diaspora are found all over the world, in countries like the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, and in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Unification of Karnataka

First and Second World Wars

After occupying Mysore, British offered 8 acres & a Rs 75 salary for WWII volunteers from Karnataka. Kannadiga regiments were disbanded after World War II. records, as historians still debate about exclusion of revolts from south of Vindhyas against British Indian Army. From September 1939 until August 1945, recruitment was done at Regimental Centre at Belagavi for the

Madras Regiment The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with both the British Indian Army and the post-independence Indian Army. History The town of Madras w ...

, the

Mahar Regiment The Mahar Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Although it was originally intended to be a regiment consisting of troops from the Mahar community of Maharashtra, today the Mahar Regiment is composed of different communities from ...

, and the Lingayat regiment.

The post-1947 scene

During the period of

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, state of Karnataka as it stands today did not exist. Areas that today comprise Karnataka were under as many as 20 different administrative units with the

princely state of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

, Nizam's Hyderabad, the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

, the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

and the territory of

being the most important ones. In effect, nearly two-thirds of what is now Karnataka fell outside the rule of the Wodeyar kings of Mysore. In addition the proposed state had six neighbours —

, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,

— and all had Kannadigas along the borders overlapping these regions. What this meant for the Kannadigas in these regions was that they were reduced to linguistic minorities wherever they were. Kannadigas in the Hubli-Karnataka region for example, came under the rule of the Bombay presidency where

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

was the official language. Those in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region came under the Nizam's rule where

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

ruled, while in Mysore Kingdom, Kannada was the official language. It was in this backdrop that the movement that first started as a protest against linguistic oppression, soon morphed into one that began demanding a separate state be created consolidating all Kannada speaking regions. This was essentially a movement that was spearheaded by the poets, journalists and writers and was called the ''Ekikarana'' or 'Unification' movement. India gained independence in 1947. The joy of independence soon gave way to disappointment as the new government started dragging its feet on ''Karnataka Ekikarana'' movement. Kannada speaking areas now got grouped under five administrative units of the Bombay and Madras provinces, Kodagu, and the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad. The ''Akhila Karnataka Ekikarana Parishat'' met in

Kasargod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kerala an ...

and reiterated the demand for a separate state for Kannadigas. The ratification in parliament of the recommendations of the

Fazal Ali Committee The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Justice Fazal A ...

brought joy to the Kannada speaking population that now was merged under the state of

. On 1 November 1973, under

Devaraj Urs Devaraj Devaraj Urs (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the eighth Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80), a state in southern India. He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Ka ...

as chief minister, Mysore state was renamed as Karnataka since it was felt that Karnataka was more 'inclusive' of all the other regions of Karnataka than the name Mysore. Kannada unification organisations currently active include: *

Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha The Karnatak Vidyavardhaka Sangha (Kannada: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ವಿದ್ಯಾವರ್ಧಕ ಸಂಘ) was an institution established on 20 July 1890 by Sri R H Deshpande in Dharwad, India which was then under the British rule of Bombay P ...

*Karnataka Ekikarana Samithi *

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, popularly known as, KaRaVe and abbreviated as the KRV (English: Our Karnataka Protection Forum) is an organization located in the state of Karnataka, India. The organization has more than 6 million (as of 2012 ...

Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha The Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha, which the literally means, Kannada Movement Vatal Party and abbreviated as the, KCVP, is an Indian state political party in the Karnataka. this party led by Vatal Nagaraj Vatal Madappa Nagaraj is an Indian p ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kannada people Ethnic groups in India Karnataka society Mangalorean society Dravidian peoples Ethnic groups in Kerala Ethnic groups in Andhra Pradesh Linguistic groups of the constitutionally recognised official languages of India

History

Immigrants from Karnataka

Culture

Architecture

Music

Theater

Dance forms

Martial arts

Festivals

Cuisine

Clothing

Literature

Kannada journalism

Contemporary popular Kannadigas

Spiritual leaders

Gandhian philosophers

Modern science and technology

Environmentalists

Current cricketers

Retired cricketers

Culture

Purana

Punya Koti

Vishwa Maanava

Political sphere

Caste and Communities

Horanadu Kannadigaru

Unification of Karnataka

First and Second World Wars

The post-1947 scene

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links