Karnataka is described as the lofty land. The long coastline hedged by miles and miles of tall, waving, palm groves adds to the natural beauty of the place. It has an area of 74051sq mi.The capital of Karnataka is Banglore which, is undoubtedly the trump card of Karnataka. Bangalore is known by many names as the Garden City of India, India`s Manhattan and Silicon Valley. It is one of the most industrialized cities of the country; its pleasant climate makes it the seat of much commercial and cultural enterprise. The important tourist sites are Garden city Bangalore, Jog Falls, the beaches of Karwar and Malpe, Golgumbuz in Bijapur, the stone temples of Belur and Halebid, Mysore Palace, the list is endless.Karnataka is on of the enchanting destinations that enthrall you. It seems that nature has endowed all her beauty to this state. Karnataka is actually the key to discover the enthralling beauty of nature.
Origin of name of Karnataka
The name Karnataka comes from the Kannada words karu and nadu meaning elevated land. Karu nadu can also be read as Karu which means black and nadu which means region, may be with referance to the black cotton soil found in the Bayaluseemae region of Karnataka. During the time of British rule, the words Carnatic or Karnatak were used to describe this part of the region in general. Karnataka got its name in 1973.
History of Karnataka
Karnataka has been ruled successively by the Buddhist, Hindu and Muslin dynasties.
Jainism too established its roots here. During the first millennium AD, the whole of Karnataka was dominated by power struggles between the various kingdoms that controlled Western Deccan. In the Medival era, the Muslim invasions from the North forced the fractured states of the south into close alliance with the Vijanagars who emerged as the landlords. In 1761, the Muslim campaigner Halider Ali with french support seized the throne. His son Tipu Sultan turned Mysore into a major force in the south before he was killed by the British in 1799 at the battle of Srirangapatanam. In 1830 the British appointed a Commission to rule in their place. Routed in the nineties. After which the state was ruled successively by the Janata Dal, BJP and Congress Governments.
Geography of Karnataka
Karnataka is situated on the western edge of the Deccan plateau and is surrounded on the North by Maharashtra and Goa, on the East by Andhra Pradesh, on the South by Tamil Nadu and Kerala and on the West, it opens out on the Arabian Sea. Karnataka occupies three natural regions like the Coastal strip, the Sahyadris and the Deccan plateau. Karnataka lies between 74o and 78o East longitudes and 11o and 18o North latitudes.The state has three physical zones.The elevation of Karnataka is 1,500 feet. The highest temperature recorded here was 45.6 C (114.08 F) and the lowest recorded temperature was 2.8 C (37.04 F). Karnataka receives an average annual rainfall of 1139 mm. The highest point in Karnataka is the the top of the hill Mullayanagiri, which has an altitude of 1929 mts above sea level.
Economy of Karnataka
Karnataka has become one of the leading industrial states in the field of industrial development. It has established its roots both in the private and public sectors and in the area of computer software. As a result national and international firms are attracted to the city of Banglore. Karnataka is host to headquarters of several IT companies including Infosys, which was rated "Best Employer in India" by Business Today in 2001, and in 2002 as "India`s Most Respected Company". The IT industry is spreading to other major centres in Karnataka, namely: Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli. There are the presence of a number of traditional cottage and small industries like handlooms, silk weaving etc. Karnataka is the leading state for silk rearing and production of Khadi and village industries. There are numerous factories in engineering, chemicals, electrical, and electronic goods. There are also industries for processing of plantation products like tea, coffee, rubber, cashew etc.
About 71% of the people are engaged in agricullture.The main crops are rice, ragi, jowar, maize, and pulses besides oilseeds and number of cash crops. The principal crop grown here is coffee. Cashew, coconut, arecanut, cardamom, chilies, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco are among the other crops.
Government and politics of Karnataka
Governor is the constitutional head of the Karnataka and is appointed for a period of five years. He appoints the Chief Minister. The governor is only the ceremonial head of the state. The day to day running if the government is taken care of by the Chief Minister and his council of ministers. The State legislature consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Commissioner of Police is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the state. Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc
At the national level, Karnataka consists of 28 parliamentary constituencies from which 28 members of parliament get elected to the Lok Sabha. Karnataka is dominated by three major parties. They are Indian National Congress , Janata Dal (Secular) , Bharatiya Janata Party , etc.
Transport of Karnataka
The major means of transportation here are busses, cars, trains, motorbikes, cars, autorickshaws. With the emergence of low cost air lines, people chose to travel by air as well.
There are 3973 km of National Highways in Karnataka. The public bus transport in Karnataak is managed by KSRTC(Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation). For efficient managment KSRTC was bifurcated into three Corporations viz.
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation
North-west Karnataka Road Transport Corporation
North-East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation
KSRTC plies various categories of busses as Volvo , deluxe buses, Semi-deluxe and normal buses. To provide transportation facilities to the rural people KSRTC provides the bus service as the Grameena Sarige.
The railway network of Karnataka comes under the Southern and Western railway zones which were headquartered at Madras and Bombay. The railway network has a length of 3089 km. Coastal Karnataka is covered under the Konkan railway network.
The one important port of Karantaka is the New Mangalore Port. There are ten other ports at Karwar, Belekeri, Tadri, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Kundapur, Hangarkatta, Malpe, Padubidri and Old Mangalore.
The airports of Karnataka are located at Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Hampi and Mysore. Only from Mysore and Banglore international flights operate. Some of the airlines that operate from here are Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines. With Bangalore being the `IT capital` of India, the air traffic to this city has increased manifold and to cope up with the problem of traffic a new airpor, Bangalore International Airport is being constructed at Devanahalli. The airport will be ready only by April 2008.
Districts of Karnataka
The state of Karnataka comprises of 27 districts that are grouped into four divisions.
The four divisions are Bangalore division, Belgaum Division, Gulbarga Division and Mysore Division.
Demography of Karnataka
As per the 2001 census, the total population of the state amounts to 52,850,562. Out of which the males constitute to about 26,898,918 and females to about 25,951,644. The literacy of the state is 55.98%. Population density is 275.6 per km sq. The sex ratio is 964 females to 1000 males. The literacy rate is 66.6% with 76% of literate males and 57% of literate females. Karnataka occupies Ninth place with regard to population and the density of population. There are people belonging to different religions as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains and Buddhists. The majority of the populations are Hindus. About 83.8% of the population are Hindus, 12.23% are Muslim, 1.91% are Christians, 0.78% are Jains, 0.73% are Buddhist and the remaining belong to other religions.
The official language of the people of Karnataka is Kannada. The other languages spoken here are Urdu, Telegu, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Konkani and Hindi. The majority of the people speak in Kannada.
Culture of Karnataka
Karnataka is a treasure island of ritualistic dances. The dances are denoted by the generic term Kunitha. The major art forms are Dollu Kunitha, Puja kunitha, Pata Kunitha,
Gorava Kunitha, Kamsale, Devare Thatte Kunitha, Yellammana Kunitha, Suggi Kunitha. Other than these dances, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak are well known classical dances. The music of Karnataka flourished under the royal patronage of the Vijayanagar Empire and the Wadayars. The Hindustani music and Caranatic music are the popular music genres of Karnataka. Yakshagana is an elaborate dance-drama performance unique to Karnataka. Major festivals of Karnataka are Dussehra ,Hampi Festival, Tula Sankramana, Vairamudi Festival, Kambala or buffalo racing, Sri Vithappa fair, Sri Shidlingappa`s fair etc.
More on Culture
Karnataka Art forms
Costume of Karnataka
Crafts of Karnataka
Festivals of Karnataka
Folk Dances of Karnataka
Music in Karnataka
Flora and fauna of Karnataka
Having a varied landscape, the state is quite rich in flora and fauna. The Sahyadris in the state of Karnataka are the most important area as far as the flora of state is concerned. Some of the highlights of the vegetation of this state are the white Mallika, the golden Champaka, the red rose, and the purple Padari. Apart from these, there are trees of Mangoes, Teak and Sandalwood found on the eastern slope.
Education in Karnataka
Karnataka has the highest number of educational institutions in the fields of engineering and medical sciences.
The major educational institutions are:
Indian Institute of Science(Bangalore)
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Some of the institutions that are involved in undergraduate engineering education are
National Institute of Technology
University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering
M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology
More on Education
Universities in Karnataka
Media in Karnataka
Of the 19 channels run by Doordarshan, DD9 is an exclusive Kannada channel. Other private channels are TV 9 - Karnataka, Zee Kannada, Udaya, ETV Kannada, etc.
The major newspapers of Kannada are Prajavani, Udayavani, Vijaya Karnataka, and Kannada Prabha. The major English newspapers are the Deccan Herald, Times of India, The Hindu and the Indian Express.
The radio networks of the state are All India Radio, Radio City Radio Mirchi, Radio Indigo, Radio One etc
Sports & Adventure in Karnataka
The major sports of the people of Karnataka are Parasailing, Water sports, trekking scuba diving, coracling, surfing, canoeing, kayaking or windsurfing etc. Parasailing is one of the thrilling aero sport activities.
More on Sports in Karnataka
Karnataka Cricket Players
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