murali772 - 2 November, 2012 | Citizen Reports | heritage | Karnataka | Language and Culture | nostagia | legacy

Ten less known, but Interesting facts about Karnataka - in no particular order.

1) Kittur Rani Chennamma (1778-1829): Queen of the princely state of Kittur she was the 1st woman to  lead an armed rebellion against  British governance and kappa tax in 1824, more than 3 decades before Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi in 1857, after the British refused to recognise her adopted heir Shivalingappa. She was captured and imprisoned in Bailhongal fort where she died in 1829. Rani Chennamma's statue was unveiled in the Indian Parliament complex by President Pratibha Patil.

2) Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS): The KKGSS, in Bengeri in Hubli, is the ONLY unit in India that is authorised to manufacture and supply the Flag of India. Set up in 1957, the khadi flag conforms to the Bureau of Indian Standards.

3) Purandara Dasa (1484-1564): "Father of Carnatic Music" born near Tirthahalli in Shivamogga (Shimoga) district.He systematised the entire system of teaching Carnatic music that is followed to this day. He introduced the basic scale for music instruction (composing Raga Mayamalavagowla) and fashioned a series of graded lessons. He fused bhava, laya and raga in his compositions. Standardisation of varna mettus has been attributed entirely to Purandara Dasa. About 1000 of his compositions are still extant. His influence on Hindustani music too has been profound. For example, Tansen's teacher, Swami Haridas, was Purandara Dasa's disciple.

4) Sir M Visvesvaraya (1860-1955), Bharat Ratna awardee: was born in Muddenahalli village about 40miles from Bengaluru. His birthday 15th Sept is celebrated as Engineer's Day in India. He was a pre-eminent engineer, scholar, statesman and also the Diwan of the princely state of Mysore from 1912-1918. He was the chief engineer for the KRS Dam in Mysore, designed the flood protection system for Hyderabad,  Khadakvasala (Pune) and Gwalior and a sea erosion protection system for Vishakapatnam. He also set up UVCE engg college in Bengaluru in 1917, Mysore Soap Factory, the Parasitoide Laboratory, the Mysore Iron & Steel Works (now known as Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited) in Bhadravathi, the Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute, the Bangalore Agricultural University, the State Bank of Mysore, The Century Club, Mysore Chambers of Commerce and numerous other industrial ventures. He encouraged private investment in industry during his tenure as Diwan of Mysore. He was instrumental in charting out the plan for road construction between Tirumala and Tirupati.

5) Akashvani (All India Radio): is what All India Radio is officially known as since 1956. The term akashvani was coined by MV Gopalswamy of Mysore after setting up the nation’s first private radio station in his residence, “Vittal Vihar”  in 1936.[5] Akashvani means "celestial announcement"; the word, of Sanskrit origin, is often found in Hindu mythology. When the gods wished to say something, an akashvani occurred. Literally, akash means "sky" and vani means "sound" or "message".[6] Thus, Akashwani seemed to be fit for use by a radio broadcaster and was later adopted by All India Radio after independence.

6) Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1646): of which Hampi (a UN World Heritage Site) has the most famous set of archaeological remnants. It lasted longer than the Mughal empire and covered an area that was comparable if not larger!

7) Karnataka State: Mysore state was formed on Novermber 1st 1956 after the States Reorganization Act. Effective 1973, the state became known as Karnataka

8) Devanahalli : site of the new Bengaluru airport is the birthplace of Tipu Sultan.

9) Jnanapith Awards: Karnataka has won the maximum number of these literary awards (8)

10) Chanakya or Kautilya's Arthashastra (one of the world's oldest and finest treatises on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy written in 4th century BC): The oldest suviving manuscript of the Arthashastra is in the Oriental Research Intitute set up as the Mysore Oriental Library in 1891. Scholar and Indologist Rudrapatna Shamasastry discovered the manuscript in its original Grantha script in 1905, translated it into Sanskrit in 1909 and into English in 1915. This gave Indians and the world a masterpiece.

Rajyothsava habbada subhashayagalu, ellarigu

Muralidhar Rao

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