The Kannadigas or Kannadigaru, often referred to as Kannada people, are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who natively speak Kannada South Indian state of Karnataka in India and its surrounding regions. The Kannada language belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. Kannada stands among 30 of the most widely spoken languages of the world as of 2001.
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, 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 and versatile actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for Playback singing. His 39 movies have been remade 63 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.
Mysore State, colloquially Old Mysore, was a political territory within the Dominion of India and the subsequent Republic of India from 1947 until 1956. The state was formed by renaming the Kingdom of Mysore and Bangalore replaced Mysore as the state's capital. When Parliament passed the States Reorganisation Act in 1956. Mysore State was considerably enlarged when it became a linguistically homogeneous Kannada-speaking state within the Republic of India by incorporating territories from Andhra, Bombay, Coorg, Hyderabad, and Madras States, as well as other petty fiefdoms, It was subsequently renamed Karnataka in 1973.
Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade is an Indian philanthropist and the hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala Temple. He succeeded to the post at the age of 19, on 24 October 1968, the 21st in his line. He administers the temple and its properties, which are held in trust for the benefit of devotees and of Dharma. He is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since July 2022.
The Unification of Karnataka or Karnataka Ekikarana refers to the formation of the Indian state of Karnataka in 1956 when several Indian states were created by redrawing borders based on linguistic demographics. Decades earlier during British rule, the demand for a state based on Kannada demographics had been made.
The Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha 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 Presidency. This institution was established with the sole objective of promoting Kannada culture and language in times when the Kannada speaking regions of present-day Karnataka were split into six different areas, where Kannada was often overshadowed by other languages. Soon the Sangha morphed into a hub for the Karnataka Ekikarana (Unification) movement and played a pivotal role in the eventual unification of Karnataka. It inspired the establishment of several institutions and organisations across the state. For its invaluable services and contributions to Kannada and Karnataka, this institution was awarded the Ekikarana Award by the Government of Karnataka on the occasion of the 50th year celebrations of Karnataka state in 2006.
Guggari Shanthaveerappa Shivarudrappa, or colloquially GSS, was an Indian Kannada poet, writer, and researcher who was awarded the title of Rashtrakavi by the Government of Karnataka in 2006.
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, popularly known as, KaRaVe and abbreviated as the KRV is a Pro-Kannada organization located in the state of Karnataka, India. The organization claims to have more than 6 million members enrolled from around the world spanning to about 12,000 branches across Karnataka in all 30 districts as well as international branches in the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Vartha Bharati also spelled as Vartha Bharathi, is a Kannada daily newspaper published simultaneously from Bangalore, Mangalore and Shimoga. It was launched in August 2003. It is one of nine state level Kannada daily newspapers of Karnataka, as recognized by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Karnataka.
Sangeeta Katti Kulkarni, is an Indian playback singer, Hindustani classical vocalist, musician, music composer from Karnataka. She was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2006 by the Government of Karnataka.
Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the north-west, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the south-east, and Kerala to the south-west. The state covers an area of 74,122 sq mi (191,976 km2), or 5.83% of the total geographical area of India. It comprises 30 districts. Kannada is the official language of Karnataka and as per the 2011 census is the mother tongue of 66.5% of the population. Various ethnic groups with origins in other parts of India have unique customs and use languages at home other than Kannada, adding to the cultural diversity of the state. Significant linguistic minorities in the state in 2011 included speakers of Urdu (10.8%), Telugu (5.8%), Tamil (3.5%), Marathi (3.4%), Hindi (3.2%), Tulu (2.6%), Konkani (1.3%) and Malayalam (1.3%).
Parvathamma Rajkumar was an Indian film producer and distributor. She was the wife and cousin of veteran Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar. She produced successful films featuring him and their sons Shiva Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar under the production house named "Poornima Enterprises". Actresses who found fame in her productions include Malashri, Prema, Rakshita, Sudha Rani and Ramya. She was awarded a doctorate by Bangalore University.
Sondekoppa Srikanta Sastri was an Indian historian, Indologist, and polyglot. He authored around 12 books, over two hundred articles, several monographs and book reviews over four decades in English, Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit. These include "Sources of Karnataka History", "Geopolitics of India & Greater India", "Bharatiya Samskruthi" and "Hoysala Vastushilpa". S. Srikanta Sastri was a polyglot well versed in fourteen languages spanning Greek, Latin, Pali, Prakrit, Sanskrit and German among others. He was Head of the Department of History & Indology at Maharaja College, University of Mysore between 1940 and 1960. He was conferred the Kannada Literary Academy award in 1970 and was subsequently honoured by Governor of Karnataka Mohanlal Sukhadia in 1973 during mythic society diamond jubilee function. A Festschrift was brought forth and presented to him during his felicitation function in 1973 titled "Srikanthika" with articles on History and Indology by distinguished scholars. His work on Indus Valley civilization and town planning at Harappa and Mohenjodaro were published in successive articles and drew considerable attention. His articles on The Aryan Invasion theory, the date of Adi Sankaracharya, Oswald Spengler's view on Indian culture, Jaina epistemology, Proto-Vedic religion of Indus Valley Civilization and evolution of the Gandabherunda insignia remain relevant today.
Namm Radio is a Kannada online radio channel, started by Pastime Production Private Limited. Namm Radio was on trial for one month before its launch. Namm Radio was launched by Hindustani musician Nagaraja Rao Havaldar along with Col Kaushik, N.R. Vishukumar Director of Department of Information and Public Relations (Karnataka) alongside Kannada actor Chetan Kumar and Avanidhar Havaldar the Founder and CEO of NammRadio. The channel reaches an audience of 2 million listeners per month.
Vidushi Shashikala Dani is an Indian Hindustani classical Jal Tarang artist. She is one among the few musicians and presently the only All India Radio-graded female exponent of the Jal Tarang. She is a multi-instrument artist with concert and teaching experience in Jal Tarang, Harmonium, Sitar, Violin, Dilruba and Tabla. She is also an All India Radio-graded vocalist in the Gamaka genre of Hindustani Light Music.
Chandrika Gururaj, is an Indian playback singer, known for her works in Kannada. Apart from film songs, she has also recorded numerous devotional, bhaavageethe and folk songs. For her song "O Priyatama" in the movie Urvashi, Chandrika won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 1994. Karnataka Government honoured her with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award for her contribution to music, in 2010.
The Kannada Flag is the de facto, linguistic, cultural and ethnic flag of the Kannadigas. The bicoloured flag has two equally divided horizontal bars, yellow above and red below. The yellow and red colours in the flag stand for Turmeric and Vermilion which signifies auspicious, well being, peace and courage. The flag is used across the world by Kannadigas for Kannada-centric programs and movements. The flag appears on official website of the Government of Karnataka. It is also hoisted every year by the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Karnataka Rajyotsava day.
