Karnataka Rajyostsava Day

The yellow and red colours fluttering in the wind , in every street of Karnataka can only mean one thing. Yes , Karnataka Rajyotsava day!  Every year , on November  1 , people of Karnataka and all the the kannada speaking people around the world come together to celebrate the birth of Karnataka.  Let us see some interesting  facts about this special day.

History

The state of Karnataka was formed on Nov 1 , 1956 , when all the Kannada speaking regions were merged to form one unified state. Did you know that, Aluru Venkata Rao  , was the first person who actually  came up with this idea of unifying all the Kannada regions into one in the year 1905!  He definitely was a visionary, because his vision did come true and we are enjoying the fruits of his vision now.  In 1956, Mysore state, North Karnataka, Canara were merged to form the new state. An interesting trivia is that, when the regions were merged into a state, the whole state was named Mysore and not Karnataka! It was only in the year 1973 that our state was renamed to Karnataka. Sri Devaraj Urs was the Chief Minister at the time.

How the day is celebrated by Government of Karnataka

This day is probably as famous as any festival of the state. All the people come together and celebrate it lots of happiness and pride. Government of Karnataka organises a procession on this day . Rajyostsava awards are given away on this day. The recipients of the award come from various walks of life. Just like republic day, tableaux of Goddess Bhuvaneswari Devi is decorated and presented.  Cultural events are followed by this.

How the rest celebrate it?

Karnataka is probably the only state, where each and everybody residing in the state celebrates it. It is like a festival. Apartments (such as ours) come together and organise the function. Every autowallah, on this day has the red and yellow fluttering flag , clearly taking pride in the day.  On this day, every street of the state comes alive, with lights and colours! This is like a second Diwali for the state.  

Its Significance-Unifying the state

The most interesting part of the day is that people from all over the state, residing here come and join in the celebrations. It is this day, which lets them know about the history of the state and its significance. The day is not connected to any religion, caste or sect, which probably gives a deeper message to all of us. It is the celebration of unity in diversity.  It almost seems that this day is another way of bringing the whole state together and understand that staying together is the key to all the happiness in the society.

Now that we have seen, what this day is all about, which most of you would have known by now. Why don’t we see some interesting, unknown facts about Karnataka?  Let us see how well you know your KarnatakaJ. So here we go.

• Did you know that Kittur Rani Chennamma, queen of princely state of Kittur, was the first woman to fight against the British army , by leading an army herself?  It was way before Jhansi ki Rani . Her statue is in Indian Parliament complex!

• Karnataka Khadi Gramodyaga Samyukta Sangha in Hubli is the only place in India which is authorized to manufacture the Flag of India.

• M Viswesharaya’s(one of the greatest engineers of India)  birthday  , which is 15^th September is celebrated as Engineer’s day in India. He was the chief engineer of KRS Dam (Mysore) and even Mysore Soap factory.

•  What does Devanhalli  strike you? Airport? Actually it is the birth place to Tipu Sultan!

•  Of the 26 world heritage UNESCO sites in India , two of them are in Karnataka. One of them is at Hampi i.e the the statue of Ugranarsimha . The second heritage site is at Pattadkal . The monuments of Hampi and Pattadakal were made UNESCO sites in 1986 and 1987 respectively. Time to visit them?

• Did you know that Gandhi visited Karrnataka only once? This was during the Belgaum Congress session in 1924. At the time Gandhi was the president of Congress.

• The name “Karnataka”  is derived from “Karunadu” meaning high plateau due to its location on the deccan plain.

• Do you know that there are references to Karnataka in Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana? In Bhagavata Purana it is described in Chapter 6 of Canto 5. It is said that Rishabhadeva ended his avatara in Kutakachala hill in Karnata province.  Kutakachala hill is in present day Kollur , Karnataka.
• Bangalore was the first city to receive electricity. Guess which building received the first spark?  The City Market building.
• Bangalore had almost 280 lakes and tanks.  Most for any city. Wonder what happened to them.
• The maximum number of Nobel Prize nominations from India (in Science) have come from Bangalore! Sir CV Raman got the Nobel Prize in 1930. He was associated with IISc Bangalore.

• Bangalore is higher altitude than Dehradun.  That’s why we all own such beautiful jackets!

• Now, time has come to change Bangalore to Bengaluru.  Do you know the origin of this name?  There are many theories behind it. One is that it came from the name “Benda Kaal Ooru(Town of Boiled beans). There is another one based on a tiny village called “Hale Bengaluru” (Old Bengaluru) which is present near the current Hebbal Lake. Either way we are happy!

Hope you all enjoyed this facts about Karnataka.  All the facts have been gathered from various sources on net and they need to be credited for them.