Karnataka Tourism
Packages
Karnataka is a state in South West India. Originally known as the State of
Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is
Bangalore. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea and the Laccadive Sea
to the west, Goa to the north west, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra
Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the south east, and Kerala to the south
west. The state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 per
cent of the total geographical area of India. It is the eighth largest
Indian state by area. With 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census,
Karnataka is the ninth largest state by population, comprising 30
districts. Kannada is the most widely spoken and official language of the
state. The two main river systems of the state are the Krishna and its
tributaries, the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Vedavathi, Malaprabha, and
Tungabhadra, in the north, and the Kaveri and its tributaries, the
Hemavati, Shimsha, Arkavati, Lakshmana Thirtha and Kabini, in the south.
Both these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal.
Though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the
generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words
karu and nādu, meaning "elevated land". Karu nadu may also be read as karu,
meaning "black", and nadu, meaning "region", as a reference to the black
cotton soil found in the Bayalu Seeme region of the state. The British
used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of
peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to
the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful
empires of ancient and medieval India. The philosophers and musical bards
patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary
movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed
significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and
Hindustani traditions. Writers in the Kannada language have received the
most number of Jnanpith awards in India.
