GENERAL INFORMATION

Karnataka is a land of fragrance - fragrance of enchanting perfume of sandal and agarbathis, the aroma of fresh roasted coffee beans, the head fragrance of the Mysore Mallige and thousands of roses blossoming. Ancient sculptured temples, magnificent palaces, ornate buildings and colourful festivals blend beautifully with the evergreen forests, golden beaches, orange groves and garden cities to form this exquisite land.Karnataka  is bounded by Andhra Pradesh in the east, Maharashtra in the north and Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south.

HISTORY

The name Karnataka is derived from Karunadu, literally lofty land. The history of Karnataka dates back to the period of epics. The capital of Bali and Sugreeva, 'Monkey Kings' of the Ramayana is said to have been Hampi in the Bellary district. In the 4'th century BC, a local dynasty Satavahana came to power and his dynasty's rule lasted nearly 300 years. With the disintegration of the Satavahana dynasty, the Kadambas came to power in the north, and the Gangas in the south of the state. The gigantic monolithic statue of Gomateswara is considered to be the monument of the Ganga period. The Chalukyas of Badami (500 to 735 AD) ruled over a wider area, from the Narmada to the Kaveri from the days of Pulikeshi II (609 to 642 AD) who had even defeated Harshvardhana of Kannauj. This dynasty created fine monuments at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal, both structural and rock-cut. Aihole has been one of the cradles of temple architecture in the country. The Rastrakatas (753-973 AD) of Malkhed who succeeded them levied tribute on the rulers of Kannauj successively in the so-called Age of 'Imperial Kannauj'. Kannada literature developed in this period. Outstanding Jain scholars of India lived in their court. The Chalukyas of Kalyana (973 to 1183 AD) and their feudatories, the Hoysalas of Halebidu built fine temples, encouraged literature and fine arts. Noted jurist Vijnaneshwara (work-Mitakshara) lived at Kalyana. The great religious leader Basaveshwara was a minister at Kalyana. Vijaynagar empire (1136 to 1646 AD) fostered indigenous traditions and encouraged arts religion and literature in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. Overseas trade flourished. The Bahamani Sultans (Capital-Gulbarga, later Bidar and Bijapur) Adilshahis raised fine Indo-Saranic buildings and encouraged Urdu and Persian literature. Advent of the Portuguese resulted in the introduction of new crops (tobacco, chillies, potato etc.). After the fall of Peshwa (1818 AD) and Tipu (1799 AD) Karnataka came under the British.
After independence, the new united Mysore State was created in 1956 and was renamed Karnataka in 1973 AD.

ART AND CULTURE

Karnataka possesses a rich cultural heritage. The Mysore style of Bharatanatyam, which is the oldest and most popular form of classical dance in India, is widely performed in Karnataka Other mainstream classical dances here include Kuchipudi and Kathak. Open air folk theatre or "Bayalata" of Karnataka is a famous dance form. This dance is performed at religious festivals and family celebrations. It usually starts at night and continues till the morning.
Yakshagana is the famous and unique dance drama of the Karnataka. Your trip to the Karnataka is incomplete with watching this unique performance. Yakshagana literally means the music of celestial beings. It is also the name for a theatrical form of Karnataka and in this context signifies a particular style of music never really gained national prominence and remained as an accompaniment to the magnificent dance drama traditional of Karnataka and so Yakshgana today invokes images of only its theatrical version. In earlier times the dance drama that was written with the yakshagana style of music was called Bayalata, Bhagvatara ata. of Dashavatara ata. Over 160 ragas or melodies seemed to have existed, though today only about 30 are repeated most often.Yakshagana (ya-ksha-gaa-na, roughly translated as Celebration of the Celestials) is a complete theater which includes song, dance and drama and, is extremely popular in Malnad, Uttara and Dakshina Kannada districts of the Karnataka State. It is essentially a stage form which entertains and educates the rural folks. A team consists of 15-20 actors who carry their bag and baggage on their heads and walk from one village to another, covering 20-30 kilometers a day. They camp in a temple, and erect an extremely simple stage by using just four poles and many leaves for decoration. People with their families walk or ride their bullock carts to witness a performance. An episode from Ramayana or Mahabahrat is elected and accordingly the team do their own make-up and wear very attractive and colorful costumes. There are no women in any team, and hence men wear saris and bras, and thus become women!

MUSEUMS IN KARNATAKA

Government Museum & Art Gallery (Bangalore)  1 km. Situated next to Cubbon Park on Kasturba Road, the museum display sculpture, coins, inscription, paintings, excavated items, bronzes etc. The Venkatappa Art Gallery has on display the works of K.Venkatappa, the noted artist at the court of the Mysore rulers.
Timings: 1000 to 1700 hrs. Closed on Wednesday.

Visveswaraya Industrial & Technological Museum (Bangalore)  1 km. Situated next to the Government Museum on Kasturba Road, it is dedicated to the memory of M. Visveswarya, the architect of modern Karnataka. The exhibits highlight the various applications of science and technology in industry and human welfare.
Timings : 1000 to 1700 hrs. Closed on Monday.

Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery (Mysore)  1 km. Housed in the Jaganmohan Palace, it has paintings of the members of the royal family, works of Raja Ravi Varma and other Indian and western painters, a display of furniture, glass and chinaware, oriental and western decorative arts, sculpture and musical instruments.
Timings: Daily 0800 to 1700 hrs. Rail Museum (Mysore)  KRS Road. 1 km. Set up in 1979, the museum houses railway engines, coaches of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore and different types of signals.
Timings: 1000 to 1300 hrs. and 1500 to 1700 hrs. Closed on Monday.

CLIMATE

Summer : March to mid June. April and May are the very hot months. Weather becomes very uncomfortable in June when humidity level also increases. Average temperature is 34 degrees Celsius and  humidity is around 75%.
Monsoon : July ,August and September are the monsoon months when day temperature decreases but humidity percentage is quite high this time . The average rainfall in the coastal region is around 600 cm , while in the Ghats it is 250cm.
Winter : December to Feberuary, weather is generally pleasant during this time .Winter rain occurs in Bangalore and also in south eastern part.During winter temperatures is around 15 degrees Celsius . There is reduced humidity percentage in winter.

State Capital                         Bangalore

Language                              Kannada

Area Covered                       1,91,791 Sq. km.

Best Time to Visit                October to MarcH