About Karnataka

About Karnataka

Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. The state covers an area of 74,122 sq mi (191,976 km²), or 5.83% of the total geographical area of India. It is the eighth largest Indian state by area, the ninth largest by population and comprises 29 districts. Kannada is the official and most widely spoken language. 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 (black) and nadu (region), as a reference to the black cotton soil found in the Bayaluseeme region of Karnataka. The British used the word Carnatic (sometimes Karnatak) to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna River.

With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has also been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The philosophers and musical bards patronized 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 (Karnataka Music) and Hindustani traditions. Writers in the Kannada language have received the most number of Jnanpith awards in India. Bangalore is the capital city of the state and is at the forefront of the rapid economic and technological development that India is experiencing.


Geography
The state has three principal geographical zones: the coastal region of Karavali, the hilly Malnad region comprising the Western Ghats and the Bayaluseeme region comprising the plains of the Deccan plateau. The bulk of the state is in the Bayaluseeme region, the northern part of which is the second largest arid region in India. The highest point in Karnataka is the Mullayanagiri hills in Chikkamagaluru district which has an altitude of 1,929 metres (6,329 ft). Some of the important rivers in Karnataka are the Kaveri, the Tungabhadra, the Krishna and the Sharavathi.

Sub-divisions
There are 29 districts in Karnataka—Bagalkote, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chamarajanagar, Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagalur, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi and Uttara Kannada. Each district is governed by a district commissioner. The districts are further divided into sub-divisions, which are governed by sub-divisional magistrates; sub-divisions comprise blocks containing panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities.

As per the 2001 census, Karnataka's six largest cities sorted in the order of decreasing population were, Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore, Gulbarga, Belgaum and Mangalore. Bangalore is the only city with a population of more than one million. Bangaluru urban, Belgaum and Gulbarga are the most populous districts, each of them having a population of more than three million. Gadag, Chamarajanagar and Kodagu dstricts have a population of less than one million.

 

Chikmagaluru In The News

1.5 crore tourists visited Chikmagaluru in two years
LAND OFF COFFEE
The land of hills and valleys, water falls and coffee estates, Chikmagalur district has turned out to be one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the State.
The number of tourists who visit Chikmagaluru has been increasing over the years. Various places like Sringeri Sharadambe temple, Hornad Annapoorneshwari temple, Baba Budangiri have become the most preferred tourist destinations. Records reveal that the number of tourists visiting Chikmagaluru has crossed one and half crore in the last two years. According to the statistics available in the Tourism Department, the number of tourists who visited the district in 2010 is 85,81,493 while 2,615 foreigners have visited the district last year. The number of tourists to visit the district this year between January and October is 60,61,685, where as the number of foreign visitors during the same period is 1,947. The Tourism Department officers hope that the number of visitors would be the highest during November and December and with this, year’s statistics is sure to over take the previous year’s record. Sringeri is the most sought after destinations among all other places in the district. As many as 38.2 lakh visitors visited Sringeri last year while the number is 27.71 this year (till October).On the other hand, the number of visitors to visit Hornad last year is 23.8 lakh and this year it is 16.30 lakh. As many as 15,25,532 tourists visited Balehonnur last year, 5.39 lakh visited Kalasa, 1,36,460 tourists visited Kemmannugundi and 38,501 tourists visited in and around Chikmagaluru. In the last 10 months 1,28,833 tourists have visited Dattapeetha while 24,513 have visited the places in and around Chikmagalur. As many as 80,276 tourists visited Kemmannugundi, 8,70,014 visited Balehonnur, 16.30 lakh visitors visted Hornad and 5.61 lakh visited Kalasa.

Chikmagaluru, Hot off the press

Chikmagalur, Jan 11, DHNS:

14,38,685 tourists visit district in December alone

The land of coffee and hills, Chikmagalur has been witnessing a steady increase in the number of tourists coming to the district.

In December alone, the district had 14,38,685 tourists coming in, thereby pushing Chikmagalur to the forefront on the State’s tourism map.

A total of 74,92,370 visitors came to the district last year. As many as 6.40 lakh people had visited Sharadapeeth in December alone. Kalasa had two lakh people coming in, while Horanadu had four lakh tourists, Balehonnur had 1.60 lakh tourists visiting while Chikmagalur city had 2,069 people visiting. Bababudngiri hills had 12,116 devotees thronging in December alone.

While Sharadapeet, Kalasehwara temple, Horanadu Annapurneshwari temple, Rambhapuri Peet, Kodandaramaswami temple at Hiremagalur are some of the religious and spiritual centres, Kemmangundi, Chandradrona hills, Kudremukh are some of the spots people have been coming to enjoy nature’s bounty. Last year, Sringeri had 37.11 lakh devotees visiting, Kalasa had 9.11 lakh, Balehonnur Mutt had 11.10 lakh and Kemmangundi had 96,776 people visiting. Chikmagalur city had 27,122 visitors while Bababudangiri had 1.40 lakh tourists.

With the number of tourists visiting the district increasing over the years, several home stays, eight resorts, three Star hotels have come up in the region.

However, the tourists looking for home stays are comparatively higher.

However, the district administration should take steps to repair the roads in the district because most of the people are complaining of bad roads and this is mainly the reason why most people are delaying their tour to the district.

The district needs a tourism information desk too, where information about various tourists’ destinations and stay facilities could be made available to the tourists.