Enter Sandalwood State with Enthusiasm

Karnataka state in India is indeed a fantastic place to visit. It is well-known as a sandalwood state because of the abundant sandalwood trees grown in the region. Visit the tourist hotspots in the Karnataka state for exploring more on history of South India. 

“Bagilolu Kai Mugidu Olage Ba Yathrikane, Shileyallavee Gudiyu Kaleya Baleyu” –  It is the sentence from the poetry of a great kannada poet, Kuvempu. Meaning - Oh Visitor, fold thy hands at the entrance. It is not just a temple of stone but a beautiful network of arts.

Various kinds of art forms do exist in this part of the world. Bidar and Gulbarga to Kodagu and Mysore, there is something special for everyone to see and enjoy. The cultural art forms all over the state are very attractive. There is huge variation in food, dress and lifestyle from the north to the south. Karnataka covers a vast area of land in south and it is rich in minerals such as gold and stands eighth in India.
Karnataka map with distrcits
Karnataka Map with districts
The Western Ghats have a great variety of medicinal plants hidden in them. Umpteen number of bird and animal species exist in these forests as well as the main land. Discovery Channel cameras have photographed and filmed some parts of these forests.
Kodachadri Mountain has become famous because of the growing number of trekkers visiting the mountain forest every year. It is just 21km from the nearest town Kollur and about 150km from Mangalore. Best time to travel in Karnataka is during the spring and summer season. November to April is pleasant for visiting places in Karnataka.

Bangalore or Bengaluru is the capital of the state. It was well planned and developed into a beautiful city by Kempe Gowda, the feudatory ruler during the Vijayanagara Empire period. Today it is called the IT capital or silicon valley of India.

Karnataka has borders extending up to Arabian Sea in the west. Other side of the border extends up to Maharashtra in the north, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the east, Kerala state in the southwest and Goa state in the northwest. It is part of the Deccan Plateau Region.

The state is well known for its manganese and gold production. Coffee, pure silk, oilseed and sandalwood production all add to the growing economy.
 
The State contains deposits of molybdenum ore, asbestos, fullers earth, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, gold ore, iron ore, kaolin, limestone, Kyanite, magnesite, manganese ore, ochre,titaniferrous magnetite, quartz, silica sand and vanadium ore. Only Karnataka state produces felsite and it leads well in gold production, fuchsite quartzite and moulding sand.

Quick Facts

Karnataka in India is the south-west state which has majority of Kannada speaking population. During the British rule in India, the two sides of southern peninsula was called Carnatic and Karnatak. On November 1st 1956, state was formed by the states reorganization act and Mysore state came to existence. It got renamed as Karnataka in the year 1973.

Name of the state: Karnataka - the word comes from Karu (means elevated) and Nadu (means land).

Capital City: Bengaluru which is the largest city in the state.

Official language of the state: Kannada.

Districts-Towns-Villages: State has 30 districts with 270 towns and 29,406 villages.

Languages spoken: Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Marathi, Tulu, Kodava, English, Konkani and Hindi.

Area and Population: Stands Ninth with 61 million population and area wise it is eighth position with 191,791sq.km.

Total length of Roads: 1,22,489km.

Literacy: The Literacy Ratio is 75.36%

Sex Ratio: 973 females per 1000 males.

Religion: 83.9% and 12.2% population are Hindu and Muslim respectively. Remaining population includes 1.9% Christian and others are Jain, Buddhist etc.

Major Minerals: Gold, iron ore, manganese, magnesite. 

Exports: Cashew and cashew kernels, fruits, coffee, gherkin, plastic goods, chemicals and allied products, basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, petroleum and petroleum products, ready-made garments, gem and jewelry, handicrafts, leather products, silk products, wool and woolen products, iron ore and minerals including granite, high-end flowers, fish and other marine products, spices, Bengaluru Onion, agricultural and processed food products, electronics and computer software.

Major Industries: IT and ITeS, Bio-technology, aluminium, steel, engineering, aerospace, electronics and telecom, automotive, textiles and apparel, animation, tourism and renewable energy. 

Traditional Products: Paintings, bangles, stone carving, brassware, artefacts, jewelry, rosewood inlay work, Wood Carving, lacquerware, ivory carving, sandalwood and wood crafts, bidriware, coffee, silk sarees and insense sticks. Famous arts are Mysore ganjifa paintings, sandalwood artefacts, Channapatna toys, Gokak dolls, Kinnal or Kinhal craft, leather puppets, lambani embroidery, Hase chittara, Kasuti embroidery and terracotta art works.

Boundaries: Karnataka is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west. Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the state boundaries.

Rivers: 12 rivers have their origins in the state. The 12 rivers are Cauvery, Hemavathi, Krishna, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Bhima, Manjra, North Pennar (Uttara Pinakini), Palar, Sharavathi, Mandavi, Gangavalli, Aghanashini.

Greens: High altitude Sholas, Tropical evergreen, tropical semi-evergreen, Dry deciduous(of the Malnad), dry deciduous(plateau), moist and dry deciduous, savannas and the shrubland. 1493 species of medicial plants grow in the forests, out of which 300 are used commercially.

Climate: Semi-tropical.

Average Annual Temperature: Average temperature is around 15°C. March to May is the warmest - 18°C to 40°C. October to December month is the winter. During the winter the temperature is 14°C to 32°C.


Rainfall: The monsoon season runs between June and September. South-west monsoon brings rain from June to August, North-east monsoon winds bring rain between October and December. Rainfall is 500-4000mm. Agumbe and surrounding region in the Sahyadris receives the second heaviest annual rainfall (7600mm) in India.

Physiography: Karavali(coastal line), the western ghats, Malnad region, the coastal plain, north-south chain of Sahyadris, transitional belt of forest between eastern and western blocks, the southern plateau, the northern plateau and the eastern ghats.
 
Festivals Celebrated: Ugadi, Nagarapanchami, Ganesh Chathurti, Srikirshna Janmashtami and Mosaru Kudike, Navaratri or Dasara, Ratha Saptami, Deepotsava, Deepavali, Ramzan, Christmas.

Kannada Magazines: Taranga, Sudha, Tushara, Mayura, Roopatara, Grihashobha, Nimmellara Manasa, Karmaveera.

Kannada Newspapers: Vijayavani, Vijaya Karnataka, Kannada Prabha, Udayavani, Prajavani, Varthabharathi, Samyukta Karnataka, Sanjevani.

International Airport: Kempegowda Internatioanl Airport at Devanahalli, Bengaluru and Mangaluru International Airport at Bajpe, Mangaluru.

Navy Base: INS Kadamba, Karwar, Uttara Kannada District. 

Major Sea Port: All-weather port, New Mangaluru Port located at Panambur, Mangaluru.

Major Business Hotspots: Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Belagavi, Mysore, Hubballi and Dharwad.


For the travelers who enjoy traveling by train, the Railway Department has good arrangements in its luxury train named Golden Chariot – the Palace on Wheels. World Heritage sites like Badami, Aihole, Halebidu, and Hampi are in their list. Mysore, Srirangapatna, Pattadakal, Shravanabelagola, kabini and Goa are the other places of interest covered during the train travel. The train has an inter-continental and local cuisines, a lounge bar where people can taste the finest wines and spirits, a world class spa and gym, Wi-fi connectivity, plasma TVs and attached baths.
  • Travelers can opt for 3 day or 4 day packages
  • Visitors can take Bangalore-Hassan, Hospet-Bangalore options
  • Overnight stay at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts at Kabini
  • Golden Chariot also covers Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Trip costs approximately $485 per person per day. 
        Chart for distance between places in Karnataka
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