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Karnataka, Indian State

Karnataka is described as the lofty land. The long coastline hedged by miles and miles of tall, waving, palm groves adds to the natural beauty of the place. It has an area of 74051sq mi.The capital of Karnataka is Banglore which, is undoubtedly the trump card of Karnataka. Bangalore is known by many names as the Garden City of India, India`s Manhattan and Silicon Valley. It is one of the most industrialized cities of the country; its pleasant climate makes it the seat of much commercial and cultural enterprise. The important tourist sites are Garden city Bangalore, Jog Falls, the beaches of Karwar and Malpe, Golgumbuz in Bijapur, the stone temples of Belur and Halebid, Mysore Palace, the list is endless.Karnataka is on of the enchanting destinations that enthrall you. It seems that nature has endowed all her beauty to this state. Karnataka is actually the key to discover the enthralling beauty of nature.

Origin of name of Karnataka
The name Karnataka comes from the Kannada words karu and nadu meaning elevated land. Karu nadu can also be read as Karu which means black and nadu which means region, may be with referance to the black cotton soil found in the Bayaluseemae region of Karnataka. During the time of British rule, the words Carnatic or Karnatak were used to describe this part of the region in general. Karnataka got its name in 1973.

History of Karnataka
Karnataka has been ruled successively by the Buddhist, Hindu and Muslin dynasties. Jainism too established its roots here. During the first millennium AD, the whole of Karnataka was dominated by power struggles between the various kingdoms that controlled Western Deccan. In the Medival era, the Muslim invasions from the North forced the fractured states of the south into close alliance with the Vijanagars who emerged as the landlords. In 1761, the Muslim campaigner Halider Ali with french support seized the throne. His son Tipu Sultan turned Mysore into a major force in the south before he was killed by the British in 1799 at the battle of Srirangapatanam. In 1830 the British appointed a Commission to rule in their place. Routed in the nineties. After which the state was ruled successively by the Janata Dal, BJP and Congress Governments.

Geography of Karnataka
Karnataka is situated on the western edge of the Deccan plateau and is surrounded on the North by Maharashtra and Goa, on the East by Andhra Pradesh, on the South by Tamil Nadu and Kerala and on the West, it opens out on the Arabian Sea. Karnataka occupies three natural regions like the Coastal strip, the Sahyadris and the Deccan plateau. Karnataka lies between 74o and 78o East longitudes and 11o and 18o North latitudes.The state has three physical zones.The
elevation of Karnataka is 1,500 feet. The highest temperature recorded here was 45.6 C (114.08 F) and the lowest recorded temperature was 2.8 C (37.04 F). Karnataka receives an average annual rainfall of 1139 mm. The highest point in Karnataka is the the top of the hill Mullayanagiri, which has an altitude of 1929 mts above sea level.

Transport of Karnataka
The major means of transportation here are busses, cars, trains, motorbikes, cars, autorickshaws. With the emergence of low cost air lines, people chose to travel by air as well.

There are 3973 km of National Highways in Karnataka. The public bus transport in Karnataak is managed by KSRTC(Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation). For efficient managment KSRTC was bifurcated into three Corporations viz.

KSRTC plies various categories of busses as Volvo , deluxe buses, Semi-deluxe and normal buses. To provide transportation facilities to the rural people KSRTC provides the bus service as the Grameena Sarige.

The railway network of Karnataka comes under the Southern and Western railway zones which were headquartered at Madras and Bombay. The railway network has a length of 3089 km. Coastal Karnataka is covered under the Konkan railway network.

The one important port of Karantaka is the New Mangalore Port. There are ten other ports at Karwar, Belekeri, Tadri, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Kundapur, Hangarkatta, Malpe, Padubidri and Old Mangalore.

The airports of Karnataka are located at Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Hampi and Mysore. Only from Mysore and Banglore international flights operate. Some of the airlines that operate from here are Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines. With Bangalore being the `IT capital` of India, the air traffic to this city has increased manifold and to cope up with the problem of traffic a new airpor, Bangalore International Airport is being constructed at Devanahalli. The airport will be ready only by April 2008.

Suggested Tour Packages

Culture & Costume of Karnataka

Religious Festivals

Folk Dances of Karnataka