Kannadiga (Kannada: ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ |masculine|), or Kannadati (Kannada: ಕನ್ನಡತಿ |feminine|) refers to populations who natively speak the Kannada language. Kannadigas are mainly located in the state of Karnataka in India, and in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra. The plural form 'Kannadigas', used frequently, is an English plural.
Kannadigas are people who speak Kannada, its variants or its various dialects. The variations of dialects are several. Janapadas of Soliga, Badaga and other tribes of Karnataka having rich contribution to Kannada literature have their own style.
Various districts of Kannada have mixed variations of dialects like Dharwad Kannada, Sankethi, Havyaka, Are Bhashe, Mysooru Kannada,Mangalooru Kannada Kundagannada etc., based on place. Both Tulu and Kodava are written in Kannada script. Many Kannadigas have emigrated to countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia and United Arab Emirates.
Kannadigas have built powerful empires and kingdoms with Kannada as the official language. The language was once popular from Kaveri to Godavari as mentioned in Kavirajamarga of 850 CE. Archeological evidences prove Kannada inscriptions found as far north as Madhya Pradesh (Inscription of Krishna III). The great Karnataka Expansion provides insights to various kingdoms of northern India whose originators were from Kannada country . The major empires and kingdoms, their regal capital and most distinguished kings are
Minor dynasties that have played an important role in the development of Kannada language, culture and polity were, Chutus of Banavasi (feudatory to Satavahana Empire), Tuluva Dynasty of Canara, Rattas of Saundatti (Belgaum), Guttas of Guttal (Dharwad region), Banas of Kolar, Nolambas of Nolambavadi, Vaidumbas, Chengalvas, Kongalvas, Sendrakas of Nagarkhanda (Banavasi province), Yalahanka Nadaprabhu, Sindas of Yelburga (Bijapur-Gulbarga), Kadambas of Hangal.
In addition, other well known kingdoms that patronized Kannadiga poets and Kannada language were,
Other brave warriors include
Sculpture has been the epitome of art in Karnataka. Be it the musical pillars of Hampe, the ekashila (monolithic) statue of Bahubali , the well crafted ELu Suttina Kotey of Chitradurga (The Fort of seven lappings) cutting across hill or be it the wholesomeness of carvings of temples which bared down all desires to be left out of it and formless (above all forms) all encompassing - the inner garbhagrihas. The temples of Karnataka had in them many shaili or varieties to credit. The majestic genius of sculptors can be seen in minute details of these structures. Majority of the temples were built using the locally available stones.
Places of interest are
Pioneer sculptors include
Modern day contemporaries include visionary architects
Contemporary musical thespians are
Hari-kathe which cover entire night is another form where one (or more) person tells a story in an outstanding manner accompanied by music at background. Its a common feature to narrate battles, stories, devotions, pratha or vratha in front of temples on auspicious days.
Some famous Theatrical, Cinematic, Television personalities like Gubbi Veeranna,G V Iyer ,Rajkumar ,V. Shantaram ,Puttanna Kanagal ,Kalpana ,Sri Ranga ,B V Karanth ,Girish Kasaravalli ,Girish Karnad ,Guru Dutt, Shankar Nag ,T N Seetharam have contributed for this richness.
Bengalooru Habba -festival of Bengalooru - a congregation of art performances at different places of the city has been initiated recently and is very successfully celebrated every year.Vasanta Habba - spring festival is a popular one too. In 2006 government of Karnataka tried to bring the folk lore and art into the city blues of Bangalore by initiating Jaanapada Jatre which was hugely successful and received well by art lovers is held on weekends in Lalbagh and other parts of the city.
The heroic, mystic, fierce, spirited reliving of various legends of epics are the major depictions and the theatre of battle scenes of heroism, loyalty and treachery, colour and pageantry are the main subjects. More adapted with the course of nature and seasons adding colour to the harvesting seasons make dances of Karnataka an unparalleled Jaanapada kale or Common People's art. Some of the folk dances and classical dance forms include
The tribal forms of dance can also be found limitedly in the regions inhabited by Soligas and forests of Kodagu and Western Ghats.
Some socially harmful practices like devadasi had encroached the land which was imitating the courtesan artist performing in King's court of older times, but was demeaning the life the artist in the contemporary society wasn't allowed extensively to grow. Now the government of Karnataka is taking measures to curb it which prevails in parts bordering Maharashtra.
are some of the favourite places of art lovers in Karnataka and have produced some of the finest artists.
The Mysore Odeyars arrange kaalaga or fights like Vajra Mushti during Dasara festival which is made less frightening these days as they are publicly staged. Rock lifting, Bull race, Kusthi , Kabaddi, are popular sports.
Yogasana, Praanayama and health related camps are very popular throughout the state and some of the best Yoga practitioners can be found here. Art of Living is one such organization immensely popular all over the world.
In countryside there will be convenient dana (cattlehood - the most sacred friend of agriculturists) gala jaatre with conglomeration of people with a local demigod worshipped and a ratha or theru moved by the Bhakthas and arranged Daasoha.
North Karnataka has a unique blend of Hindu and Muslim brotherhood with people celebrating festivals in unison and exchanging goodwills thanks to great revolutionary Guru Govinda Bhatta and Shishunala Shareefa who had displayed their religious tolerance and spiritual unity of all religions.
Christmas is celebrated at large in Bengalooru and Mangalooru which host some of the oldest churches and educational institutions of the country.
Buddha, Mahaveera, Shankara, Basava, Gandhi are remembered on their birth anniversaries.
Female costumes mainly include Seerey of which Ilakal Seerey and Mysore Silk(Government owned) are famous. Even it has different variations of draping depending on regions like Kodagu , North and South Karnataka and Karavali. Gold is the most popular metal for use in jewellery.
Kasuti is a form of embroidery work which is very popularly sought after art on dress and costumes.
Kannada literature is filled with literary figures and pioneers all through.
Pampa says :
ಆರಂಕುಶಮಿಟ್ಟೊಡಂ ನೆನೆವುದೆನ್ನ ಮನಂ ಬನವಾಸಿ ದೇಶಮಂ (Aar-ankusha-mittodam nenevu-denna-manam Banavaasi desha mum)
transliterated as - No matter who tries to stop me, my mind will always think of my country Banavaasi. (Ankusha = sabotage; literally, it’s a sharp knife-like thing they use to control an elephant which has gone haywire).
Pampa, Ranna and Ponna are considered as three jewels of Halegannada. Janna was another notable poet of this genre.
Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu, Madhvacharya, Vidyaranya, Harihara, Raghavanka,Kumara Vyasa, Sarvajna, Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa ,Shishunala Shareefa ,Raghavendra Swami etc were pioneers of Nadugannada. All these have been inviolved with social and cultural movements and hence this was the golden era of literature which brought about a renaissance in Kannada literature . They all had a characteristic naamankita - insignia - which would denote a power equalling a God in popular comparison. The literature saw the Vachana -said, Tattva -thatness, Sharana -saviour (of God), and Dasa -slave (to God) padas (short poetries) - reach the common man's ignorance into great depths leading to Siddhanta- philosophies.
Kuvempu says :
ಓ ನನ್ನ ಚೇತನ ಆಗು ನೀ ಅನಿಕೇತನ (O nanna Chetana Aagu nee Aniketana)
transliterated as O my spirit/consciousness, thou transcending all boundaries shalth render thyself homeless.
Kuvempu, D. V. Gundappa, Da Ra Bendre, B. M. Srikantaiah, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Shivaram Karanth, V K Gokak, U R Ananthamurthy, P. Lankesh, Girish Karnad, G S Shivarudrappa,Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, Pu thi Narasimhachar, Chennavira Kanavi, Gopalakrishna Adiga, TaRaSu, A N Krishna Rao, Govinda Pai, S.L. Bhyrappa, Poornachandra Tejaswi, Thriveni, K. S. Nissar Ahmed, K.S. Narasimhaswamy,Chandrashekhara Kambara, Siddhaiah Puranik, G P Rajarathnam ,T P Kailasam ,Anupama Niranjana, M. K. Indira ,Dodda Rangegowda etc are popular literary figures. This period was amalgamation of literature works which crossed across boundaries under a vast roof encompassed by art and theatre fields. The literature works of Kannada in Navodaya is crowned with 7 Jnanpith awards. Kannada Thantramsha or software is developed under Kuvempu university. There is also a sizeable Open-source community in Bengalooru.
Some of the contemporary active institutions of Kannada literature are
Some indigenous technological advances include
One of the most acknowledged concept is to be a Vishwa Maanava or universal being. In Kuvempu's ideology this has a renowned explanation Every Child is born as a Vishwa Maanava or a Universal Human . It is the we who make him Alpa Maanava or Little Human by putting various constrictions of borders rituals and castes. It hence becomes responsibility of our culture to again make him a Universal Being unbound and free. The Kannadiga culture is known to provide shelter and self respect to people by owning them and their culture. During independence due to reorganisation of states there was a danger of Konkani Tulu and Kodava getting separated from Kannada diaspora politically but it never happened as they were all part of culture. Even now Tulu and Konkani speaking parts are referred to as undivided Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada. Two Tibetan colonies for refugees from Tibet are formed, one near Mundgod and one near Kushalanagara for protecting them from Chinese atrocities. Karnataka has also sheltered flood victims of North Eastern India like Assam and provided them jobs. One of the easily seen diversity is the surnames which vary from hugely like some may involve names involving a Hindu and Muslim name or having a Hindu Christian name (more found in Mangalore) or even a Muslim Christian name. Hindu is normally considered a misnomer for Sanathana.
Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra are the only two states which have diversity of including both Malenadu Nithyaharidwarna -evergreen ghats and Bayaluseeme which have different ways of living in the same state. Not only this but it acts as a gateway to North and South Indian cultures. It may come as a surprise that Karnataka is next only to Rajasthan in India when it comes to area under arid land but still Southern Karnataka is referred to as Gandhada Gudi - temple of sandalwood found in its protected forests.
The Dravidian leader and social reformer Periyar, is a third generation Kannada emigrant from Mysore. Periyar E. V. Ramasamy single handedly changed the essence of Tamil Nadu and Indian politics to a very great extent. He also used to declare proudly of his Kannada ancestry. The present Tamil Nadu polity is descended from Periyar and his movemnent..He is quoted as saying "Many people say I am not a Tamilian myself. They are saying this because my mother tongue is Kannada. Many think that I am a Telugu - Naidu. I am a Kannadiga of the Kannada Balijawar caste.
M. P. Veerendra Kumar , a similar Kannadiga in Kerala is a multi faceted personality having a prominent hand in making Mathrubhumi a leading Malayalam journal, besides being an active politician and a noted new genre Malayalam Litterateur.
The essence of the term Kannadiga is quite interesting. During the period of British rule, state of Karnataka as it stands today did not exist. Areas that today comprise Karnataka were under as many as 20 different administrative units with the princely state of Mysore, Nizam's Hyderabad, the Bombay Presidency, the Madras Presidency and the territory of Kodagu being the most important ones. In effect, nearly two-thirds of what is now Karnataka fell outside the rule of the Wodeyar kings of Mysore. In addition the proposed state was having 6 neighbours Goa , Maharashtra , Andhra Pradesh ,Tamil Nadu ,Kerala and Lakshadweep and all had Kannadigas in them.
What this meant for the Kannadigas in these regions was that they were reduced to linguistic minorities wherever they were. Kannadigas in the Hubli-Karnataka region for example, came under the rule of the Bombay Presidency where Marathi was the official language. Those in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region came under the Nizam's rule where Urdu ruled. Kannadigas in Dakshina Kannada came under the rule from Madras Presidency which used Tamil for all purposes.
Under these conditions, a feeling of discontent had started brewing among Kannadigas outside Mysore. They felt that their interests and their language was being mortgaged to the interests of the higher ups.
It was in this backdrop that the movement that first started as a protest against linguistic oppression, soon morphed into one that began demanding a separate state be created consolidating all Kannada speaking regions. This was essentially a movement that was spearheaded by the poets, journalists and writers and was called the Ekikarana or 'Unification' movement. India gained independence in 1947. The joy of independence soon gave way to disappointment as the new government started dragging its feet on Karnataka Ekikarana movement. Kannada speaking areas now got grouped under five administrative units of the Bombay and Madras provinces, Kodagu, and the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad. The Akhila Karnataka Ekikarana Parishat met in Kasargod and reiterated the demand for a separate state for Kannadigas. The ratification in parliament of the recommendations of the Fazal Ali Committee brought unbounded joy to the entire Kannadiga population that now was merged under the state of Mysore. Along with all the joy, came the acute disappointment at the non inclusion of certain parts in the Mysore state. The biggest disappointment lay in the non inclusion of Kasargod in the newly formed state. The irony also lay in the fact that Kasargod was one of the bastions from which the Ekikarana movement had launched its agitation. This is an issue that continues to rankle those who fought for the unification of Karnataka. Some like literary giant and nonagenarian Kayyara Kiyyanna Rai who was part of the movement since its earliest days still continues to fight for Kasargod's merger with Karnataka albeit peacefully. Belgaum border dispute is another controversial issue which has led to huge turmoil in border of Karnataka and Maharashtra. On 1 November 1973, under Devaraj Urs as Chief Minister, Mysore state was renamed as Karnataka since it was felt that Karnataka was more 'inclusive' of all the other regions of Karnataka than the name Mysore.
Some of the active Kannada pro organisations include
Some of the contemporary issues for which every Kanndiga is fighting today are Nanjundappa- (Chairman of Committee for Redressal of Regional imbalances) Report is still pending to be implemented. Sarojini Mahishi Report which mandated jobs for Kannadigas in centre was not important for the centre.The much disputed Kaveri River water sharing issue Kaveri River Water Dispute is a grave injustice done from even the Supreme Court which asked to release water from IO report(highly unscientific asking water for 10 years when people are getting scant water in upper riparian state- rightfully thrashed down by Karnataka). Also the Union Government adopted delaying tactics in according the similar classical status to Kannada due to DMK lobby against it. A Tamil fanatic also awarded doctorate by Karnataka Open University, Kulandaiswamy known as scientist in Tamil Nadu has vowed to make Tamil at the top of every hierarchy engrossing all languages under Dravidian and naming them to have descended from Tamil. shows the hold Tamils have in all the walks of Indian democracy. Due to this backstabbing hostility the old Mysuru region(which borders hostile state in a way betrayed by rule of Odeyars by signing treaties and retaining them giving Tamil lobby a upper hand) is the most victimised and has become the most backward in the state(the Chamarajnagar and Gundlupet region) which once held the crown of being princely state due to the backwardness in agriculture and irrigation.
The Kannada ethnic flag is a banner with two horizontal stripes, yellow on top and red on the bottom . The flag although niether officially declared nor represents any legendary empire but something which is accepted in recent times unofficially representing a symbol of welfare as ಅರಿಶಿಣ and ಕುಂಕುಮ.