Every year on November 1 is celebrated as Karnataka Formation Day, also known as Kannada Rajyotsava or Karnataka Da. On this day back in 1956, major Kannda-speaking regions in Southwestern India were merged to create the state called Karnataka.
But it was in 1973, when the then Chief Minister of the state Devaraj Arasu officially declared November 1 as the formation day of Karnataka. However, the areas which were merged to create Karnataka were included areas from former Madras, Bombay, and Hyderabad states.
Since it’s formation, Karnataka has been home to some great personalities who have gone to further make our country proud because of their. Let’s have a look:
1. HD Deve Gowda: He is an Indian politician who served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was imprisoned during the Emergency.
2. Narayan Murthy: The co-founder of Infosys was born on 20 August 1946 in Sidlaghatta, a city in Karnataka. He has been described as the ‘father of the Indian IT sector’ by Time magazine and CNBC for his contribution to outsourcing in India. Murthy has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri awards.
3. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: The executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, was born on 23 March 1953 in Bangalore, Karnataka. She is also a former chairperson of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. In 2014, she was awarded the Othmer Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the progress of science and chemistry.
4. Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath: He is an Indian entrepreneur, the founder of Air Deccan, a retired Captain of the Indian Army, an author and a politician. Capt Gopinath was born and brought up in Gorur, Hassan district of Karnataka.
5. Rahul Dravid: Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, was born in Madhya Pradesh. However, later his family moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. Dravid has also been awarded the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, India’s fourth and third highest civilian awards respectively.
6. Anil Kumble: Born in Bangalore, Kumble is an Indian former cricket captain, coach and commentator who played Test and One Day International cricket for his national team over an international career of 18 years.