Kannada Rajyotsava (Kannada: ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ; Karnataka Formation Day; literally Birth of the Karnataka state) is celebrated on 1 November every year. This was the day in 1956 when all the Kannada language-speaking regions of South India were merged to form the state of Karnataka.[3] The Rajyotsava day is listed as a government holiday in the state of Karnataka[4] and is celebrated by Kannadigas across the world.[1] It is marked by the announcement and presentation of the honours list for Rajyotsava Awards by the Government of Karnataka, hoisting of the unofficial Karnataka flag with an address from the Chief Minister and Governor[5] of the state along with community festivals, orchestra, Kannada book releases and concerts.[6] Aluru Venkata Rao was the first person who dreamt of unifying the State as early as 1905 with the Karnataka Ekikarana movement.[5] In 1950, India became republic and different provinces were formed in the country on the basis of language spoken in the particular region and this gave birth to the state of Mysore including various places in south India, which were earlier ruled by the kings.[4] The Kannada flag, used as an emblem of Kannada culture On November 1 in 1956, Mysore state, comprising most of the area of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, was merged with the Kannada-speaking areas of the Bombay and Madras presidencies, as also of the principality of Hyderabad, to create a unified Kannada-speaking sub national entity. North Karnataka, Malnad (Canara) and old Mysore were thus the three regions of the newly formed Mysore state. The newly unified state initially retained the name Mysore, which was that of the erstwhile princely state which formed the core of the new entity.[7] But the people of North Karnataka did not favour the retention of the name Mysore, as it was closely associated with the erstwhile principality and the southern areas of the new state. In deference to this logic, the name of the state was changed to Karnataka on November 1, 1973. Devaraj Urs was the Chief Minister of the state when this landmark decision was taken.[8] Other people credited for the unification of Karnataka include littérateurs like K. Shivaram Karanth, Kuvempu, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, A. N. Krishna Rao and B. M. Srikantaiah.[5]
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 11:16:02 +0000
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