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Dravidians were the original inhabitants of Indian subcontinent and in Vedic literature they have been mentioned as Dasyus and Rakshasas, the people who had black skin and were opposed to the Aryans. The Aryans, with their better war technology (they were the first race who brought to India horses and iron), defeated the original inhabitants of the land and forced them to convert to Hinduism. Many of them left the plains of North India and moved towards the south to inhabit the Indian Peninsula. Karnataka is a part of the Indian Peninsula and the people of this land speak a language that has its roots in the Dravidian languages. The religion of most of the people is Hinduism with a small population of Muslims.
Arts and Crafts of Karnataka
In Karnataka, as in the rest of India, a very thin line divides 'art' and 'craft'. And this is manifest in every home in the state where even the mundane articles of daily use, including an earthen pot, resemble a work of art.
Karnataka has come to occupy pride of place in the country in the field of woodcarving. The state's relatively good forest cover provides enough raw material for its craftsmen who continue to employ age-old techniques to carve, inlay, veneer, paint and lacquer articles in wood.
Ivory carving was yet another popular craft in Karnataka. In the recent years, however because of the ban imposed on ivory trade, the craft has received a setback.
Metalwork is yet another craft that engages many families. Metalwork in Karnataka has a rich and ancient tradition and the objects serve both religious and secular needs. The temple town of Udupi is famous for its small images and ritual objects, while Karkala, an ancient Jain centre, is well known for its Jain icons.
Karnataka has a village called Shivarapattana in Kolar district, where every fourth house is a sculptor's studio. The stone carvers are skilled craftsmen, and like the marble fabricators of Jaipur in Rajasthan, belong to a clan of stone carvers and feel proud that they belong to a long line of hereditary sculptors.
The very mention of Mysore spells the fragrance of sandalwood. This soft material is used extensively to produce charming art pieces. The range of objects and designs are varied and the gudigar families of Shimoga, Uttar Kannada and Mysore districts specialize in this craft.
Bidar in north Karnataka, closer to Hyderabad than Bangalore, is a famous centre for bidriware-a well-developed craft, which uses a metal plate of an alloy, made of zinc, copper, tin and lead. Bidriware includes articles like ornamental jugs, bowls, plates pen holders, candle sticks and knives.
'Mysore silk' is famous and Karnataka has contributed a great deal to the progress of India's silk industry. It has also helped the country to overtake Japan, after China, in the production of mulberry silk
Music and Dance of Karnataka
Music of the Carnatic style really developed after the impetus given by Vidyaranya and the royal patronage of the Vijayanagar Empire. After a brief period when it was sidelined, Haidar Ali and Tipu, during their reign, showed special interest in Carnatic music and musicians. Later, the Wodeyars, and especially Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, gave valuable support and encouragement to the tradition. While many names preceded them, truly memorable and celebrated are Veena Seshanna and Veena Subbanna and Veena Doreswamy Iyengar-direct descendants of the Mysore veena tradition. Another legendary figure was the Asthana Vidwan, Bidaram Krishnappa, and the most illustrious of his disciples. T. Chowdiah, who gave a new character altogether to the violin in Carnatic music.
As for Karnataka's contribution to Hindustani music, it includes the rich gift of voices and traditions of Gangubai Hangal and Basavaraj Rajguru of Hubli and Bhimsen Joshi and Mallikarjuna Mansur of Dharwad. So also, Karnataka gave this country the trailblazing Kumar Gandharwa and Shyamala Bhave.
In the area of composition, the contribution of the Dasas-with their bhakti, spiritualism and compassionate understanding of man in all his weaknesses-has been unparalleled. Kanaka (a shepherd from Dharwad) and Purandhar (a goldsmith from Pune) together were the finest exponents of the wandering method of propagating their bhakti (faith) through songs that have been sung down the generations till today.
Fairs and Festivals of Karnataka
True to its colorful heritage, Karnataka has an array of festivals that add life, gaiety, and color to mundane activities.
The Paryaya Festival of the Krishna temple at Udupi, held biennially in January, marks the ceremonious handing over of the charge of the shrine to one of the eight religious orders of the Madhwacharya's spiritual descendants in rotation for a two-year term.
Festivals of Karnataka
Dussehra
Maha Shivratri
Thousands throng to the Melkote Temple in March to catch a glimpse of the diamond-studded crown of the temple deity taken in procession on one of the 13 days of the Vairamudi Festival.
The Karaga Festival, peculiar to Bangalore, is a quaint celebration of goddess Shakti invoked in the earthen pot from which the festival derives its name. This pot, heavily bedecked with flowers, is borne by a man who observes severe penance for several days before the festival. Dressed as a woman in saffron, sword in hand and wearing the mangalsutra (necklace) of his wife, the karaga bearer precariously balances this pot on his head to set out from the Dharamaraya Temple on the day of the Chaitra Purnima in April.
Keil Poldu a festival celebrated in Coorg in the first week of September and is marked by the worship of arms and implements, sumptuous eating, followed by games and competitions on the village meadows.
The Feast of St. Mary's Basilica, Bangalore is celebrated from August 29 to September 8 in honor of Our Lady known for her miraculous powers of healing the sick.
Dussehra, a ten-day festival in September-October is symbolic of the triumph of good over evil. The city of Mysore is transformed into a fairyland of illuminated places, gaily-festooned streets and arches. The celebrations are marked by cultural programmes, exhibitions, classical music festivals, torchlight processions, culminating with a grand procession on the tenth day headed by a gaily caparisoned elephant bearing a golden howdah with a deity.
On October 17, in the wee hours, ripples of water come bubbling up a small pond at Tal Cauvery, the source of River Cauvery. The event, celebrated as Cauvery Shankaramana by the Coorgis, is symbolic of the annual return of Goddess Cauvery to her birthplace and a reassurance of her promise of continued protection to her devotees when they tried to dissuade her from becoming a river.
Thousands of devotees, both Muslim and Hindu, throng the tomb of Sufi saint, Khaja Banda Nawaz at Gulbarga for the Urs held in November.
Dharmasthala, the temple town dedicated to Lord Manjunath is choc-a-bloc with festivities during the Lakshadeepotsavam in November/ December for five days prior to Amavasya. The festival is marked by literary and music meets and a Sarvadharma Sammelan (all religion meet).
Inam Dattatreya Peetham is venerated both by Muslims and Hindus because a laterite cave here was sanctified by the stays of Dattatreya Swami and Hazrat Data Hayat Mir Khalander.
The Coorg Festival is marked by folk dances and sports characteristic of the region. The National Dance and Music Festivals at Pattadakal and Navaraspur (five kilometers from Bijapur) are held in January-February every year to rekindle interest in the cultural grandeur of the Chalukya and Indo-Saracenic culture. The Hoysala Festival celebrated at a hill near Halebid presents different styles of classical and folk dances reminiscent of the Hoysala culture. The Hampi/Vijayanagar Festival organized in December is typified by music, drama, dance fireworks, puppet shows, and spectacular processions-all combining to recreate the grandeur of a bygone era.
Cuisine of Karnataka
The culinary fare offered by Karnataka is quite varied with each region of the state having its own unique flavors. Many factors and influences have contributed to enrich this culinary heritage. A typical Karnataka meal has many delicacies like kosambari, a salad made of the broken halves of the soaked green moong dal (lentil) minus its skin, spiced with salt, green chili and mustard seed (oggarane) and mixed with tiny scrapings of coconut, cucumber and carrot and dressed with a little lime juice.
Other popular Karnataka specialties are bisi bele huli anna-created out of rice, dal, tamarind, chili powder, and cinnamon, gojju-a vegetable, most popularly bitter gourd, cooked in tamarind juice and jaggery with chili powder in it, chitranna-rice with the juice of lime, green chili and turmeric powder and sprinkled with fried groundnuts and coriander leaves, and majjige huli with tovve-vegetables in a buttermilk base.
Kesari bhath (a halwa made of semolina, sugar, and saffron), chiroti and Mysore pak are among the favorite sweets in Karnataka. But the piece de resistance is the obbattu or holigea-flat, thin, wafer-like chappati filled with a mixture of jaggery, coconut and sugar and fried gently on a skillet. Along with payasa (south Indian kheer), obbattu is always served with celebratory meals in Karnataka. Other delectable sweets that come out of the Kannada kitchen are the shavige payasa made of vermicelli and sugar, hesaru bele made with green gram dal, and baadami hallu, which is crushed almonds mixed with milk, sugar and saffron.
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