NEWS

Kannada Rajyotsava or Karnataka Day or Karnataka Formation Day is celebrated on November 1 every year.

ABOUT RAJYOTSAVA

WHY NOVEMBER 1 – Kannada language-speaking regions merged to form the state of Karnataka , in the year 1956

A BRIEF HISTORY

• Aluru Venkata Rao was the first person take steps for unifying Karnataka. He started Karnataka Ekikarana movement in 1905
• In 1950 India became republic and different provinces were formed in the country on 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.
• On 1 November 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. 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 1 November 1973. Devaraj Arasu was the Chief Minister of the state when this landmark decision was taken.
• 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.

RAJYOTSAVA AWARDS

• Second-highest Civilian Honour in Karnataka, right after Karnataka Ratna.
• Was initiated in the year 1966.
• Conferred in recognition of the contributions in fields like Arts, Literature, Culture, Education, Sports, Industry, Science, medicine, Public Affairs and Social service.