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On Kannada Rajyotsava, a lowdown on the history of state formation | Top 5
On the occasion of Karnataka Rajyotsava, here are some details about how the state was formed.
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Kannada Rajyotsava, which falls on November 1 every year, is the day that the state was formed and is hence also called the the Karnataka Formation Day. A state holiday is celebrated by giving away the Rajyotsava awards every year, hoisting the Karnataka flag, and many other cultural events are held.
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On this historic day, here is a lookback at the history:
1. Karnataka first got its name in 1973 when the people of present North Karnataka opposed the name Mysore as it represented the princely region and other southern parts of the state. Devaraj Arasu was the chief minister when the state was named Karnataka.
2. Mysore was the first region in present Karnataka to be formed on the basis of language spoken after India became a republic in 1956. The ‘Mysore state’ included North Karnataka, Malnad (Canara), and old Mysore.
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3. The region, which included areas ruled by kings, was merged with some areas of Bombay and Madras presidencies with significant Kannada-speaking populations in 1956. This also included the principality of Hyderabad.
4. Several influential figures played a major role in the formation of the state. Aluru Venkata Rao, a historian, writer and journalist, was one of the key persons in the Karnataka Ekikarana movement.
READ | Kannada Ekikarana: The great coming together
5. Other litterateurs like K. Shivaram Karanth, Kuvempu, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, A. N. Krishna Rao and B. M. Srikantaiah were some of people to speak of unifying the state.
