Personal Story - Priyanka Bharadwaj (Ph.D. Student, Chang Lab)

Divergent Hues and Views

My weekends were always packed as a middle school and high school student. My family and I would visit national parks and science workshops or attend chess tournaments in and around Bangalore. As my sister and I started playing chess tournaments at competitive levels, it allowed us to visit different places and meet competitors of various ages. My exposure to the rich culture of Karnataka, the state I hail from, came much after the tournament, as we would go and explore places around.

Karnataka (literally translates to “elevated land” in Kannada), previously the princely state of Mysore, was ruled by several dynasties, from Mauryan Empire, and Nanda Empire to Kadamba Dynasty, during the 3rd century BCE. These were also the first few kingdoms to use Kannada, the native language of the state, in administration. Imperial dynasties of Western Chalukyas, Badami Chalukyas, and later the Hoysalas gave way to high patronage of music and art forms. Kannada literature flourished, and under the Vijayanagara empire, a distinct form of literature and styles of architecture evolved. The temple architecture developed during the time exhibits a deep knowledge of construction, with intricately carved images (see photos 1 and 2). In many temples, one can see the personal signatures of the artists who created the sculptures.  

With the decline of the Vijayanagara empire, the rule of Maharaja of Mysore (see Image 4 for Mysore Palace) started. The Mysore Kings earned the adulation and were great patrons of art and music and thus contributed significantly to making Mysore a cultural center. 

The Maharaja of Mysore developed the state with the services of Sir M Visvesvaraya or Sir MV, a legendary engineer responsible for establishing educational institutions, Universities, a printing press, electricity generators, a commercial bank, a soap factory, an iron & steel manufacturing plant, and many dams across the country to help irrigation.  Sir MV thus was known as the ‘Maker of Modern Mysore.’ Karnataka lists three sites under UNESCO World Heritage Sites, five national parks, and a coastline extending up to 320 km along the Arabian Sea.

Karnataka is now one of the most progressive and industrialized states.  Karnataka houses 400 Fortune 500 companies and is the largest software exporter, with the city’s capital Bangalore nicknamed the ‘Silicon Valley of India.’ Apart from the famed software industries, it has aerospace, automobile, textile, and heavy electrical machinery manufacturing industries. It attracts 48% of total FDI equity inflows. Agriculture accounts for 70% of coffee and 33% of silk production.