List of people from Karnataka

This is a list of famous and notable people from Karnataka, India. This would include persons who are known to a large number of people and is not based on the extent of their popularity. Neither is the list viewed from the context of the present. Their fame could be brief, what matters is that they were well-known during the peak of their popularity.

Arts and entertainment

Cinema

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Aishwarya Rai Ambareesh Ananth Nag Arjun Sarja Arthi B.V. Karanth Balakrishna Bharathi Bhavana Feroz Khan G.V. Iyer Geetha Girish Karnad Girish Kasaravalli Guru Dutt Jaggesh	Kalpana Kalyan Kumar Kashinath M.R. Vittal M.S. Satyu Manjula Master Manjunath Nagabharna Nagathihalli Chandrashekar Narasimha Raju Pantalu Pattabhirama Reddy Prakash Rai Prema Puneeth Rajkumar Puttana Kanagal	Raghavendra Rajkumar Rajanikanth Rajesh Rajkumar Rakshita Ramesh Ramya Ravichandran Rockline Venkatesh Sakshi Shivanand Sanjay Khan Shankar Nag Shashi Kumar Shilpa Shetty Shivarajkumar Shyam Benegal	Siddalingiah Srinath Sudha Rani Suman Ranganath Sunil Kumar Desai Suniel Shetty Tara Tiger Prabhakar Uday Kumar Upendra Vasundhara Das Vishnu Vardhan Vishwanath Ayengar Yogeshwar

Theatre

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A.S. Moorthi Arundhati Nag B.V. Karanth Bhargavi Narayana C.P. Krishnamurthy Chandrashekhar Kambara Chindodi Leela Enagi Baalappa Enagi Nataraja	Garuda Sadashivarao Girish Karnad Gubbi Veeranna Jayashree K.V. Subbana Kalpana Lokesh Makeup Nani Master Hirannayya	Mukhyamantri Chandru Nagaratnamma Prasanna Preetham Venky Setumadhavarao Manvi Shankar Nag Shivananda Sihikahi Chandru Subbayya Naidu	Subhadramma Mansoor Sudhir Umashree Vajramuni Vasanth Kavali Vishaya Jevur Yashwant Sardeshpande

Ancient Architecture & Sculpture

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• Amarashilpi Jakanachari
• Gundan Anivaritachari
• Ruvari Malithamma

Modern Artists - Painting & Sculpture

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B.K.S. Varma B.V. Rama Murthy Biju Jose	K.K. Hebbar K.Venkatappa M.S. Umesh	R.K. Laxman R M Hadpad Ramya Nagraj	Sheela Gowda Yusuf Arakkal

Music

Classical Music - Carnatic

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Vyasatirtha Sripadaraya Vadiraja Purandaradasa Kanakadasa Kamalesha Vittala Vijaya Dasa Jagannatha Dasa Gopala Dasa	Mysore Vasudevacharya Dr. R. K. Srikantan Harikesanallur Muthayya Bhagavathar Bidara Krishnappa Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Mysore Sadashiva Rao Veene Doreswamy Iyengar T. Chowdiah	Mysore V.Ramarathnam Veene Sheshanna Veene Subbanna Kadri Gopalnath R. R. Keshavamurthy Mysore Nagaraj Mysore Manjunath S. Seshagiri Rao N. Ravikiran

Classical Music - Hindustani

Abdulla Khaja (Bansuri) Arjunsa Nakod (Vocal) Ashok Huggannanavar (Vocal) Bale Khan (Sitar) Bapu Padmanabha(Bansuri) Basavaraja Rajaguru (Vocal) Bhimsen Joshi (Vocal) Dhananjaya Hegde (?) Fayyaz Khan (Sarangi) Ganapati Bhat (Vocal) Gangubai Hangal (Vocal) Gururao Deshpande (Vocal) Hanumanna Nayak Dore (Vocal) I.N. Kalaburgi (Vocal) Jayateerth Mevundi (Vocal) Krishna Hangal (Vocal) Kumar Gandharva (Vocal) Madhava Gudi (Vocal) Madhava Rao Nayak (?) Mallikarjun Mansur (Vocal)	Nachiketa Sharma (Vocal) Nagaraja Rao Havaldar (Vocal) Omkarnath Havaldar (Vocal) Panchakshari Gawai (Vocal) Panchakshari Swami Mattigatti (Vocal) Parameshwara Hegde(Vocal) Pravin D. Rao (Tabla, Keyboards) Pravin Godkhindi (Bansuri) Puttaraja Gawai (Vocal) Raghunath Nakod (Tabla) Rajabhau Sontakke (Vocal) Rajashekhara Mansur (Vocal) Rajeev Taranath (Sarod) Rajendra Kulkarni (Bansuri) Rajendra Nakod (Tabla) Ravindra Yavagal (Tabla) Sanjeev Chimmalgi (Vocal) Sangameshwara Gurav(Vocal) Sawai Gandharva (Vocal) Shantaram Hegde (Vocal)	Sheikh Hannumiya (Vocal) Taranath Ram Rao Hattiangadi (Tabla) Venkatesh Godkhindi (Bansuri) Vinayak Torvi (Vocal) Vishwanath Nakod (Tabla) Vyasamurthy Katti (Harmonium)

Modern musicians

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• Bapu Padmanabha, (Bamboo Flute)
• C. Ashwath
• G.V. Atri
• Ganesh Hegde
• Lucky Ali
• Mysore Ananthaswamy
• P. Kalinga Rao
• Pravin Godkhindi
• Pravin D. Rao, (Tabla, Keyboards)
• Shimoga Subanna

Fashion

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• Aishwarya Rai
• Deepika Padukone
• Dino Morea
• Lara Dutta
• Nafisa Joseph
• Prasad Bidapa
• Srinivas Rao Mahankali

Education

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• Dr. Chandrashekhara Damle, Secondary
• H. Narasimhayya, Freedom fighter, founder of National College Basavanagudi
• Dr. K.S. Mune Gowda, Political Science
• M. Srirama Reddy, Secondary
• Dr. Susheela R. Reddy, Sanskrit

Great Kings and Nobles

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Pulakesi II (Badami Chalukyas) Vikramaditya II (Badami Chalukyas) Vikramaditya VI (Western Chalukyas) Tailapa II (Western Chalukyas) Vishnuvardhana (Hoysala Empire) Veera Ballala II (Hoysala Empire) Veera Ballala III (Hoysala Empire) Amoghavarsha I (Rashtrakutas) Dhruva Dharavarsha (Rashtrakutas) Govinda III (Rashtrakutas)	Indra III (Rashtrakutas) Krishna III (Rashtrakutas) Mayuravarma (Kadambas) Durvinita(Western Ganga Dynasty) Chavundaraya (Western Ganga Dynasty) Rani Chennamma of Kittur Rani Chennamma of Keladi Sangolli Rayanna of Kittur Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (Wodeyar) Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (Wodeyar) Hyder Ali	Tippu Sultan Kempe Gowda Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar (Wodeyar) Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (Wodeyar) Raaja Wodeyar (Wodeyar) Bijjala II (Southern Kalachuri dynasty) Harihara I and Bukka Raya I(Vijayanagar) Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya (Vijayanagar) Krishnadevaraya (Vijayanagar) Aliya Rama Raya (Vijayanagar)	Mahmud Gawan (Bahmani - Barid Shahis of Bidar) Ibrahim Adil Shah II (Bahmani - Adil Shahis of Bijapur)

Industrialists

Azim Premji, Wipro Technologies, Ltd. R.K. Baliga, Electronics City, Bangalore. Dr.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon India Ltd. Mark Mascarenhas, WorldTel. Malavalli Kumar, Storage Area Network. Phaneesh Murthy, iGATE Global Solutions, Ltd. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Vijay Mallya, UB Breweries, Kingfisher Beer. Gururaj Deshpande, Tejas Networks, Sycamore Networks.

Prafulla Chandra, Malnad Agriculturist. Sidharth Hegde, Cafe Coffee Day. Vijay Sankeshwar, Vijayanand Group. R.N. Shetty, Murdeshwar Group. B.R. Shetty, NMC Group. M.S. Deve Gowda, Coffee Planter. Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Air Deccan. Chandrashekar, BPL. back to top

Science and Technology

SCIENCE

• Dr. C.N.R. Rao, Physics
• C.R. Rao, Statistics
• Dr. M.C. Modi, Opthalmology
• [Dr. Raja Ramanna], Physics
• U.R.Rao, Space Science

MATHEMATICS

• Bhaskaracharya
• Mahaviracharya
• Leelavati
• Shakuntala Devi

TECHNOLOGY

• Arun Netravali, Bell Lab
• Sir M. Visveswaraya

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Health care

• Dr. M. Ramakrishna Reddy, Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Population Scientist
• Dr. Rahul Shetty, Cardiac Surgeon.
• Dr. Mune Gowda, Vascular Surgery, Plastic Surgeon.
• Dr. Javali, Cardiac Surgeon.
• Dr. Devi Shetty, Cardiac Surgeon.
• Dr. Manjunath, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology.

Literature

Classical literateurs

Ranna Janna Adikavi Pampa Sri Ponna Shivakotiacharya Muddana Andayya Gangadevi Kumaravyasa Harihara	Raghavaanka Rudrabhatta Basavanna Akka Mahadevi Sarvajna Tirumalamba Purandaradasa Kanakadasa Shishunaala Sharif Saheba

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Modern literateurs

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A.N. Krishna Rao (Anakru) Anupama Niranjana Adya Rangacharya (Sriranga) Arya Samsa B.G.L. Swamy B.M. Srikanthaiah (B.M. Sri) B.T. Desai Beechi Chandrashekhara Kambara D.R. Bendre (Da Ra Bendre) D.V. Gundappa (DVG) G.B.Joshi (Jadabharata) G.P. Rajarathnam Girish Karnad	Gopalakrishna Adiga Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Ha Ma Nayak K.S. Narasimhaswamy K.V. Tirumalesh K. Anantharamu Kota Shivarama Karanth Kuvempu Lavanya Sankaran M. Govinda Pai M.V. Seetaramiah Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar Mena Ramakrishna Bhat Nisaar Ahmed	P. Lankesh Panchakshari Hiremath Panje Mangesh Rao Poornachandra Tejaswi Pu.Thi.Narasimhachar R.K. Narayan Raja Rao S.L. Bhairappa S.V.Parameshwara Bhatt T.P. Kailasam Tha Ra Subbarao Thee Nam Shree U. R. Ananthamurthy V. K. Gokak

Politics & Bureaucrats

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K.C. Reddy, Former Chief Minister Kadidal Manjappa, Former Chief Minister S. Shivappa, Former Oppostion Leader Devaraj Urs, Former Chief Minister Basappa Danappa Jatti, Former Vice-President B.Vaikunta Vaikunta Baliga, Former Law Minister, & Former Speaker, Mysore State M Krishnappa, Former M.L.C. George Fernandes, Former Defense Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Former Prime Minister Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Former Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, Former Chief Minister J.H.Patel, Former Chief Minister Gundu Rao, Former Chief Minister S Nijalingappa, Former Chief Minister Veerendra Patil, Former Chief Minister S.R.Bommai, Former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, Governor of Maharashtra & Former Chief Minister

Dharma Singh, Former Chief Minister Byre Gowda, Former Cabinet Minister B.N. Bacche Gowda, Former Cabinet Minister Siddaramaiah, Former Deputy Chief Minister Veerappa Moily, Former Chief Minister S.Bangarappa, Former Chief Minister H.N.Ananth Kumar, Former Union Minister & Former M.P. H.D.Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa, Deputy Chief Minister K.N. Nage Gowda, Former Cabinet Minister Qamar ul Islam, Former Housing & Labour Minister H.Vishwanath, Former Minister Dr.K.Sreenivasan, IPS, Former D.G. & I.G.P. B.G.Garudhachar, IPS, Former D.G. & I.G.P. Dr Yellapa Reddy, IFS, Former Secretary, Environment and Forest Jayalalitha, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu back to top

Religion and philosophy

• Madhvacharya
• Vidyaranya - 12th Shankaracharya of Sringeri, spiritual guide to Vijayanagar Empire.
• Raghavendra Swami
• Basaveswara
• Akka Mahadevi
• Jayatirtha
• Sripadaraya
• Vyasatirtha
• Vadirajatirtha

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Yoga

• BKS Iyengar
• Pattabhi Jois

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Wildlife and Environment

• Ullas Karanth, Tiger conservation expert
• Vandana Shiva
• Hanumappa Sudarshan

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Historians, Epigraphists and Archaeologists

• Dr.P.Gururaja Bhat
• Dr. Krisnanand L. Kamat
• Dr. Jyotsna Kamat, (Karnataka Literary Academy Award, 1988)
• Dr. P.B. Desai
• Dr. B.A. Saletore
• Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat (Sahitya academy award, 1973)

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Social Service

• Sree Sree Shivakumara Swamiji
• Chaya Srivatsa
• K.R. Rama Moorthy
• Sudha Murthy

Sports

Cricket

E.A.S. Prasanna Gundappa Vishwanath Javagal Srinath Rahul Dravid (Padma Shri) Anil Kumble (Padma Shri) Roger Binny Syed Kirmani Brijesh Patel Venkatesh Prasad	Bhagwat Chandrasekhar Sunil Joshi Raghuram Bhat Vijay Bhardwaj David Johnson Doddanarasaiah Ganesh M. Chinnaswamy, cricket administrator Robin Uthappa Sadanand Viswanath Sujith Somasundar back to top

Hockey

• B.P. Govinda (former captain, Arjun award)
• M.P. Ganesh (former captain, Arjun Award)
• Ashish Ballal
• Arjun Halappa
• M M Somaiya (former captain)
• Len Aiyappa
• Sandeep Michael

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Other

• Ashwini Nachappa, (Athletics)
• Chetan Baboor, Table Tennis
• Indira Iengar, Table Tennis
• Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis
• Nisha Millet, (Swimming)
• Prakash Padukone, Badminton
• Pankaj Advani, Billiards
• Vimal Kumar, Badminton
• Rohan Bopanna, Tennis
• Hakimuddhin, Swimming

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War and peace

• Gen. Gurunath.G.Bewoor, Chief of Staff, Indian Army
• Field Marshall K.M. Cariappa, Commander-in-Chief, Indian Armed Forces
• Gen. K.S. Thimayya, Chief of Staff, Indian Army
• Kempaiah, Police
• Sangliyana, (?)

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Crossword

• A.N.Prahlada Rao, Crossword writer, created 18,000 crosswords

M.L.Chandrashekar.IPS(R)Former chairman Karnataka public service commission.

Krishi samrat Dr.Devangi Prafulla Chandra.First Asian to get F A O award for sugarcane production and many other innovations.

Dr.H.Sharatchandra.Former Director CCMB,Hyderabad.

See also

• Lists of Indians by state
• List of people from Bangalore

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G.R.Mavinkurve.IFS(R).Great visionary in Forestry and wild life,a saint and a statesman.

A.N.Y.Reddy.IFS(R).Forester of repute and environmentalist

J.C.Lynn.IAS (R).Former Chief Secretary to Govt. of Karnataka,Statesman.

A.C.Lakshmana IFS(R).Forester of great reputation and a bamboo and rattan cane specialist.

H.G.Govinde Gowda.Former Minister of Education to Govt. of Karnataka.A rare Gandhian in politics.

Dr.M.H.MariGowda.Former Director of Horticulture, a man who worked with missionary zeal.