List of people from Karnataka: Information from Answers.com

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This is a list of famous and notable people from Karnataka, India. 'Criteria of Name' Inclusion: Names of people whose work has been appreciated by the public has been included in the list, not considering the critical views of some people.

Arts and entertainment

Cinema


Aishwarya Rai Ambareesh Ananth Nag Anushka Sharma Anushka Shetty Amrita Rao Arjun Sarja Arthi Atul Kulkarni B. Saroja Devi B. R. Pantalu B. S. Ranga B. V. Karanth Bala Balakrishna Bharathi Bhavana Chandulal Jain Comedy Time Ganesh Deepika Padukone Dinesh Dwarakesh Feroz Khan	Ganesh Hegde G. V. Iyer Geetha Girish Karnad Girish Kasaravalli Guru Dutt Isha Koppikar Jaggesh Kalpana Kalyan Kumar Kashinath Lakshmi Rai Leelavathi Lokesh M. R. Vittal M. S. Sathyu Manjula Master Manjunath Nagathihalli Chandrashekar Narasimha Raju Pandari Bai Pattabhirama Reddy Pradeep Uppoor	Prakash Rai Prema Puneeth Rajkumar Puttana Kanagal Raghavendra Rajkumar Rajanikanth Rajesh Rajkumar Rakshita Ramesh Arvind Ramya Ravichandran Rockline Venkatesh Rohit Shetty Roopa Iyer Sadashiv Salian Sakshi Shivanand Sandeep Chowta Sanjay Khan Shamitha Shetty Shankar Nag Shashi Kumar Shilpa Shetty	Shivarajkumar Siddalingiah Sneha Ullal Snehalatha Reddy Soundarya Srinath Sudha Rani Suman Nagarkar Suman Ranganath Sunil Kumar Desai Suniel Shetty T. S. Nagabharana Tara Thugudeep Srinivas Tiger Prabhakar Uday Kumar Uma Shivakumar Upendra Vajramuni Vaishali Desai Vasundhara Das Vishnuvardhan Vishwanath Ayengar

Theatre


A. S. Murthy Arundhati Nag Ashok Mandanna 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. Subbanna Kalpana Lokesh Makeup Nani	Master Hirannayya Mukhyamantri Chandru Nagaratnamma Prasanna Preetham Venky R. J. Anjaan Setumadhavarao Manvi Shankar Nag Shivananda	Sihikahi Chandru Subbayya Naidu Subhadramma Mansoor Sudhir Umashree Vajramuni Vasanth Kavali Vishaya Jevur Yashwant Sardeshpande

Ancient Architecture & Sculpture

Modern Art - Painting, Sculpture, Puppetry, New Media Art & Art Criticism


B.K.S. Varma B.V. Rama Murthy Biju Jose C.P.B. Prasad[1] Anil Kumar H.A[2] Dattatreya Aralikatte Kogga Kamath K.K. Hebbar K.K. Raghava	K. Venkatappa M.S. Umesh R.K. Laxman R.M. Hadpad Ramya Nagraj Surekha Sheela Gowda Yusuf Arakkal S. G. Vasudev

Music

Classical Music - Karnataka


Bidara Krishnappa Gopala Dasa Harikesanallur Muthayya Bhagavathar Jagannatha Dasa Kadri Gopalnath Kamalesha Vittala Kanakadasa Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Mysore Manjunath Mysore Nagaraj Mysore Sadasiva Rao Mysore V. Ramarathnam Mysore Vasudevacharya N. Ravikiran	Purandaradasa R.K. Padmanabha R. K. Srikanthan R.R. Keshavamurthy S. Seshagiri Rao Sripadaraya Suchetan Rangaswamy T. Chowdiah Vadiraja Vijaya Dasa Vyasatirtha Doraiswamy Iyengar Veene Sheshanna Veene Subbanna	Vittal Ramamurthy Flute V Deshikachar Smt Kshama Govind Rau Ghatam Udupa M. S. Sheela Mysore Nagamani Srinath B. Shankar Rao M.R.Doraswamy M.S.Srinivasa Murthy

Classical Music - Hindustani


Abdulla Khaja (Bansuri) anupamaa gudi mangalvede (vocal) Arjunsa Nakod (Vocal) Ashok Huggannanavar (Vocal) Bale Khan (Sitar) Bapu Padmanabha(Bansuri) Basavaraja Rajaguru (Vocal) Bhimsen Joshi (Vocal) Shripati Padigar (Vocal) Dhananjaya Hegde (Vocal) Dattatreya Velankar, (Vocal) Fayyaz Khan (Sarangi) Ganapati Bhat (Vocal) Gangubai Hangal (Vocal) Gururao Deshpande (Vocal) gayatri gudi (vocal) Hanumanna Nayak Dore (Vocal) I.N. Kalaburgi (Vocal) Jayateerth Mevundi (Vocal) Kaivalya Kumar Gurav (Vocal) Keerti Kumar Badseshi (Vocal) Krishna Hangal (Vocal) Kumar Gandharva (Vocal) Lalith J. Rao (Vocal)	Madhava Gudi (Vocal) Govind Rotti (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) prasanna gudi (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)	Ramesh H Kulkarni(Hindustani Vocal) Ravindra Katoti (Harmonium) Ravindra Yavagal (Tabla) Sanjeev Chimmalgi (Vocal) Sangameshwara Gurav(Vocal) Sangeetha Katti(Vocal) Sawai Gandharva (Vocal) Shantaram Hegde (Vocal) Shyamala G Bhave Sheikh Hannumiya (Vocal) Sheshagiri Hanagal (Tabla) Smita Bellur (Vocal) Srinivas Kulkarni(Tabla & Drums) Taranath Ram Rao Hattiangadi (Tabla) Venkatesh Godkhindi (Bansuri) Vinayak Torvi (Vocal) Vishwanath Nakod (Tabla) Vyasamurthy Katti (Harmonium) Udayraj Karpoor (Tabla)

Modern musicians

Bapu Padmanabha, Bamboo Flute.
C. Ashwath, Sugama Sangeetha.
Balappa Hukkeri, Folklore.
G.V. Atri, Bhavageete.
Ganesh Hegde, Choreography.
Lucky Ali, Vocal.
Mysore Ananthaswamy, Bhavageete.
P. Kalinga Rao, Bhavageete.
Pravin D. Rao, Tabla and Keyboard.
Pravin Godkhindi, Flute.
Shimoga Subbanna, Sugama Sangeetha.

Film Music

Fashion

Great Kings and Nobles


Aliya Rama Raya Abbakka Rani Amoghavarsha I Basaveshwara Bijjala II Bukka Raya I Chand Bibi Deva Raya II Dhruva Dharavarsha Durvinita Govinda III Haidar Ali	Harihara I Ibrahim Adil Shah II Indra III Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Kempe Gowda Krishna III Krishnadeva Raya Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV Madakari Nayaka Mayuravarma Pulakesi II	Rani Chennamma of Keladi Rani Chennamma of Kittur Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya Sangolli Rayanna of Kittur Tailapa II Tippu Sultan Veera Ballala II Veera Ballala III Vikramaditya II Vikramaditya VI Vishnuvardhana

Industrialists


A. B. Shetty, Founder, Vijaya Bank. Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, Founder, Canara Bank. Azim Premji, Wipro Technologies, Ltd. B. R. Shetty, NMC Group. Gururaj Deshpande, Tejas Networks, Sycamore Networks. K. V. Kamath, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon India Ltd. Mark Mascarenhas, WorldTel. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Phaneesh Murthy, iGATE Global Solutions, Ltd. R. N. Shetty, Murdeshwar Group. T. M. A. Pai, Co-founder, Syndicate Bank. Upendra Ananth Pai, Co-founder, Syndicate Bank. V. G. Siddhartha, Cafe Coffee Day. Vaman Srinivas Kudva, Co-founder, Syndicate Bank. Vijay Mallya, UB Breweries, Kingfisher Beer. Vijay Sankeshwar, Vijayanand Group. back to top

Health Care

Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Cardiovascular Surgeon.
Dr. M. C. Modi, Eye Surgeon.
Dr. R. M. Varma, Neuro Surgeon.
Dr. S. S. Ramesh, Interventional Cardiologist.
Dr. Sharan Patil, Orthopaedic Surgeon.
Dr. Y. G. Parameshwara
Dr. C. R. Chandrashekar, Psychiatrist
Dr. K. A. Ashok Pai, Psychiatrist
Dr. Prahlada N.B, ENT, Head-Neck & Skull Base Surgeon.

Science and Technology

Science

C. N. R. Rao, Chemistry.
C. R. Rao, Statistics.
M. C. Modi, Ophthalmology.
Narayan Hosmane, Biochemistry, Cancer Research.
Raja Ramanna, Physics.
Roddam Narasimha, Aerospace, Atmospheric Sciences.
U. R. Rao, Space Science.
B. N. Suresh
S. K. Shivkumar
K. N. Shankara

Mathematics

Technology

Arun Netravali, Bell Lab.
B.V. Jagadeesh, Co-founder, Exodus Communications.
Kumar Malavalli, Co-founder, Brocade Communication Systems.
Mallikarjuna Bennur, General Motors.
Sir M. Visvesvaraya.

Literature

Classical literateurs


Nripatunga Amoghavarsha Ranna Janna Adikavi Pampa Sri Ponna Shivakotiacharya Muddana Andayya Gangadevi Kumaravyasa Harihara	Raghavanka Rudrabhatta Basavanna Akka Mahadevi Sarvajna Tirumalamba Purandaradasa Kanakadasa Shishunaala Sharif Saheba Trivikrama Panditacharya Narayana Panditacharya

Modern literateurs


A.N. Krishna Rao Anupama Niranjana Adya Rangacharya Arya B. G. L. Swamy B. M. Srikantaiah B. T. Desai Beechi Chandrashekhara Kambara Da. Ra. Bendre D. V. Gundappa G. B. Joshi (Jadabharata) G. P. Rajarathnam Girish Karnad Gopalakrishna Adiga	Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar P.M. Giriraju Ha Ma Nayak K. S. Narasimhaswamy K. S. Nissar Ahmed K. V. Tirumalesh K. Anantharamu Kota Shivarama Karanth Kuvempu Lavanya Sankaran M. Govinda Pai M. V. Seetaramiah Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar Mena Ramakrishna Bhat P. Lankesh Panchakshari Hiremath	Panje Mangesh Rao Poornachandra Tejaswi P. T. Narasimhachar R. K. Narayan Raja Rao S. L. Bhyrappa S. V. Parameshwara Bhatt Samsa Shashi Deshpande T. P. Kailasam T. R. Subba Rao T. N. Srikantaiah U. R. Ananthamurthy V. K. Gokak H. S. Venkatesha Murthy H. R. Chandrasekhar

Politicians

K.C. Reddy, Former Chief Minister
Kadidal Manjappa, Former Chief Minister
Gudlappa D Hallikeri, Freedom Fighter & Former Chairman of the Legislative Council of Karnataka.
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
Rao Bahadur S.N. Angadi, Former M.L.A, Deputy Speaker of Bombay Assembly, DLB Chairman - Freedom Fighter
M.N. Jois, Former M.L.C, Deputy Speaker of Legislative Council - Mysore State, Eminent Freedom Fighter
Veerendra Patil, Former Chief Minister
S.R.Bommai, Former Chief Minister
S.M. Krishna, Governor of Maharashtra & Former Chief Minister

Dharam 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 & M.P.
H.D.Kumaraswamy, Former Chief Minister
B.S.Yediyurappa, Chief Minister
K.H. Muniyappa, Union minister of state for Railways
Mallikarjun Kharge, Former State Minister (various portfolios), Current Union Labour Minister in the Manmohan Singh Government
K.N. Nage Gowda, Former Cabinet Minister
Qamar ul Islam, Former Housing & Labour Minister
H.Vishwanath, Former Minister
Jayalalitha, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
V.S.Acharya, Minister for Medical Education of Karnataka
Shamanur Shivashankarappa, Davangere MLA and senior Congress leader
M. A. M. Ramaswamy, Rajya Sabha MP and Industrialist
S. K. Amin, Ex-vice president of the South Kanara District Congress Committee and MLA
Veershetty Kushnoor,Former M.L.A.,Cabinet Minister,Member of Parliament

Cooperative movement

S. K. Amin Founder of South Kanara District Co-Operative Fish Marketing Federation
Veershetty Kushnoor,Former Chairman of All India Cooperative banks federation,Former Chairman of Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank limited,Bangalore,Former Minister of Cooperatives,Government of Karnataka,Former Member of Parliament.
B.S.Vishwanathan,Chairman of National Cooperative Union of India,Chairman of Karnataka state land development Bank limited,Former M.L.C.
M.P.Machaiah (late), Retired as Deputy Secretary, Kodagu District Cooperative Central Bank. Played a crucial role in strengthening the Cooperative movement in Coorg district. An upright officer widely respected by farmers.

Religion and philosophy

Sarvajna
Sree Sree Shivakumara Swamiji - Karnataka Ratna, highest civilian awarded by the state
Kanaka Dasa - The great saint.
Basavanna - Founder of Veerashaivism, social reformer
Purandara Dasa - The great saint.
Vidyaranya - 12th Shankaracharya of Sringeri, spiritual guide to Vijayanagar Empire.
Allama Prabhu
Madhvacharya
Ramanujacharya - Offered asylum in Karnataka
Mangesh V. Nadkarni
Raghavendra Swami
Akka Mahadevi
Jayatirtha
Sripadaraya
Vyasatirtha
Vadirajatirtha
Naraharitirtha
Padmanabha Tirtha

Yoga

B.K.S. Iyengar
Geeta Iyengar
Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji
Pattabhi Jois
Prashant Iyengar
R. Sharath
Saraswathi Rangaswamy
Srivatsa Ramaswami
T.K. Sribhashyam
T.K.V. Desikachar
Akshata Hallikeri
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya
Jaggi Vasudev

Wildlife and Environment

Historians, Art Historians, Epigraphists and Archaeologists

Dr. B.A. Saletore
Dr. Jyotsna Kamat
Dr. Krisnanand L. Kamat
Dr. P.B. Desai
P. Gururaja Bhat
Dr. R.H. Kulkarni
Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat
G. S. Gai
Anil Kumar H.A[3]
A. N. Narasimhia
B. L. Rice
R. Shama Shastri

Social Service

Sri Shivamurthy Murugharajendra Sharanaru
Sri Sri Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji
Dr. Deenabandhu Gudlappa Hallikeri., MBBS MS., Hubli
Chaya Srivatsa
K.R. Rama Moorthy
Sree Sree Shivakumara Swamiji
S. K. Amin
Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji
Sudha Murthy
Veerendra Heggade

Sports

Cricket

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
V.R.Raghunath

Other

J. J. Shobha, Athletics
Vandana Rao, Athletics
Ashwini Nachappa, Athletics
Chetan Baboor, Table Tennis
Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis
Nisha Millet, Swimming
Pankaj Advani, Billiards
Prakash Padukone, Badminton
Rohan Bopanna, Tennis
Vandana Shanbagh,athlete, Olympion, Arjuna awardee
Anup Sridhar, Badminton
Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla

Military

Field Marshall K.M. Cariappa, Commander-in-Chief, Indian Armed Forces
Gen. Gurunath.G.Bewoor, Chief of Staff, Indian Army
Gen. K.S. Thimayya, Chief of Staff, Indian Army

Judiciary

Justice N. S. Lokur, Retired Chief Justice, The Bombay High Court

Others

Mysore Nagaraja, The President of New York Metropolitan Transport Authority's Capital Construction
A.N.Prahlada Rao, Crossword writer, created 18,000 crosswords

List of people from Karnataka

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