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
- Dr. Rajkumar
- Girish Karnad
- Puttana Kanagal
- Girish Kasaravalli
- G.V. Iyer
- Shankar Nag
- Ananth Nag
- M. S. Sathyu
- Vishnu Vardhan
- Ambareesh
- Narasimha Raju
- Balakrishna
- Aishwarya Rai
- Vasundhara Das
- Sunil Kumar Desai
- Guru Dutt Padukone a.k.a * Guru Dutt
- Feroz Khan
- Sanjay Khan
Tala Maddale
Theatre
Artists, Yakshagana
- Shivaram Hegde, Keremane
- Gajanan Hegde, Keremane
- Shambu Hegde, Keremane
- Ramachandra Hegde, Chittani
- Ramachandra Hegde, Kondadakuli
- Krishna Yaji, Balkur
- Ganapathi Bhat, Kannimane
- Sundarao, Kumble
Artists
Music
Classical musicians
KARNATIC CLASSICAL MUSIC
- Sripada Raja
- Vyasathirtha
- Vadiraja
- Purandara Dasa
- Kanaka Dasa
- Raghavendra Swami
- Mysore Vasudevacharya
- Hirekasanallur Muthayya Bhagavathar
- Bidaram Krishnappa
- H.H. Jayachamaraja Wodeyar
- Mysore Sadashiva Rao
- Mysore Doreswamy Iyengar (Veena)
- T. Chowdiah (Violin)
- Sheshanna (Veene Sheshanna)
- Subbanna (Veene Subanna)
- Kadri Gopalnath (Sax)
- R. R. Keshavamurthy (Violin)
HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC:
- Pt Bhimsen Joshi
- Pt Madhava Rao Nayak
- Pt Mallikarjun Mansur
- Basavaraj Rajguru
- Gangubai Hangal
- Rajeev Taranath
- Pt Ganapati Bhat, Hasanagi
- Pt Parameshwara Hegde
- Kumar Gandharva
- Sawai Gandharva
Modern musicians
Fashion
- Prasad Bidapa
- Nafisa Joseph, former Miss. India and VJ
- Lara Dutta, former Miss World
- Dino Morea
Industrialists
- Azim Premji, founder, Wipro Technologies, Ltd.
- Kiran Majumdar-Shaw CMD, Biocon India Ltd
- Mark Mascrenhas, founder WorldTel
- N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies, Ltd.
- Vijay Mallya, business magnate, founder of UB Breweries and Kingfisher beer.
Literature
Classical litterateurs
- Ranna
- Janna
- Pampa
- Ponna
- Muddana
- Andayya
- Kumaravyasa
- Harihara
- Raghavaanka
- Basavanna
- Akka Mahadevi
- Sarvajna
- Purandara daasa
- Kanakadaasa
- Shishunaala Sharif Saheba
Modern literateurs
- Anupama Niranjana
- B M Srikanthaiah (B M Sri)
- B.G.L.Swamy
- D V Gundappa (DVG)
- D. R. Bendre (Da Ra Bendre)
- Dr. A. N. Krishna Rao (Anakru)
- Dr. Chandrashekara Kambara
- G P Rajarathnam
- G.B.Joshi (JadaBharata)
- Girish Karnad
- Gopalakrishna Adiga
- Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar
- Ha Ma Nayak
- Dr. K. S. Narasimhaswamy
- Kota Shivarama Karanth
- Kuvempu
- M Govinda Pai
- M.V.Seetaramiah
- Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar
- Nisaar Ahmed
- P Lankesh
- Dr.Panchakshari Hiremath
- Panje Mangesh Rao
- Poornachandra Tejaswi
- Pu.Thi.Narasimhachar
- S.L Bhairappa
- S.V.Parameshwara Bhatt
- SriRanga (AadyaRangacharya)
- T. P. Kailasam
- Tha. Ra. Subbarao
- Thee. Nam. Shree
- U. R. Ananthamurthy
- V. K. Gokak
Maharajas and kings
- Pulakeshi II (Chalukya dynasty)
- Vishnuvardhana (Hoysala dynasty)
- Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I (Rashtrakoota dynasty)
- Mayura Varma (Kadamba dynasty)
- Krishnadevaraya (Vijayanagar dynasty)
- Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV
- Jayachamaraja Wodeyar - Last Maharaja of Mysore
- Tipu Sultan - The Tiger of Mysore
- Kempe Gowda
- Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar
- Raaja Wodeyar
Science and Technology
SCIENCE
- Mr. SHIVA KUMAR (RAIN HARVESTING)
- Dr.Sreekanteswara Swamy (GIS EXPERT)
- Dr.Sukumaran ( Environmentalist)
- ER. SriLakshmi( Environmental Engineering)
Dr.Chanakya( Renewable Energy)
- Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (until his death, in Bangalore)
- Shakuntala Devi, Mathematician
- Dr. Raja Ramanna
- C.R. Rao, National Medal of Science winning statistician
- Dr. C.N.R Rao (Physicist)
- Dr. M.C. Modi (eye-specialist and social worker)
TECHNOLOGY
- Sir M. Visveswarayya, Engineer
- Prof. U.R. Rao (Space Engineer)
Politics
- B.D. Jatti, former Vice-President of India
- George Fernandes, former Defense Minister of India
- H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister of India
- K.H. Hanumanthaiah
- Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya
- Kengal Hanumanthaiah, former Chief Minister
- Ramakrishna Hegde, former Chief Minister
- S Nijalingappa, former Chief Minister
- Veerendra Patil, former Chief Minister
- S.M. Krishna, former Chief Minister and visionary
- Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka
- Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister of Karnataka
- S.Bangarappa, former Chief Minister of Karnataka
- H.N. Ananth Kumar, former Central Minister.
Religion and philosophy
- Madhvacharya
- Guru Raghavendra Swamy
- Basaveswara
- Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Sport
Cricket
- E.A.S. Prasanna
- Gundappa Vishwanath
- Javagal Srinath
- Rahul Dravid
- Anil Kumble
- Roger Binny
- Syed Kirmani
- Venkatesh Prasad
- Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
- Sunil Joshi
- Raghuram Bhat
- Vijay Bhardwaj
- David Johnson
- Doddanarasaiah Ganesh
- M. Chinnaswamy, cricket administrator
Other
- Prakash Padukone, former Badminton World no. 1
- Mahesh Bhupati, former Wimbledon doubles champion
- Ashwini Nachappa
- Pankaj Advani
- Nisha Millet
- Chetan Baboor, Former All India Table Tennis Champion.
War and peace
- Field Marshall Cariappa Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army 1949-1953
- Gen. Thimmaiah