1.
Chikmagalur district
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Chikkamagaluru is a district in the state of Karnataka. Coffee was first cultivated in India in Chikkamagaluru, the mountains in Chikkamagaluru which are a part of the Western Ghats are the source of rivers like Tunga and Bhadra. Mullayanagiri, which is the highest peak in Karnataka is located in the district and it is also a tourists paradise containing hill stations like Kemmanagundi and Kudremukh and waterfalls like Manikyadhara, Hebbe, Kallathigiri. Chikkamagaluru district has a history as is seen in the Hoysala temple at Amrithapura. Wildlife enthusiasts would be interested in the Kudremukh National Park and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary present in this district, Chikkamagaluru district gets its name from its headquarters of Chikkamagaluru town. It is alternatively spelt as Chickmagalur or Chikmagalur, Chikkamagaluru literally means The town of the younger daughter in the Kannada language. The town is said to have given as a dowry to the younger daughter of Rukmangada. As one can guess, there is indeed a town called Hiremagaluru which means The town of the elder daughter which is about 5 km from Chikkamagaluru town, Chikkamagaluru is the region where the Hoysala rulers started and spent the early days of their dynasty. According to a legend, it was at Sosevur, now identified with Angadi in Mudigere Taluk that Sala and it is known that Veera Ballala II, the great king of Hoysala empire, has built the Amriteshwara temple at Amrithapura in Tarikere Taluk. Coffee was introduced into India through the Chikkamagaluru district when the first coffee crop was grown in the Baba Budan Giri Hills during 1670 AD. According to the article Origins of Coffee, the saint Baba Budan on his pilgrimage to Mecca travelled through the seaport of Mocha, to introduce its taste to India, he wrapped seven coffee beans around his belly and got them out of Arabia. On his return home, he planted the beans in the hills of Chikkamagaluru, Chikkamagaluru, the headquarters of Chikkamagaluru district, is 251 km from the state capital of Bengaluru, and is surrounded by the Chandra Drona hills and dense forests. The district is between 12° 54´ 42´´ and 13° 53´ 53´´ North latitude and between 75° 04´ 46´´ and 76° 21´ 50´´ east longitude and its greatest length from east to west is about 138.4 kilometers and from north to south 88.5 kilometers. The district receives normal average rainfall of 1925 mm, the highest point in the district is Mullayanagiri,1926 mts. above sea level which is also the highest point in the state of Karnataka. 30% of the district is covered with forests, the district borders Shimoga to the north, Davanagere to the north-east, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts to the east, Hassan to the south, Dakshina Kannada to the south-west and Udupi to the west. The rivers Bhadra, Tunga, Hemavathi, Netravati, and Vedavathi flow all year round, the district is rich in iron, magnetite and granite deposits. Black soil is found around Baba Budan Giri Hills whereas Red, according to the 2011 census Chikkamagaluru district has a population of 1,137,753, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 408th in India, the district has a population density of 158 inhabitants per square kilometre
2.
Kingdom of Mysore
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The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom in southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a state of the Vijayanagara Empire. With the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, the kingdom became independent, the kingdom reached the height of its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century under the de facto ruler Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. During this time, it came into conflict with the Marathas, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Kingdom of Travancore, success in the first two Anglo-Mysore wars was followed by defeat in the third and fourth. Following Tipus death in the war of 1799, large parts of his kingdom were annexed by the British. The British restored the Wodeyars to their throne by way of a subsidiary alliance, the Wodeyars continued to rule the state until Indian independence in 1947, when Mysore acceded to the Union of India. Even as a state, Mysore came to be counted among the more developed and urbanized regions of India. This period also saw Mysore emerge as one of the important centers of art, the Mysore kings were not only accomplished exponents of the fine arts and men of letters, they were enthusiastic patrons as well, and their legacies continue to influence music and art even today. According to traditional accounts, the kingdom originated as a state based in the modern city of Mysore and was founded by two brothers, Yaduraya and Krishnaraya. Their origins are mired in legend and are still a matter of debate, while some historians posit a northern origin at Dwaraka, Yaduraya is said to have married Chikkadevarasi, the local princess and assumed the feudal title Wodeyar, which the ensuing dynasty retained. The kings who followed ruled as vassals of the Vijayanagara empire until the decline of the latter in 1565, by this time, the kingdom had expanded to thirty-three villages protected by a force of 300 soldiers. Raja Wodeyar Is reign also saw expansion with the annexation of Channapatna to the north from Jaggadeva Raya – a development which made Mysore a regional political factor to reckon with. This was in marked contrast to the chiefs of Tamil country who continued to pay off Chandragiri well into the 1630s. The invasion of the Keladi Nayakas of Malnad was also dealt with successfully and this period was followed by one of complex geo-political changes, when in the 1670s, the Marathas and the Mughals pressed into the Deccan. Chikka Devaraja, the most notable of Mysores early kings, who ruled during much of period, managed to not only survive the exigencies. He achieved this by forging alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals. The kingdom soon grew to include Salem and Bangalore to the east, Hassan to the west, Chikkamagaluru and Tumkur to the north, the conflict brought mixed results with Mysore annexing Periyapatna but suffering a reversal at Palupare. According to historians Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Sethu Madhava Rao, Mysore was now formally a tributary of the Mughal empire, mughul records claim a regular tribute was paid by Mysore
3.
Mysore
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Mysore, officially renamed as Mysuru, is the third most populous and the third largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. Located in the foothills of the Chamundi Hills about 146 km southwest of the state capital Bangalore, according to the provisional results of the 2011 national census of India, the population is 887,446. Mysore City Corporation is responsible for the administration of the city, which is also the headquarters of the Mysore district. Mysore served as the city of the Kingdom of Mysore for nearly six centuries. The Kingdom was ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty, with a period of interregnum in the 1860s and 70s when Hyder Ali. Patrons of art and culture, the Wodeyars contributed significantly to the growth of the city. The cultural ambiance and achievements of Mysore earned it the sobriquet Cultural Capital of Karnataka, tourism is the major industry alongside the traditional industries. Mysores inter-city public transportation solely includes rail and bus, flights, however, among many others to be first in, Mysore was the location of the first private radio station in India. Mysore University is headquartered in Mysore, which has produced several notable scientists, authors, politicians, actors, singers, cricket and lawn tennis are the most popular sports in the city. The name Mysore is a version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha in the vernacular Kannada. He was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills, mahishapura later became Mahisūru, and finally came to be anglicised as Mysore by the British and Maisūru/Mysuru in the vernacular Kannada language. In December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced its intention to change the English name of the city to Mysuru and this was approved by the Government of India in October 2014 and Mysore was renamed to Mysuru on November 1,2014. The site where Mysore Palace now stands was occupied by a village named Puragere at the beginning of the 16th century, the Mahishūru Fort was constructed in 1524 by Chamaraja Wodeyar III, who passed on the dominion of Puragere to his son Chamaraja Wodeyar IV. Since the 16th century, the name of Mahishūru has commonly used to denote the city. The Mysore Kingdom, governed by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a state of the Vijayanagara Empire. Seringapatam, near Mysore, was the capital of the kingdom from 1610, the kingdom reached the height of its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century under the de facto rulers Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. The latter demolished parts of Mysore to remove legacies of the Wodeyar dynasty, the landlocked interior of the previous Mysore Kingdom was turned into a princely state under the suzerainty of the British Crown. The former Wodeyar rulers were reinstated as puppet monarchs, now styled Maharajas, the British administration was assisted locally by Diwan Purnaiah
4.
Karnataka
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Karnataka is a state in south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is Bangalore, the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the seventh largest Indian state by area, with 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the languages of India, is the most widely spoken. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal, though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. Karu nadu may also be read as karu, meaning black, the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient, the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, Karnatakas pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed, allowing them to large areas of Karnataka. The decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas, the Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi, the Western Ganga Dynasty was formed with Talakad as its capital. These were also the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription, the Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of 11th century, the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it eventually came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region, literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, and the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh, in the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district. The empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, in 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota
5.
Kannada
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The language has roughly 40 million native speakers who are called Kannadigas, and a total of 50.8 million speakers according to a 2001 census. It is one of the languages of India and the official. The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script, Kannada is attested epigraphically for about one and a half millennia, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 6th-century Ganga dynasty and during the 9th-century Rashtrakuta Dynasty. Kannada has a literary history of over a thousand years. Based on the recommendations of the Committee of Linguistic Experts, appointed by the ministry of culture, in July 2011, a centre for the study of classical Kannada was established as part of the Central Institute of Indian Languages at Mysore to facilitate research related to the language. Kannada is a Southern Dravidian language, and according to Dravidian scholar Sanford B, steever, its history can be conventionally divided into three periods, Old Kannada from 450–1200 CE, Middle Kannada from 1200–1700, and Modern Kannada from 1700 to the present. Kannada is influenced to an extent by Sanskrit. Influences of other such as Prakrit and Pali can also be found in the Kannada language. Literary Prakrit seems to have prevailed in Karnataka since ancient times, the vernacular Prakrit-speaking people may have come into contact with Kannada speakers, thus influencing their language, even before Kannada was used for administrative or liturgical purposes. Kannada phonetics, morphology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax show significant influence from these languages, some examples of naturalised words of Prakrit origin in Kannada are, baṇṇa derived from vaṇṇa, hunnime from puṇṇivā. Examples of naturalized Sanskrit words in Kannada are, varṇa, arasu from rajan, paurṇimā, Kannada has numerous borrowed words such as dina, kopa, surya, mukha, nimiṣa and anna. Pre-old Kannada was the language of Banavasi in the early Common Era, the Ashoka rock edict found at Brahmagiri has been suggested to contain words in identifiable Kannada. According to Jain tradition, Brahmi, the daughter of Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, invented 18 alphabets, including Kannada, which points to the antiquity of the language. Supporting this tradition, an inscription of about the 9th century CE, containing specimens of different alphabets and it has been claimed that the Greek dramatists of the 5th–4th century BCE were familiar with the Kannada country and language. This would show a far more intimate contact of the Greeks with Kannada culture than with Indian culture elsewhere, the palm manuscripts contained texts written not only in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, but also in Sanskrit and Kannada. In the 150 CE Prakrit book Gaathaa Saptashati, written by Haala Raja, Kannada words like tIr, tuppa, on the Pallava Prakrit inscription of 250 CE of Hire Hadagalis Shivaskandavarman, the Kannada word kOTe transforms into koTTa. In the 350 CE Chandravalli Prakrit inscription, words of Kannada origin like punaaTa, in one more Prakrit inscription of 250 CE found in Malavalli, Kannada towns like vEgooraM, kundamuchchaMDi find a reference. Pliny the Elder was a naval and army commander in the early Roman Empire and he writes about pirates between Muziris and Nitrias
6.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
7.
Modern Kannada literature
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Modern Kannada literature refers to the body of literature written in the Kannada language, a language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. The Kannada script is the system used in Kannada literature. In the last forty years, eight modern Kannada authors have been awarded the Jnanpith award, in addition, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the second-highest award for literature granted by the Government of India, has been conferred upon Kannada writers fifty times. Kempu Narayanas Mudramanjusha can be considered the first modern novel, anterior to English influence on Kannada, though inspired by Vishakhadattas Sanskrit original Mudrarakshasa, the work displays a creativity of its own. The impetus to modern literature came from a Western-style education and the Christian missionaries who relied on the language to propagate the gospel. The arrival of the press was a catalyst to this process. Among the several early Kannada publications, the first Kannada-English dictionary by Ferdinand Kittel is noteworthy, B. L. Rice edited and published ancient Kannada classics and compiled a brief history of Kannada literature, while J. H. Fleet compiled a collection of ballads including the well-known Sangoli Rayana Dange. The most outstanding poet of this period, whose poems were reminiscent of the medieval mystic Kannada poetry, was Sisunala Sharief. In the latter half of the 19th century, progress towards original works in prose narratives initially gained momentum through translations from Sanskrit, English, Marathi, early dramatic literatures were translations from Sanskrit and English. With the standardization of modern prose, the earliest original social fictions were Suryakantha by Lakshman Gadagkar, with the theme being reform, the latter work critically examines social issues, reflecting an awakening. Original plays carrying the theme include, among others, the Iggappa Heggadeya Vivaha Prahasana by Suri Venkataramana Sastri. Nanadalike Lakshminarayana wrote two important prose pieces, Adbhuta Ramayana and Ramaswamedham, the transition from the age of verse to prose may be summed up with Muddannas proclamation poetry deserves killing whereas prose reaches the heart. With the turn of the 20th century, B. M and this period can be considered a seed time, for a golden age to come. His adaptation of lyrics from English were effective, the best known among his works being the English Geethagalu, a seminal work that set the trend for Navodaya Kannada poetry to come. Other notable poets who were able to evolve new metrics out of old ones were Masti Venkatesh Iyengar in his poem of love and tragedy, the consolidation of modern drama was pioneered by T. P. Kailasam, a towering personality in the field, with his Tollu Gatti. In contrast to the earlier Indira Bai, this work examines the education system from a Gandhian viewpoint. Kailasam followed this with Tali Kattoke Cooline, a story that criticizes the dowry system in marriage, kailasams plays were mainly concerned with problems effecting middle class Brahmin families, the dowry system, religious persecution, woes in the extended family system and exploitation of women
8.
National poet
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A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a symbol, to be distinguished from successive holders of a bureaucratically-appointed poet-laureate office. The idea and honoring of national poets emerged primarily during Romanticism, as a figure that helped consolidation of the nation states, most national poets are historic figures, though a few contemporary writers working in relatively new or revived national literatures are also considered national poets. Some nations may have more than one poet, the idea of a single one is always a simplification. The following is a list of nations, with their associated national poets and it is not a list of sovereign states or countries, though many of the nations listed may also be such. The terms nation, country and state are not synonyms, marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer, eds
9.
Ramayana
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The Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic poem which narrates the struggle of the divine prince Rama to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. Along with the Mahabharata, it forms the Sanskrit Itihasa, the Ramayana is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. It consists of nearly 24,000 verses, divided into seven Kandas, in Hindu tradition, it is considered to be the adi-kavya. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying characters like the ideal father, the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife. The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Hindu life, like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is not just a story, it presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages in narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and ethical elements. The name Ramayana is a compound of the name Rāma and ayana. According to Hindu tradition—and according to the Ramayana itself—the epic belongs to the genre of itihasa like Mahabharata, the definition of itihāsa is a narrative of past events which includes teachings on the goals of human life. According to Hindu tradition, Ramayana takes place during a period of known as Treta Yuga. In its extant form, Valmikis Ramayana is a poem of some 24,000 verses. The text survives in several thousand partial and complete manuscripts, the oldest of which is a manuscript found in Nepal. A Times of India report dated 18 December 2015 informs about discovery of a 6th-century manuscript of the Ramayana at the Asiatic Society library, the Ramayana text has several regional renderings, recensions and subrecensions. Goldman differentiates two major regional recensions, the northern and the southern, scholar Romesh Chunder Dutt writes that the Ramayana, like the Mahabharata, is a growth of centuries, but the main story is more distinctly the creation of one mind. There has been discussion as to whether the first and the last chapters of Valmikis Ramayana were composed by the original author. Most Hindus still believe they are parts of the book, in spite of some style differences. Some cultural evidence, such as the presence of sati in Mahabharata but not in the body of Ramayana. By tradition, the text belongs to the Treta Yuga, second of the four eons of Hindu chronology, Rama is said to have been born in the Treta yuga to king Dasharatha in the Ikshvaku dynasty. The names of the characters are all known in late Vedic literature, however, nowhere in the surviving Vedic poetry is there a story similar to the Ramayana of Valmiki. Also, in the epic Mahabharata, there is a version of Ramayana known as Ramopakhyana and this version is depicted as a narration to Yudhishthira
10.
Kuppalli
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Kuppali, also known as Kuppalli, is a small village in Thirthahalli taluk of Shimoga district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is famous for being the birthplace and childhood home of the renowned Kannada playwright, indeed, this pen-name Kuvempu pays homage to the authors home, created as it is from the first letters from his full name Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa. Kuppali is also the birthplace of Poornachandra Tejaswi, the son of Kuvempu and it is also the place where Kuvempu and Poornachandra Tejaswi have been cremated. The childhood home of Kuvempu at Kuppali has been converted into a museum by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishtana and this trust has undertaken immense developmental works in Kuppali to showcase Kuvempu and his works to the external world. Kuvempu was born in Hirekodige, Koppa taluk, of Chikmagalur district to a native Kannada family and he was brought up in Kuppali. His education started at his home by a teacher from Dakshina Kannada. He joined Anglo Vernacular school in Tirthahalli to continue his school education. He lost his father Venkatappa Gowda when he was only 12, Kuvempu finished his lower and secondary education in Kannada and English in Tirthahalli. He moved to Mysore for further education and completed his school from Weslian high school. He pursued his studies in Maharaja College of Mysore. Kavishaila is a monument made of megalithic rocks and dedicated to Kuvempu. It is on the top of a hill in Kuppali. Arranged in a fashion, the rocks have been placed to resemble the Stonehenge in England. At the centre of this monument is the place where Kuvempu was laid to rest after his death. Near this monument, is a rock where Kuvempu used to sit and discuss about literature. A rock containing the signatures of Kuvempu, B. M. Srikantaiah. Later engraved his signature on the same rock, the scenery around this place is breathtaking. Kavimane means House of the poet in the Kannada language, nestled in the midst of green forests of Malnad, the house presents a scintillating view
11.
Thirthahalli
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Thirthahalli is a panchayat town located in the Shimoga District of the state of Karnataka, India. It lies on the bank of the river Tunga and is also the headquarters of the Thirthahalli Taluk of Shimoga district, according to a Hindu legend, the sage Parashurama beheaded Renukas head with an axe on the orders of his father, the great sage Jamadagni. This place is now called Parashurama Thirtha and is the origin of the name Thirthahalli, near RamaThirtha, there is a stone Mantapa called Rama Mantapa. This legend has made Thirthahalli a holy place for Hindus, who believe that a dip in the river Tunga will cure one of all sins. Another legend set in the time of Ramayana, indicates that Maricha, a relative of the Lanka king Ravana came disguised as a deer to enchant Sita. When Sita asked Rama to get her the deer, Rama followed the deer and this incident is supposed to have happened near a place called Mrugavadhe in Thirthahalli Taluk. Mrugavadhe means Killing of an animal in the local Sanskrit language, Thirthahalli has a rich archaeological history with Neolithic sites uncovered in Kundadri Hills near Agumbe and portholed burial chambers found at Arehalli near Thirthahalli. A fort was constructed at Kavaledurga, near Thirthahalli at around 9th century AD, the king of Belagutti, Cheluvarangappa strengthened this fort in the 14th century. Venkatappa Nayaka, a Keladi king, acquired this fort and constructed seven battlements to protect fort in the 16th century. Hyder Ali conquered this fort in the 18th century and later the fort came under the rule of Tipu Sultan, Thirthahalli is located at 13. 7°N75. 23°E /13.7,75.23. It has an elevation of 591 metres. It is located in the midst of the forests of the Western Ghats. Thirthahalli is 60 kilometres from the headquarters, Shimoga. The National Highway NH-13 provides access to other cities, the nearest railway station is in Shimoga. Numerous trains run from Bangalore and Mysore to Shimoga, traveling for North Udupi railway station is the major one. The nearest airport is Mangalore International Airport, Tunga Bridge The Tunga Bridge, also called Jayachamarajendra Bridge, is a bridge connecting Thirthahalli to Kuruvalli. This bridge has a structure at the top which is supported by consecutive pillars on either side of the bridge. This bridge was designed by Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the bridge was completed in 1943, and inaugurated by the erstwhile H. H Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the then Maharaja of Mysore, also named after him
