Kan: ಬಾದಾಮಿ bādāmi ‘Vatapi’ [Vatapi,Vatapipura] Town, Karnataka (Kar) From Skt/Hin: vadāma(m)/bādāmi ‘almond (tree’)/’almond-coloured’; or Vatapi, the asura or demon. Badami was the regional capital of the Chalukya kingdom in the 6-8thC and...
Kan: ಬಾಗಲಕೋಟ bāgalakōṭa ‘Fort Gateway’ [Bagadige] City/District, Karnataka (Kar) Kan: bāgil/bāgal/bākal, ‘doorway’, ‘entrance’, ‘gate’; and kōṭe, ‘fort’, ‘rampart’. Stories tell of this town being offered as a present by Ravana, (demon) king of Lanka, to his...
Kan: ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ beḷagāvi ‘Bamboo Village’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar) Belgaum, Venugrama. From Skt/Kan: veṇu, ‘bamboo’; and grāma/gāv(i/e/a), ‘village’. The city’s original name was Venugrama (Belgaum and Belagavi are variations on this). It was founded in the...
Kan: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು beṅgaḷūru ‘Venga Tree Town’ City/Capital/District, Karnataka (Kar) Kan: bēṅga, ‘Malabar/Indian kino tree’ [Pterocarpus marsupium, Tam: vēṅkai]; and ūr/ūru, ‘town’, ‘village’. For as long as I can remember I have been told that Bangalore means ‘City of...
Kan: ಭದ್ರಾವತಿ bhadrāvati ‘Bhadra Village’ City, Karnataka (Kar) From Bhadra river and Kan: vāḍī/vāṭī, ‘settlement’, ‘village’. The 171km Bhadra river [Skt: bhadra, ‘blessed’, ‘auspicious’] flows through southern Karnataka starting out from the Western Ghats (in...
Kan: ಬೀದರ್ bīdar ‘Halting Place’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar) From Kan: bīḍāra, ‘halting or dwelling place’, ‘camp’. Bidri metal working started here in 14-15thC. It uses a blackened alloy of copper, lead, tin, and zinc as a base for gold and silver inlay. It is...
Kan: ವಿಜಯಪುರ vijayapura ‘Victory City’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar) From Skt: vijaya, ‘victory’, ‘triumph’; and pur(a), ‘(fortified) city’ After the fall of the Bahmani Sultanate in the late 15thC the Adil Shai...
Kan: ಚಿಕ್ಕಮಗಳೂರು cikkamagaḷūru ‘Youngest Daughter’s Town’ City/District/Hill Station, Karnataka (Kar) From Kan: cikka, ‘smallest/youngest’; magaḷa, ‘daughter’; and ūr/ūru, ‘town’, ‘village’. This town, or village as it probably was then, was given as a dowry by...
Kan: ಚಿತ್ರದುರ್ಗ citradurga ‘Bright Fort’ [Chitaldoorg] City/District, Karnataka (Kar) . From Skt: citra, ‘bright’, ‘wonderful’, ‘picturesque’; and Kan: durga ‘fort’, ‘stronghold’. Chitradurga is a seven-layered fort which sits astride a row of rugged hills peppered...
Kan: ದಾವಣಗೆರೆ dāvaṇagere ‘Wormwood Tank’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar) From KAN: davana, ‘Indian Wormwood’ [Artemisia indica]; KAN: keṟe, ‘tank’. Davanagere is Karnataka’s seventh largest city and the glasshouse in its Botanical Gardens is the second largest in...
Kan: ಗಜೇಂದ್ರಗಡ gajēndragaḍa ‘Elephant Fort’ [Gajendragarh] -Fort/Town, Karnataka (Kar) .From Sin: gajendra, ‘elephant’; Hin: gaṛh, ‘fort’ The fort was built by Shivaji, the Maratha chieftain, in the 17thC. Its film appearances (it has plenty of flat surfaces for...
Kan: ಗಂಗಾವತಿ gaṅgāvati ‘(Holy) River Village’ -City, Karnataka From Ganga or Ganges, ‘goddess’ or ‘holy river’; and Dra: vāti, ‘village’, ‘settlement’. The Ganges is 1,500km away, as the crow flies. The Tungabhadra is a bit closer. The city is nicknamed...
Kan: ಹಳೇಬೀಡು haḷēbīḍu ‘Old City’ [Halebid] Town/Monument, Karnataka From Kan: haḷē, ‘old’; and bīḍu, ‘camp’, ‘settlement’. Halebid was capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12thC. It is home to some superb Hindu and Jain temples, fine examples of ornate Hoysala...
Kan: ಹಂಪಿ hampi ‘Pampa’ Monument, Karnataka From Pampa river. In the epic Ramayana, the 531 km Tungabhadra River is called the Pampa. This name metamorphosed, in Kannada [p→h], to Hampa and was then anglicized to Hampi or Hampe. Hampi was the 14thC capital of the...
Kan: ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿ hubbaḷḷi ‘Flowering Creeper’, ‘Gateway’ [Hubballi, Pubballi] City/District, Karnataka (Kar) From Kan: pu→hū(v)u, ‘flower’; v→baḷḷi, ‘creeper’, ‘vine’; and Skt: dvāratā, ‘gateway’, ‘stopover’. It has been suggested that Dharwad was a stopover for...
Kan: ಕಲಬುರಗಿ kalaburagi ’Stone Garden’/’Rose Garden’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar) From Hin/Urd: gulāb, ‘flower’, ‘rose’; or Kan: kal, ‘stone’, ‘boulder’; Hin/Urd: bāg, ‘garden’, ‘park’. Gulbarga was renamed Kalaburagi in 2014, a decision which did not meet...
Kan: ಕೋಲಾರ kōlāra ‘Waterlily City’ [Kuvalapura Kolahalapura] City/District, Karnataka From Skt: kuvaḷa(ya), ‘(blue) waterlily’ [Kan: kōvaḷ, kōhaḷ, kōḷe]. Kolaramma has been the resident goddess of Kolara for a thousand years with her own Chola-style temple decked...
Kan: ಕುದುರೆಮುಖ kuduremukha ‘Horse Face’ Mountain Range/Peak, Karnataka From Kan: kudure, ‘horse’, ‘knight (in chess)’; and Skt: mukha, ‘mouth’. Kuduremukha is a 1,894 m peak (Karnataka’s second highest), mountain range, national park, hill station and mining...
Kan: ಮಂಡ್ಯ maṇḍya ‘Settlement’ City/District, Karnataka Skt: mandira, ‘dwelling’, ‘resting place’, ‘house’, ’palace’, ‘camp‘, ‘temple’. Like Mandvi (Gujarat) the most popular derivation is the unlikely one that the town was named after the ancient sage, Mandavya,...
Kan:ಮಂಗಳೂರು maṅgaḷūru ‘Mangaladevi’s City’ [Mangalore, Mangalapuram] City/District, Karnataka From Mangaladevi and Kan: ūr/ūru, ‘town’, ‘village’. Mangalore is named after its 9thC temple dedicated to the goddess Mangaladevi who clearly brings the city great fortune...
Kan: ಪಟ್ಟದ್ಕಲ್ಲು paṭṭadkallu ‘Coronation Stone’ [Raktapura] From Skt: paṭṭa ‘crown’, ‘band’, ‘ribbon’; Kan: kal/kallu, ‘stone’. Pattadakal is a complex of exquisitely crafted 7-8thC Hindu and Jain temples. It is the artistic and spiritual legacy, with neighboring...
Kan: ರಾಯಚೂರು rāyac(h)ūru ‘Royal City’ City/District, Karnataka From Kan: rāya(ca), ‘royal’; and ūr/ūru, ‘town’, ‘village’. There has been a fort here since the 7-8thC under the Chalukyas of Badami – it was rebuilt in the 13thC. Raichur was a part of the...
Kan: ರಾಣೇಬೆನ್ನೂರು rāṇēbennūru ‘Queen’s Town’ City, Karnataka (Kar) From Skt/Pkt: rājṇī/rāṇī, ‘queen’; Kan: rāṇē(ben), ‘queen’; and ūr/ūru, ‘town’, ‘village’. The ‘ben(n)’ insert appears in two other towns: Santhebennur, Motebennur and there are three more Bennurs;...
Kan: ರಾಬರ್ಟಸನ್ಪೇಟ್ rābarṭasanpēṭ ‘Robertson Suburb’ Town, Karnataka From Robertson and Kan: pete, ‘town’, ‘suburb’, ‘market’ [Tam: pēṭṭai]. Robertsonpete was built and designed in 1902 to accommodate the population overspill from the Kolar Gold Fields....
Kan: ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗ śivamogga ‘Shiva Lane’ [Shimoga] City/District, Karnataka From Kan: mukku/mogge, ‘lane’ [Tam: mukku, ‘lane’, ‘corner’, ‘junction’]. There are no shortage of alternatives, many of which have myths to accompany them: Shiva-Mukha [Skt/Kan: mukha/moga,...
Kan: ಶ್ರವಣಬೆಳಗೊಳ śravaṇabeḷagoḷa ‘Monk’s White Pond’ Town, Karnataka From Skt: śramaṇa, ‘ascetic’, ‘mendicant’, ‘(Buddhist or Jain) monk’; Kan: beḷ/veḷ, ‘bright’, shining’, ‘white’; and koḷa/koḷahe, ‘pond’. This is the site of the 18m, 10thC Gommateshwara...
Kan: ಶ್ರೀರಂಗಪಟ್ಟಣ śrīraṅgapaṭṭaṇa ‘Sri Ranga City’ [Seringapatnam] Temple Town, Karnataka From Sri Ranga, ‘(name for) Vishnu’; and Kan: paṭṭaṇam, ‘(port/coastal) town’, ‘city’. The city is named after the 10thC Sri Ranganthaswamy temple. Sri Ranga(natha) is the the...
Kan: ತುಮಕೂರು tumakūru ‘Mangosteen Town’ [Tumkur] City/District, Karnataka From Kan: tumaki/tumari/tumbari, ‘wild mangosteen tree’ [Diospyros peregrina/Diospyros embryopteris]; or tumbe/tumbi, ‘Ceylon slitwort’ [Leucas zeylanica]. The modern city is a food processing...
Kan: ಉಡುಪಿ uḍupi ‘Elevated Village’ [Odipu] City, Karnataka From Tlu: odi, ‘elevated’, ‘high’; and ipu/apu/ape, ‘village’, settlement’. Tulu word ‘Odipu ‘(Odi+pu) means an elevated village. Udipi is known as the temple city. Its most famous one is the 13thC Sri...
Kan: ವಿಜಯನಗರ vijayanagara ‘Victory City’ Historic site/District, Karnataka From Skt: vijaya, ‘conquest’, ‘victory’; and nagar, ‘city’. The District was named after the Vijayanagar Empire which dominated South India from the 13thto the 16thC from its capital at...
Kan: ವಿಜಯಪುರ vijayapura ‘Victory Town’ [Bijapur] City/District, Karnataka Bijapur. From Skt: vijaya, ‘conquest’, ‘victory’; and pur, ‘fort’, ‘city’. The city was established in the 10th-11th centuries by the Kalyani Chalukyas. It was captured by the Bahmani Sultanate...
