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Karnataka

The centrestage for South India's medieval empires

Karnataka’s name meaning ‘elevated land’ or ‘region of black soil’ has been attributed to its location on the Deccan plateau. Karnataka’s western reaches are part of a biodiversity hotspot and rich, endemic wildlife flourishes in its tangled forests crisscrossed by a network of large rivers. As is often the case, the river valleys were once home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval times – and their crumbling ruins and temples are all that are left behind of a glorious past. The diverse linguistic and religious ethnic groups left behind in the wake of these empires, as also the legacy of wisdom and music of the wandering musicians and philosophers patronized by these ancient empires, still live on today.