Karnataka Ratna
Karnataka Ratna is the highest civilian honour of the State of Karnataka. It is awarded to a person for his extraordinary contribution in any field. It was constituted in the year 1992 by the Government of Karnataka. There have been a total of 9 recipients of this award.
The Award
The Award comes with a gold medal weighing 50 gm, a citation, a memento and a shawl.Awardees
| S.No | Name | Image | Birth / death | Awarded | Notes |
| 1. | Kuvempu | 1904-1994 | 1992 | Literature | |
| 2. | Rajkumar | 1929-2006 | 1992 | Cinema, Music | |
| 3. | S. Nijalingappa | 1902-2000 | 1999 | Politics | |
| 4. | C. N. R. Rao | b. 1934 | 2000 | Science | |
| 5. | Devi Shetty | b. 1953 | 2001 | Medicine | |
| 6. | Bhimsen Joshi | 1922-2011 | 2005 | Music | |
| 7. | Shivakumara Swami | 1907-2019 | 2007 | Social Service | |
| 8. | Javare Gowda | 1915-2016 | 2008 | Education, Literature | |
| 9. | Veerendra Heggade | b. 1948 | 2009 | Social Service, Philanthropic work |