List of people from Karnataka

Arts and entertainment

Cinema

• Abhishek Varman
• Ambareesh
• Ananth Nag
• Aniruddha Jatkar
• Aishwarya rai
• Ananya Kasaravalli
• Anuradha Paudwal
• Anushka Shetty
• Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar
• Arjun Sarja
• Aruna Balraj
• Arthi
• Atul Kulkarni
• A. T. Raghu
• B. Saroja Devi
• B. C. Patil
• B. S. Ranga
• B. V. Karanth
• Bala
• Balakrishna
• Balaraj
• Bank Janardhan
• Bharathi Vishnuvardhan
• Bhargavi Narayan
• Bhavana
• Bhavani Prakash
• Bianca Desai
• Chandrika
• Chandulal Jain
• Chetan Kumar
• Darshan Tugudeep
• Daisy Bopanna
• Deepika Padukone
• Devaraj
• Dinesh
• Dingri Nagaraj
• Dwarakesh
• Ganesh
• Ganesh Hegde
• G. V. Iyer
• Geetha
• Girish Karnad
• Girish Kasaravalli
• Gulshan Devaiah
• Guru Dutt
• Hansika Motwani
• Harshika Poonacha
• Hema Bellur
• Hema Prabhath
• Honnavalli Krishna
• Isha Koppikar
• Jaggesh
• Jayant Kaikini
• Kalpana
• Kalyan Kumar
• Kashinath
• Keerthiraj
• Kunigal Nagabhushan
• Lakshmi Chandrashekar
• Lakshmi Rai
• Leelavathi
• Leena Chandavarkar
• Lokesh
• M. S. Sathyu
• Madhuri Itagi
• Mandeep Roy
• Manjula
• Master Hirannaiah
• Master Manjunath
• Michael Madhu
• Milind Gadagkar
• Mohan
• Mysore Lokesh
• Nagathihalli Chandrashekar
• Narasimharaju
• Negro Johnny
• Nidhi Subbaiah
• Nirmala Chennappa
• Nishan K. P. Nanaiah
• Padma Vasanthi
• Padmaja Rao
• Pandari Bai
• Pattabhirama Reddy, settler
• Pooja Lokesh
• Pradeep Uppoor
• Prakash Rai
• Prabhu Deva, settler
• Pramila Joshai
• Prathap
• Prema
• Puneeth Rajkumar
• Puttana Kanagal
• Radhika Pandit
• Raghavendra Rajkumar
• Rajanikanth
• Rajesh Krishnan, settler
• Rajkumar
• Raju Sundaram, settler
• Raj B. Shetty
• Rakshita
• Ramesh Arvind
• Ram Kumar
• Ramu
• Ramya
• Ravichandran, settler
• Raju Talikote
• Rashmi
• Rashmika Mandanna
• Rekha Das
• Rockline Venkatesh
• Rohit Shetty
• Roopa Iyer, settler
• R.T. Rama
• Sarigama Viji
• Sakshi Shivanand
• Sanchita Shetty
• Sandeep Chowta
• Sanketh Kashi
• Sathyabhama
• Satyajith
• Shamita Shetty
• Shani Mahadevappa
• Shankar Nag
• Shanthamma
• Shashi Kumar
• Shivarajkumar
• Shilpa Shetty
• Shine Shetty
• Shobraj
• Shraddha Srinath
• Shruti Naidu
• Shylaja Nag
• Sihi Kahi Chandru
• Sihi Kahi Geetha
• Sneha Ullal
• Soundarya
• Srinivas Prabhu
• Sudha Baragur
• Sudha Belawadi
• Sudha Narasimharaju
• Sunil
• Srimurali
• Srinath
• Sudha Rani
• Sudheer
• Suman Nagarkar
• Suman Ranganathan
• Sundar Krishna Urs
• Sundar Raj
• Sunil Shetty
• Sunil Kumar Desai
• Sudeep
• Syed Aman Bachchan
• T. S. Nagabharana
• Tara
• Tiger Prabhakar
• Umashri
• Upendra
• Vajramuni
• Vaishali Desai
• Vasundhara Das
• Vanishree
• Vijay Kashi
• Vinayak Joshi
• Vishnuvardhan
• Yashwant Sardeshpande

  Theatre

• Arundhati Nag
• Bhargavi Narayan
• B. V. Karanth
• Chandrashekhar Kambara
• Chindodi Leela
• Girish Karnad
• Gubbi Veeranna
• K. V. Subbanna
• Kalpana
• Lakshmi Chandrashekar
• Lokesh
• Master Hirannaiah
• Mukhyamantri Chandru
• Prasanna
• Shankar Nag
• Shivananda
• Umashree
• Vajramuni
• Yashwant Sardeshpande

  Ancient architecture and sculpture

• Amarashilpi Jakanachari
• Gundan Anivaritachari
• Ruvari Malithamma

  Modern and contemporary art, art criticism

• Dattatreya Aralikatte
• K.K. Raghava
• Renuka Kesaramadu
• Ashwini Bhat
• Surekha
• S. G. Vasudev
• Yusuf Arakkal

  Music

Classical music - Carnatic

• Gopala Dasa
• Harikesanallur Muthayya Bhagavathar
• Jagannatha Dasa
• Kadri Gopalnath
• Jyotsna Srikanth
• Kanakadasa
• Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar
• Dr.Mysore Manjunath
• Mysore Sadasiva Rao
• Mysore V. Ramarathnam
• Mysore Vasudevacharya
• Mysore Nagaraj
• N. Ravikiran
• Purandaradasa
• R. K. Srikanthan
• R.R. Keshavamurthy
• Sripadaraya
• T. Chowdiah
• Vadiraja
• Vijaya Dasa
• Vyasatirtha
• Doraiswamy Iyengar
• Veene Sheshanna
• Vittal Ramamurthy
• Ghatam Udupa
• K. V. Krishna Prasad
• B. Shankar Rao
• Anoor Anantha Krishna Sharma
• M. S. Sheela

  Classical music - Hindustani

• Basavaraja Rajaguru, vocal
• Bhimsen Joshi, vocal
• Bapu Padmanabha, bansuri
• Pandit S. Ballesh, vocal and shehnai
• Ganapati Bhat, vocal
• Gangubai Hangal, vocal
• Gururao Deshpande, vocal
• Jayateerth Mevundi, vocal
• Kumar Gandharva, vocal
• Lalith J. Rao, vocal
• Madhava Gudi, vocal
• Mallikarjun Mansur, vocal
• Milind Chittal, vocal
• Nachiketa Sharma, vocal
• Nagaraja Rao Havaldar, vocal
• Pravin Godkhindi, bansuri
• Puttaraja Gawai, vocal
• Rajeev Taranath, sarod
• Sanjeev Chimmalgi, vocal
• Sangeetha Katti, vocal
• Sawai Gandharva, vocal
• Shobha Gurtu, vocal
• Smita Bellur, vocal
• Taranath Ram Rao Hattiangadi, tabla
• Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, vocal
• Vinayak Torvi, vocal
• Keshav Ginde, flute
• Madhav Gudi, vocal
• Panchakshari Gawai, vocal

  Modern musicians

• Mysore Ananthaswamy, bhavageete
• P. Kalinga Rao, bhavageete
• Pandit Narasimhalu Vadavati
• Pandit S. Ballesh, shehnai and vocal
• Mysore Manjunath
• Pravin Godkhindi, flute
• Shimoga Subbanna, Sugama Sangeetha
• C. Ashwath, Sugama Sangeetha
• Balappa Hukkeri, folklore
• G.V. Atri, bhavageete
• Ganesh Hegde, choreography
• Biddu Appaiah, composer
• Bapu Padmanabha, flute

  Film music

• Anoop Seelin
• Arjun
• B. V. Karanth
• C. Ashwath
• G. K. Venkatesh
• G. V. Iyer, settler
• Gurukiran
• Pandit S. Ballesh, playback singer, music director, shehnai
• Hamsalekha
• Jayant Kaikini
• Mano Murthy
• Rajan-Nagendra
• Ravichandran
• Sadhu Kokila
• Sandeep Chowta
• Shankar Ganesh
• V. Harikrishna
• V. Manohar
• Vijaya Bhaskar
• Raghu Dixit
• Bapu Padmanabha

  Film singers

• Nanditha
• Rajkumar
• Rajesh Krishnan
• Vijay Prakash
• Chetan Sosca

  Dance

• Maya Rao, Kathak Guru and founder of NIKC, Bangalore

  Fashion

• Deepika Padukone
• Prasad Bidapa

  Kings and nobles

• Aliya Rama Raya
• Abbakka Rani
• Amoghavarsha I
• Basaveshwara
• Bijjala II
• Bukka Raya I
• Butuga II
• Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar
• Chamundaraya
• Chand Bibi
• Devaraya I
• Deva Raya II
• Dhruva Dharavarsha
• Durvinita
• Govinda III
• Hyder Ali
• Harihara I
• Ibrahim Adil Shah II
• Indra III
• Jayachamaraja Wodeyar
• Kempe Gowda
• Krishna III
• Krishnadeva Raya
• Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV
• Madakari Nayaka
• Mayuravarma
• Pulakesi II
• Rani Chennamma of Keladi
• Rani Chennamma of Kittur
• Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya
• Sangolli Rayanna, army chief of the Kingdom of Kittur
• Tailapa II
• Tippu Sultan
• Veera Ballala II
• Veera Ballala III
• Vikramaditya II
• Vikramaditya VI
• Vishnuvardhana

  Industrialists and businesspeople

• A. B. Shetty, founder of Vijaya Bank
• Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, founder of Canara Bank
• Arun Pudur, founder and Group President of Celframe Corporation
• B. R. Shetty, NMC Group
• G. R. Gopinath, founder of Deccan Aviation
• Gururaj Deshpande, venture capitalist
• K. V. Kamath, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank
• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon India Ltd.
• N. R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies, Ltd.
• N S Narendra, founder of FirePro
• Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies, Ltd.
• Phaneesh Murthy, iGATE Global Solutions, Ltd.
• R. N. Shetty, Murdeshwar Group
• T. M. A. Pai, co-founder of Syndicate Bank and Manipal Academy of Higher Education
• V. G. Siddhartha, Cafe Coffee Day
• Vaman Srinivas Kudva, co-founder of Syndicate Bank
• Vijay Mallya, UB Group
• Vijay Sankeshwar, Vijayanand Group
• Vittal Mallya, UB Group
• Pradeep Kar, Microland
• Ashok Kheny, NICE
• Thumbay Moideen, founder of Thumbay Group and Gulf Medical University

  Health care

• Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal
• Dr. C. N. Manjunath, cardiologist
• Dr. M. C. Modi, eye surgeon
• Dr. Sharan Patil, orthopaedic surgeon
• Dr. Y. G. Parameshwara
• Dr. Devi Shetty, cardiovascular surgeon

  Science and technology

• C. N. R. Rao, chemistry
• C. R. Rao, statistics
• N. K. Naik, Professor Emeritus at IIT Bombay
• M. C. Modi, ophthalmology
• Narayan Hosmane, biochemistry, cancer research
• Raja Ramanna, physics
• Roddam Narasimha, aerospace, atmospheric sciences
• U. R. Rao, space science
• M.L. Kulkarni, pediatrician
• B. N. Suresh
• S. K. Shivkumar
• K. N. Shankara
• S. G. Balekundri
• Nandan Nilekani
• Sudha Murthy
• Vivek Kulkarni
• Narayan Hosmane
• Gururaj Deshpande

• Bhaskaracharya
• D. C. Pavate
• Mahaviracharya
• Shakuntala Devi

• Arun Netravali, Bell Lab
• Kumar Malavalli, co-founder of Brocade Communication Systems
• Sir M. Visvesvaraya

• Rajeshwari Chatterjee, Karnataka's first female engineer
• S. S. Murthy, Electrical engineer

• VKRV Rao
• Gita Gopinath

  Literature

Classical writers

• Nripatunga Amoghavarsha
• Asaga
• Ranna, 10th-century poet
• Janna
• Adikavi Pampa
• Sri Ponna
• Shivakotiacharya
• Muddana, 19th-century poet and author
• Andayya, 13th-century writer
• Gangadevi, 14th-century poet and author
• Kumaravyasa
• Harihara, poet
• Lakshmisha
• Raghavanka
• Rudrabhatta
• Basavanna
• Akka Mahadevi
• Sarvajna
• Tirumalamba
• Purandaradasa
• Kanakadasa
• Trivikrama Panditacharya
• Narayana Panditacharya
• Kumudendu Muni, author of Siribhoovalaya
• Shishunaala Sharif Saheba, first Muslim poet in Kannada literature

  Modern writers

• A.N. Krishna Rao
• Anupama Niranjana
• Aravind Adiga, won the Man Booker Prize in 2008
• B. G. L. Swamy
• B. M. Srikantaiah
• Beechi, comedian from Bellary District
• Chandrashekhara Kambara
• Da. Ra. Bendre
• D. Javare Gowda
• Jayalakshmi Seethapura
• D. V. Gundappa
• G. P. Rajarathnam
• Girish Karnad
• Gopalakrishna Adiga
• Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar
• Ha Ma Nayak
• H. S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar
• K. S. Narasimhaswamy
• K. S. Nissar Ahmed
• K. Anantharamu
• Kota Shivarama Karanth
• Kuvempu
• M. Govinda Pai
• Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar
• Maya Kamath, political cartoonist
• P. Lankesh
• Panchakshari Hiremath
• A.K. Ramanujan
• Poornachandra Tejaswi
• P. T. Narasimhachar
• R. C. Hiremath
• R. K. Narayan, settler
• Raja Rao
• S. Srikanta Sastri
• S. L. Bhyrappa
• Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
• Shashi Deshpande
• T. P. Kailasam
• T. R. Subba Rao
• T. N. Srikantaiah
• U. R. Ananthamurthy
• V. K. Gokak
• Yashwant Chittal
• Ferdinand Kittel
• Dinakara Desai
• Narayanacharya
• Venkatesh Galaganath

  Politicians

• K.C. Reddy, former Chief Minister
• Kadidal Manjappa, former Chief Minister
• Kengal Hanumanthaiah, former Chief Minister
• Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister
• Shantaveri Gopala Gowda, Socialist leader, former MLA
• S. Nijalingappa, former Chief Minister
• Devaraj Urs, former Chief Minister
• Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, freedom fighter
• Basappa Danappa Jatti, former Vice-President
• Gudleppa Hallikeri, freedom fighter, former Chairman of the Legislative Council.
• M.N. Jois, freedom fighter, former M.L.C, Dy Speaker of Legislative Council
• Bantwal Vaikunta Baliga, former Law Minister; former Speaker, Mysore State
• Gundu Rao, former Chief Minister
• Ramakrishna Hegde, former Chief Minister
• Sudheendra Kulkarni
• Prabhakar Kore, member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka
• S.R.Kanti, former Chief Minister
• Neeraj Patil, Mayor of Lambeth district of London
• S.R.Bommai, former Chief Minister
• Veerendra Patil, former Chief Minister
• S.Bangarappa, former Chief Minister
• Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister
• L. G. Havanur, former Law Minister
• H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister
• J.H.Patel, former Chief Minister
• George Fernandes, former Defense Minister
• S.M. Krishna, Governor of Maharashtra, former Chief Minister
• Dharam Singh, former Chief Minister
• H.D.Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister
• B.S.Yediyurappa, former Chief Minister, MP
• D.V. Sadananda Gowda, former Chief Minister and present union Statistics and Program implementation minister
• Jagadish Shettar, former Chief Minister
• Ramesh Jigajinagi, former Home Minister, currently Union Minister of state for drinking water and sanitation and M.P
• M.P. Prakash, former deputy Chief Minister
• Oscar Fernandes, former Union Minister
• Jaffer Sharief, former Union Minister
• Margaret Alva, former Union Minister
• U. Srinivas Mallya, former Member of Parliament
• H.N.Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for chemicals and fertilizers & M.P.
• Mallikarjun Kharge, former Home Minister, former Union Railway Minister
• K.H. Muniyappa, former Union minister of state for Railways
• V.S.Acharya, former Minister for Home affairs & Medical Education
• H.Vishwanath, former Minister, former M.P
• Vatal Nagaraj, former MLA
• Vishweshwara Hegde, former Education Minister
• Bhagwanth Khuba, Member of Parliament, Bidar

  Bureaucrats

• C B Muthamma, first woman IFS officer
• C. G. Somiah, Comptroller and Auditor General of India
• Shankar Bidari,IPS, DG & IPG, Karnataka
• Abdul Rahman Infant, IPS, DG & IGP, Karnataka
• Dr.M.H.Marigowda, former Director of Horticulture
• H. T. Sangliana, former police officer, and M.P. Lok Sabha
• Daya Nayak
• Kempaiah

  Cooperative movement

• S. K. Amin, founder of South Kanara District Co-Operative Fish Marketing Federation

  Religion and philosophy

• Sarvajna
• Sree Sree Shivakumara Swamiji, Karnataka Ratna, highest civilian awarded by the state
• Kanaka Dasa, saint
• Basavanna, founder of Veerashaivism, social reformer
• Purandara Dasa, saint
• Vidyaranya, 12th Shankaracharya of Sringeri, spiritual guide to Vijayanagar Empire
• Allama Prabhu
• Madhvacharya
• Mangesh V. Nadkarni
• Raghavendra Swami
• Akka Mahadevi
• Jayatirtha
• Sripadaraya
• Vyasatirtha
• Vadirajatirtha
• Naraharitirtha
• Padmanabha Tirtha
• Raghaveshwara Bharathi
• Gangadharendra Saraswati
• Balagangadharanatha Swamiji
• Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji
• Sadhguru, founder of Isha Foundation
• Siddharudha Swami
• Narayan Maharaj
• Dattatreya
• Kaadsiddheshwar
• Keshavashram

  Yoga

• Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, known as "the father of modern yoga" and reviver of Hatha yoga
• B.K.S. Iyengar
• Geeta Iyengar
• Jaggi Vasudev
• Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji
• Pattabhi Jois

  Wildlife and environment

• Hanumappa Sudarshan
• Ullas Karanth, tiger conservation
• Krupakar-Senani
• Vandana Shiva

  Historians, epigraphists and archaeologists

• Dr. Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao
• Dr. B.A. Saletore
• P. B. Desai
• P. Gururaja Bhat
• G. S. Gai
• A. N. Narasimhia
• B. L. Rice
• S. Srikanta Sastri

  Social service

• Sree Sree Shivakumara Swamiji
• S. K. Amin
• Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji
• Sudha Murthy
• Tulsi Gowda
• Veerendra Heggade
• Saalumarada Thimmakka

  Sports

Cricket

• Abhishek Reddy
• Vijay Bhardwaj
• Raghuram Bhat
• Roger Binny
• Stuart Binny
• Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
• Deepak Chougule
• Rahul Dravid
• Doddanarasaiah Ganesh
• David Johnson
• Sunil Joshi
• Syed Kirmani
• Vinay Kumar
• Anil Kumble
• Sanjay Manjrekar
• Abhimanyu Mithun
• Manju Nadgoda
• Manish Pandey
• Brijesh Patel
• Venkatesh Prasad
• E.A.S. Prasanna
• KL Rahul
• A. Ramakrishnappa
• Shantha Rangaswamy
• Barrington Rowland
• Ganesh Satish
• Sujith Somasunder
• Javagal Srinath
• Robin Uthappa
• Gundappa Vishwanath
• Sadanand Viswanath
• Varun Chakravarthy

  Hockey

• B. P. Govinda
• M. P. Ganesh
• Ashish Ballal
• Arjun Halappa
• M M Somaiya

  Athletics

• Ashwini Nachappa
• J. J. Shobha
• Vandana Rao
• Vandana Shanbagh
• Vikas Gowda
• Girisha Nagarajegowda Para-athletics

  Badminton

• Prakash Padukone
• Anup Sridhar
• Ashwini Ponnappa

  Tennis

• Mahesh Bhupathi
• Rohan Bopanna
• Poojashree Venkatesh
• Srinath Prahlad

  Others

• C.C. Machaiah, former boxer, Olympian and coach, 1978 Arjuna Awardee
• Chetan Baboor, Table Tennis
• Nisha Millet, Swimming
• Pankaj Advani, Billiards
• Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla

  Military

• Ajjamada B Devaiah, Pilot in Indian air force, Maha Vir Chakra, war martyr.
• Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, Commander-in-Chief, Indian Armed Forces
• Gen.K. S. Thimayya, Chief of Staff, Indian Army
• Gen. A C Iyappa, Prisoner-of-War in World War II, Indian Army, BEL chief.
• Air Marshal C D Subbaiah, VrC, PVSM, World War II fighter pilot, Indian Army.
• Ramesh Halagali, AVSM, SM, Deputy Chief of Indian Army.
• Major M C Muthanna, killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, Shaurya Chakra awardee.
• Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, killed in action during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, consequently awarded the Ashoka Chakra, Indian Army

  Judiciary

• Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• Justice N Y Hanumanthappa, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court and Ex-Member of Parliament, Chitra Durga
• Justice Santhosh Hegde, retired Supreme Court Judge
• Justice H.L.Dattu, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• Justice V. Gopala Gowda, Supreme Court Judge
• Chief Justice of India P. B. Gajendragadkar, from Gajendragad

  Award winners

Bharat Ratna

• Sir M. Visvesvaraya, 1955
• Bhimsen Joshi, 2008
• C.N.R. Rao, 2014

  Jnanpith Award

• Kuvempu, for his epic Sri Ramayana Darshanam, in 1969
• D. R. Bendre, for his anthology of poems Naku Thanthi, in 1974
• K. Shivaram Karanth, for his novel Mookajjiya Kanasugalu, in 1977
• Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, for his historical novel Chikkaveera Rajendra, in 1983
• V. K. Gokak, for Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi, in 1990
• U. R. Ananthamurthy, for his monumental contributions, in 1994
• Girish Karnad, for his monumental contributions to Kannada literature and for contributions to Kannada theatre, in 1998
• Chandrashekhara Kambara, for his monumental contributions to Kannada literature, in 2010

  Saraswati Samman

• S. L. Bhyrappa, for his novel Mandra, in 2010

  Militants

• Iqbal Bhatkal
• Kafeel Ahmed, 2007 London car bombing
• Riyaz Bhatkal
• Yasin Bhatkal

  Others

• Shakuntala Devi, calculating prodigy; "called human computer"
• N. Someswara, doctor and quiz master of Thatt Antha Heli
• G. S. Paramasivaiah, a founder of Karnataka University
• Aluru Venkata Rao
• Huilgol Narayana Rao
• Ravi Belagere
• Mayurasharma
• Pulakesi I
• Krishna Deva Raya
• Kudroli Ganesh, magician
• Kumara Rama
• Somesvara I
• Belawadi Mallamma
• Kittur Chennamma
• Attimabbe
• Raghavendra Acharya
• Pandita Ramabai, reformer for women's education, Sanskrit scholar, Christian Bible translator into Marathi
• Saraswati Gangadhar
• Shivram Dattatreya Phadnis, cartoonist
• A. N. Prahlada Rao, crossword writer; created 40,000 crosswords; name mentioned in LIMCA Book of Records 2015