Context:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (November 11) arrived in Bengaluru to unveil the 108-feet tall bronze statue of ‘Nadaprabhu’ Kempegowda, credited to be the city’s founder, and inaugurate Terminal 2 of the International Airport, which was built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore.
Relevance:
GS I: History
Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?
- Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, a 16th century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire, is credited as the founder of Bengaluru.
- It is said that he conceived the idea of a new city while hunting with his minister, and later marked its territory by erecting towers in four corners of the proposed city.
- Kempegowda is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.
- He was from the dominant agricultural Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.
- His name is everywhere in the city – the Kempegowda International Airport, the Kempegowda Bus Stand, and even the main metro station in the city is called Nadaprabhu Kempegowda metro station. An arterial road in the old city is called the K G Road or the Kempegowda Road.
