This is a list of notable people from Karnataka, India. In order to be included, a person of influence needs only to have been born in Karnataka. This article can be expanded to accommodate newly surfacing information.
Arts and entertainment Cinema
Ambareesh Ananth Nag Aniruddha Jatkar Ananya Kasaravalli Anuradha Paudwal 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 Bangalore Latha Bank Janardhan Bharathi Vishnuvardhan Bhargavi Narayan Bhavana Bhavani Prakash Bianca Desai Chandrika Chandulal Jain Chetan Kumar Darshan Thoogudeep Daisy Bopanna Deepika Padukone Devaraj Dinesh Dingri Nagaraj Dwarakesh Ere Gowda 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 Jaggesh Jamuna Jayant Kaikini Kalpana Kalyan Kumar Kashinath Keerthiraj Keerthi Bhat Krishna Kumari 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 Raam Reddy 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 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 Shobraj Shraddha Srinath Shruti Naidu Shylaja Nag Sihi Kahi Chandru Sihi Kahi Geetha Sneha Ullal Soundarya Sowcar Janaki 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 Sudeepa 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 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 Vidyabhushana
Classical music - Hindustani
Basavaraja Rajaguru, vocal Bhimsen Joshi, vocal Bapu Padmanabha, bansuri 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 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 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 (1928-2014), Kathak Guru and founder of NIKC, Bangalore
Fashion Deepika Padukone Prasad Bidapa Riya Kodali
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 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 Science
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 Agnikumar G. Vedeshwar
Mathematics
D. C. Pavate Mahaviracharya Shakuntala Devi
Technology Sachidananda Kangovi Arun Netravali, Bell Lab Kumar Malavalli, co-founder of Brocade Communication Systems Sir M. Visvesvaraya
Engineering
Rajeshwari Chatterjee, Karnataka's first female engineer S. S. Murthy, Electrical engineer,
Economics
N. S. Subba Rao
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 (Jaimeni Bharatha in Kannada) 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 K. Shivaram Karanth Karanth Kuvempu M. Govinda Pai Maa Naa Chowdappa 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 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 Khedinji Kanthappa Hegde, former Karnataka Minister of Health 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 Shri Thanedar, United States Representative
Bureaucrats