Explained: Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, whose statue is coming up at the Bengaluru airport?

What is the News?

A bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda will be unveiled soon at the premises of the Kempegowda International Airport(KIA).

Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is a 16th-century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire.

Community: He belonged to the Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.

Contributions: 

He is credited as the founder of Bengaluru City. 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.

He is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.

One of his social reforms was to prohibit the custom of amputating the last two fingers of the left hand of unmarried women during “Bandi Devaru”, an important custom of Morasu Vokkaligas.

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, whose statue is coming up at the Bengaluru airport?” published in PIB on 29th June 2022