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Uttara Kannada is a district in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is sometimes called North Canara, or North Kanara. It is bounded on the northwest by the state of Goa, on the north by Belgaum district, on the northeast by Dharwad District, on the east by Haveri District, on the southeast by Shimoga District, on the south by Udupi District, and on the west by the Arabian Sea. The district has an area of 10,291 km², and a population of 1,353,644 (of which 28.66% were urban as of 2001, a 10.90% increase since the 1991 census. The town of Karwar is the administrative headquarters of the district.
Geography
The main geographic feature of the district is the Western Ghats or Sayadhri range, which runs from north to south through the district. Between the Sayadhris and the sea is a narrow coastal strip, known as the Payanghat, which varies from 8 to 24 km in width. Behind the coastal plain are flat-topped hills from 60 to 100 meters in height, and behind the hills are the ridges and peaks of the Sayadhris. East of the Sayadhris is the Balaghat upland, part of the vast Deccan plateau.
Moisture-bearing winds come from the west, and yearly rainfall averages 3000 mm on the coast, and as high as 5000 mm on the west-facing slopes of the Sayadhris. East of the crest is the rain shadow of the Sayadhris, which receive as little as 1000 mm annually. Much of the rain falls in the June-September monsoon.
Four principal rivers drain westwards from the crest of the Sayadhris to the sea; from north to south they are the Kali, Gungawali, Tadri and Sharavati. These rivers form numerous waterfalls, the most famous of which is Jog falls, on upper reaches of the Sharavati in neighboring Shimoga district. Other famous waterfalls include Lushington Falls, where the river Aghanashini drops 116 meters, Magod falls, where the Bedti river plunges 180 meters in two leaps, Shivganga falls, where the river Souda drops 74 meters, and Lalguli and Mailmane falls on the river Kali. In the lowlands, these rivers form wide estuaries, extending several kilometers inland from the coast.
Ecology
The district's high rainfall supports lush forests, which cover approximately 70% of the district. The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests cover the Sayadhris below 1000 meters elevation. Many trees lose their leaves in the drier months. In pockets above 1000 meters elevation lie the evergreen North Western Ghats montane rain forests. Anshi National Park, near Dandeli, preserves approximately 250 km² of semi-evergreen forest, which is home to tiger, elusive black panther, leopard cat, gaur, Asian Elephant, sambar and a range of birds and reptiles. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary protects 834 km² of semi-evergreen and bamboo forest in the watershed of the Kali river and its tributaries, the Kaneri and Nagajhari. The Wroughton free tailed bat is endemic to the forests of Bhimgad, a proposed wild life sanctuary. The district is also home to patches of savanna and degraded scrub jungles, which are often the result of over-use for logging or grazing. Much of the lowland has been cleared for agriculture. Mangrove forests can be found in the river estuaries, and the sandy beaches are home to groves of Calophyllum inophyllum, coconut and screw pine (Pandanus spp.). The rocky beaches at Binaga, Arga, Belekeri, Tadadi, Ankola Keni, Kadle, Kumta, Dhareshwar, Kasarkod, Murdeshwar, Bhatkal and Belke of the district is rich with marine fauna diversity. The rocky beaches of Uttara Kannada District harbours the Invertebrates belonging to the Phylum Porifera, Coelenterata, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca and Echinodermata.
Agriculture
The chief crops of the district are rice and sugarcane, along with a great diversity of other crops. Tree crops include coconut, arecanut, cocoa, cashew, mango, banana, pineapple, Garcinia, and sapota; vegetables include onion, radish, cucumber, cauliflower, sweet potato, brinjal, and amaranth; spices include pepper, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. Millet and cotton are grown in the drier portion of the district east of the Ghats.
In addition to agriculture, forestry and fisheries are also important.
People
The chief language of the district is Kannada, with minorities of Konkani, Marathi, and Tulu speakers. The population is predominantly Hindu, comprising of many communities like Nadavas,Gowda saraswat brahmins, Namdharis and Vanis.
Namdhari people form the major community of Uttara Kannada. They use Naik in their sur-name. Few people also use Nayak. However, all the people who have Naik or Nayak are not Namdharis, since few other communities also use these words with their names. Hence, Namdharis refer themselves as Namdhari Naik or Namdhari Nayak. Nadavas/Nadavaru also have surname by Naik/Nayak and appear to be affiliated to the Nadavas and Bunts from South Kanara. There is another major community called havyaka brahmins. They live mostly in taluk of Sirsi, Siddapur, Yellapur, Kumta, Honnavar. The havyaks use a dialect of kannada called havyaka Kannada.and are called as 'hegde', 'bhat','rao','joshi','shastri','gaokar','hebbar' etc.....they are known for hospitality....
Places to Visit
Natural
Attiveri bird sanctuary is home to 79 species of birds including migratory birds from 22 countries. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for the elusive black panther among other animals like Gaur, Tiger and Leopards. The Kavala caves with their 5 ft. high natural Shiva linga , Synthery rocks is a 500 ft high rock flanked by natural caves and waterfalls, Vincholi rapids, Sykes point which offers a view of Kali river, and a suspension bridge are places worth visiting in this sanctuary. Yana is an enchanting place that can be reached by trekking about 10 km through lush forest. Yana is famous for its tall jagged rock formations and waterfalls. There is also a shrine of Bhairaveshvara here. Anshi National Park located some distance from Dandeli is undisturbed. Burude Falls is about 20 km from Siddapur , Unchalli Falls , Shivagangae, BeeneHolae Falls is about 25 km from Sirsi, Magod Falls and Sathodi Falls near Yellapura are some of the best natural falls in UttarKannada District.
Temple Towns
Utara Kannada district is famous for its Jain, Vijayanagar and Nayaka architecture. The Chaturmukha Basadi, Vardhamanaswamy Temple, Parshwanatheshwara Basadi at Gerusoppa,Chandranath Deva Basadi and 24 tirthankara's basadi at Hadavalli or Sangitapura , erotic sculptures of temples of Bhatkal are well known. Some well known temples at Bhatkal are the Parshwanatheshwara Basadi, Santappanaik Tirumala Temple, Virupaksha Narayan Temple, Bala Kini Raghunath Temple, Khetapai Narayan Temple, Ventakaraman Temple, Padmavati Devi Temple at Hadavalli. The Aryadurga Temple at Ankola, Partakali Jivottam Mutt and Mahabaleshvara temple at Gokarna which is an important place of Vedic studies, Mahalasa Narayan Temple at Kumta, Ventakaraman Temple Honavara and Chitrapur Mutt, Mahaganapati Mahamaya Temple at Shirali and the Madhukeshvara and Veerabhadra temples at Banavasi and beach temple at Murdeshvara. Other important religious places are the Maarikamba Temple at Sirsi, Sahasra Linga about 15 km from Sirsi, Swarnavalli Math belonging to the Havyaka community, Sonde or Vadiraj Math of the Madhva community, the Shankar Math and Bhuvangiri temple near Siddapur.
History
Uttara Kannada was the home of the earliest Kannada kingdom, the Kadamba kingdom from the 350 - 525CE. They ruled from Banavasi. After the subjugation of the Kadambas by the Chalukyas, Uttara Kannada district came under successive rule of great Kannada empires like Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagar empire. The district came uder the rule of Maratha empire from around 1700 CE. to 1800 CE. and was ceded to the British at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818. The British established North Kanara district as initially as a part of Madras Presidency in 1859 CE. and later made it a part of Bombay Presidency in 1862 CE. After India's independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency was reconstituted as Bombay state. In 1956 the southern, Kannada-speaking portion of Bombay state was added to Mysore state, which was renamed Karnataka in 1972.
References
See also
Kadambas of Banavasi
