Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, the state capital along

NH 48 National Highway 48 (NH 48) is a National Highway of India that starts at Delhi and terminates at Chennai traversing through seven states of India. It has a total length of 2807 km (1744 miles). NH 48 passes through the states of Del ...

and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the

Tumkur district Tumakuru District is an administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the third largest district in Karnataka by land area with an area of 10,598 km2, and fourth largest by Population. It is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from ...

. It is located at an altitude of 835 m (2739.5 ft). Tumkur hosts India's first mega food park, a project of the ministry of food processing. The India Food Park was inaugurated by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

in September 2014. Tumkur is also included in the

Smart Cities Mission National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Devel ...

list and is among the 100 smart cities to be developed in India. Since 28 August 2010, Tumkur has been accorded the status of a

city corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally own ...

Etymology

Etymologically, the name of the city is believed to have been mutated possibly from "Tumbe ooru" because of the abundance of thumbe hoovu, a kind of flower, or thamate ooru because of the folk musical percussion instrument thamate, that might have been used most here. It is also called ''Kalpatharu Nadu'' (land of coconut trees), due to the abundance of coconut trees in the area. Another story says that during the rule of cholas Gulur was their capital. Since Tumkur is at high elevation the guards used to be there on any hill with tumaki (a kind of drum) and used to make sound in case of any alerts, hence the name. The Indian central government approved the request to officially rename the Tumkur and 12 other cities in October 2014. The city officially became "Tumakuru" on 1 November 2014.

Geography

Tumkur is located at . It has an average elevation of 822 metres (2696 feet). The city has a railway station on the South Western railway, northwest from

, southeast from

Chitradurga Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka. Chitradurga is a place with historical significance which is locate ...

city and from Kolar City.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Tumkur had a population of 305,821. More than 5,00,000 people lived in the corporation limit. At the 2001 census, males constitutes 52% of the population and females 48%. Tumkur had an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 79%, and female literacy was 70%. About 11% of the population was under 6 years of age. The most common language in the city is

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

History

The known history of the Tumkur district begins with the

Western Ganga dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over Kalinga (mo ...

. The Ganga family ruled over the southern and eastern districts of the state from early in the Christian era to 1025 C.E. The earliest record of The Ganga family found in this district belongs to about 400 C.E. After the Gangas, Tumkur was ruled by the

Rastrakutas Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

and The

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

. The

Nolambas The Nolamba dynasty the area they held sway over is referred to as ''Nolambasa-37'' of Henjeru (Hemavathi), ''Nolambalige'' (''Nolambavadi''-32000), etc. R. Narasimhacharya states that the Nolambas were a native Kannada dynasty. Officers and kings ...

under these rulers ruled the area for a long time. The

cholas The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

also ruled some parts of the district. The

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

ruled supreme for the latter part of the 13th to 17th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Tumkur was ruled by The

Wodeyars of Mysore The Wadiyar dynasty (formerly spelt Wodeyer or Odeyer, also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore), is a late-medieval/ early-modern South Indian Hindu royal family of former kings of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city. ...

until independence. The Tumkur town municipality was set up by the Mysore Wodeyars in the 1916. Self-rule of the residents of Tumkur started after the setting up of the municipality. Tumkur was converted into a

only in 2010 by adding 22 villages adjoining the city. The population is 3,05,877 as per the 2011 census. Tumkur is now a middle class majority city, with a literacy rate of 80%, mainly traders, government employees, small and medium industrialists, and self-employed individuals. The GDP of Tumkur is around 16600 crores (2014) and the total collection of income tax in the last financial year was approximately 80 crores. Being an Agrarian economy, the major plantation crops of Tumkur are

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

and

areca nut ''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ''Areca'' is derived from a name u ...

. The major cash crops are paddy, ragi and

groundnut Groundnut may refer to: * Seeds that ripen underground, of the following plants, all in the Faboideae subfamily of the legumes: ** '' Best Basketball Player'', Obinna Udunni ** '' Arachis villosulicarpa'', a perennial peanut species ** ''Vigna sub ...

Iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

, manganese and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

are the major minerals found in the Tumkur district. Tumkur is a knowledge hub in the south interior of Karnataka. It has

Tumkur University Tumkur University was established in 2004 in Tumkuru, Karnataka, India. It was carved out of Bangalore University to accommodate the needs of the students from Tumkuru district. Established under the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, as ...

, two medical colleges, five engineering colleges, 38 degree and postgraduate colleges, one dental college and many polytechnics, high schools and primary schools. The Indian budget for the year 2014-2015 held on 10 July 2014 announced that Tumkur was one of the cities in south India to be developed as an "Industrial Smart" city. The city was also selected as one among the 100 in the country shortlisted for the Smart City Project. Tumkur was competing to be one among the 20 to be taken up for development in 2018. The government of India has promised 100 crores each as a matching grant for five years and the local body with assistance from the state government has to match another 100

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

s. Thus, in five years, development in the amount of 1000 crores will happen in Smart City.

Climate

Transportation

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation - (Karnataka SRTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to towns and cities in ...

, KSRTC, has a divisional office situated in Tumkur City. The city is well-connected to Bangalore and other cities in the state by KSRTC buses. Volvo buses are available for the city, Bangalore. Frequent buses are available connecting other taluks and towns of the district. Three National Highways

, NH 73 and NH 69 pass through the city. The three National Highways connect Tumkur to

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

and

Shimoga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

in Karnataka respectively. TCB Road(Karnataka)(Tumkur-Chelur-Bukkapatna Road) connects the people of

Hagalavadi Haagalavaadi is a town in the Tumkur District of the Indian state of Karnataka. It belongs to the Bangalore Division. It is located 50 km from the district headquarter, Tumkur. Bangalore is the nearest Metropolitan Area A metropoli ...

, Chelur and Bellavi Towns to Tumkur Corporation City. Plenty of private and

buses are currently operating on this route. Railways also play a major role in connectivity. The city's Railway Station comes under

South Western Railway Zone The South Western Railway (SWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India, headquartered at Hubballi in Karnataka State. SWR was created from carving out the routes from Southern Railways, South Central Railways and Central Railways in 2003. H ...

(India) and was constructed during the British period and has been renovated recently. It is located in centre of the city close to the bus stand and the town hall. It is located in the Bangalore-Hubli main line. The city buses are also available for transportation within the city by KSRTC. Popularly known as Sri Siddaganga Nagara Sarige, named after the holy place, Siddaganga. There are more than 100 buses transporting in the city. The nearest airport to Tumkur is

Kempegowda International Airport Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, India. Spread over , it is located about north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru Inte ...

in Bangalore which is around 90 km from the city.

Economy

*Tumkur district's economy is majorly derived from agriculture. Plantation crops such as coconut, areca nut, paddy cultivation (some parts) attributes to its economy. *Tumkur City's economy comes from industries. Due to its proximity to

, the state capital, it acts as a gateway to North Karnataka, being on the

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

–

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

industrial corridor and the infrastructure that Tumkur provides, it has the potential to be the satellite city to decongest the Bangalore. It also has been identified as National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ). NIMZ of approximately 13500 acres and the HAL helicopter manufacturing facility (Near

Gubbi Gubbi is a town in Tumakuru District, Karnataka, India. It is 20 km from Tumakuru and 90 km from Bengaluru along NH-206 (BH Road). Gubbi ULB Contains 17 Wards and equal number of Councilors. The population of the Gubbi Town is 18,457 ...

) 610 acres are being developed as integrated industrial townships with state-of-the art infrastructure and land use on the basis of zoning, clean and energy efficient technology, necessary social infrastructure, and skill development facilities, for promoting world class manufacturing activity. Tumkur is home to 24 large scale industries with an investment of 911.42 crores and generating an employment for 6445 persons. The existing 15 medium scale industries and 23804 micro and small industries employ 132994 persons and account for an investment of close to 790 crores. A 2000 MW of

solar power plant A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

on 11000 acres is being developed near Pavagada to cater to the power needs of Tumkur and adjoining districts. SIT college

Educational institutes

Siddaganga Institute of Technology Sports The college has facilities for encouraging sports and games. Has well equipped gymnasium, basketball, volleyball court, cricket ground, race track, badminton court, and an indoor stadium. Ranking Siddaganga Institute of Technology is ...

Tumkur is famous for Siddaganga Matha 5 km toward HITECH city flyover, known for providing free education and dorms for more than 9000 children. Karnataka Rathna

Shivakumara Swami Shivakumara Swami (born Shivanna; 1 April 1907 – 21 January 2019) was an Indian humanitarian, spiritual leader, educator and supercentenarian. He was a Veerashaiva Lingayat religious figure, he joined the Siddaganga Matha in 1930 Karnatak ...

, was the president of this matha.

Notable people

Actors

Arjun Sarja Srinivasa "Arjun" Sarja is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry, in addition to Kannada and Telugu languages as well. Referred to by the media and his fans as " Action King" for his roles in ...

, actor *

Jaggesh Jaggesh is an Indian politician, actor, director and producer, who mainly works in the Kannada film industry. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2022 and the spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnata ...

, actor *

Sharath Lohitashwa Sharatchandra Lohithaswa (born 5 May 1972), known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor mostly known for his work in Kannada and Tamil films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continues to work, and television. A ...

, actor *

Lohithaswa Lohithaswa T. S. (5 August 1942 – 8 November 2022) was an Indian Kannada film actor and playwright and an English professor. He acted in more than five hundred Kannada movies, stage plays, and television serials. He was popularly known for h ...

T. S., actor,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Manjula Manjula (Sanskrit: मंजुला) is a Hindu and Sanskrit female given name, which means, "melodious". Notable people named Manjula * Manjula (Kannada actress) (1954–1986), Indian actress * Manjula Chellur (born 1955), Indian doctor and ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

* Narasimharaju * Siddhanth, actor *

Ashika Ranganath Ashika Ranganath is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada language films. She is known for her lead role in the 2016 film Crazy Boy (film), Crazy Boy and Raambo 2 (2018). Early life and personal life Ashika was born in a Kan ...

, actress * Rangayana Raghu, Actor and Comedian

Arts

Doddarange Gowda Doddarangegowda is a Kannada poet and a lyricist working for Kannada cinema. He is a retired professor of Kannada and has published a number of anthologies in Kannada. He has released several audio cassettes and CDs of his poems. Some of his not ...

, poet *

Amarashilpi Jakanachari Jakanachari was a legendary Indian sculptor credited with building many fine temples for the Kalyani Chalukyas and Hoysalas. He is popularly known by the epithet ''Amarashilpi'' (). His life Jakanachari was born in a small village call ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

* Renuka Kesaramadu,

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and sculptor * Kunigal Nagabhushan, writer * T. Sunandamma, writer and

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

B. M. Srikantaiah Belluru Mylaraiah Srikantaiah (3 January 1884 – 5 January 1946), was an Indian author, writer and translator of Kannada literature. Prominent Students * V. Seetharamaiah * K. V. Puttappa Works * ''Gadayuddha Natakam'' (ಗದಾಯುದ ...

, writer known as Kannadada Kanva *

T. N. Srikantaiah Theerthapura Nanjundaiah Srikantaiah ( kn, ತೀರ್ಥಪುರ ನಂಜುಂಡಯ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠಯ್ಯ) (26 November 1906 – 7 September 1966) commonly known as 'Thee. Nam. Shree. (ತೀ. ನಂ. ಶ್ರೀ.), was a ...

, poet, linguist and teacher * Chi. Udayashankar, lyricist *

Gubbi Veeranna Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...

, theatre director *

Chandrika Gururaj Chandrika Gururaj (born 4 October 1959), is an Indian playback singer, known for her works in Kannada. Apart from film songs, she has also recorded numerous devotional, bhaavageethe and folk songs. For her song "O Priyatama" in the movie ''Urvas ...

- playback singer

Politicians

* G. S. Basavaraj, politician * K. Lakkappa, politician * S. Mallikarjunaiah, politician * Rank Nazeer Ahmed, politician * G. Parameshwara, former

Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka The Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka is a member of the Cabinet in the Government of Karnataka. Not technically a constitutional office, it seldom carries any specific powers. A deputy Chief minister usually also holds a key cabinet portfolio ...

, former KPCC President

Sports

* Poll Ashokanand, cricketer * Poll Shyamsunder, cricketer

Others

C. P. Sadashivaiah C. P. Sadashivaiah (Chikkanayakanahalli Prabhanna Sadashivaiah) (9 January 1931 – 2 June 2007) was an Indian freedom fighter

, Indian freedom fighter *

, supercentenarian, humanitarian, spiritual leader and educator * Saalumarada Thimmakka, Indian environmentalist

Media

Tumkur has a private FM radio channel, Siddhartha, situated at SSIT campus, broadcasting in Kannada language. Amogha local channel is Amogha Networks. File:Tumkuru. Balasankri.jpg, Bhanasankari Temple File:Tumkuru City.jpg, City Entrance File:Town Hall Circle in Tumkur.jpg, Town Hall junction File:Masjid Al Rayyan Tumakuru.jpg, Masjid Al Rayyan,Ring Road File:Masjid e Aqsa, Tumkur - 02.jpg, Masjid e Aqsa File:Rank Nazeer Saheb Eidgah Tumkur.jpg, Rank Nazeer Saheb Eidgah File:CSI Wesley Church Tumkur 1.jpg, CSI Wesley Church

References

External links

Official website of Tumkur Urban Development Authority
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Tumkur district Cities in Karnataka

Etymology

Geography

Demographics

History

Climate

Transportation

Economy

Educational institutes

Notable people

Actors

Arts

Politicians

Sports

Others

Media

See also

References

External links