KEMPEGOWDA

• Nadaprabhu Hiriya Kempegowda, also known as Kempegowda, was a chieftain under the Vijayanagara Empire. He is also known as the founder of Bengaluru in the 16th century.
• A descendant of Morasu Gowda Lineage, Kempegowda is considered one of his time's most educated and successful rulers.
• As per the available records, Kempegowda displayed leadership skills since his childhood while at a gurukula in Aivarukandapura (Aigondapura), a village near Hesaraghatta.
• He was from the dominant agricultural Vokkalinga community in south Karnataka.
• Kempegowda is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.

4. The idea of Bengaluru

• It is said that Kempegowda got the idea of building a city during a hunting expedition towards Shivanasamudra (near Hesarghatta) with his minister Veeranna and advisor Gidde Gowda.
• As per the initial plans by Kempegowda, the city should have a fort, a cantonment, tanks (Water reservoirs), temples, and people of all trades and professions to live in it. He conquered the Sivaganga principality, 48 Kilometers from Banglore on the Banglore-Pune highway.
• After taking permission from the Vijayanagar emperor Achyutharya, he built Banglore Fort and the town in AD 1537 and shifted his capital from Yelahanka to the new Bengaluru Pete.
• His name is everywhere in the city- the Kempegowda International Airport, the Kempegowda Bus Stand, and even the main metro station in the city are called Nadaprabhu Kempegowda metro station. An arterial road in the old city is called the K G Road or the Kempegowda Road.

5. Social Reforms

• Kempegowda is credited for prohibiting the custom of amputating the last two fingers of the left hand of unmarried women during "Bandi Devaru", an important custom of Morasu Vokkalingas. Despite hailing from a Kannada-speaking community, he was multilingual and authored Gangagaurivilasa, a yakshagana play in Telugu.
• In the mid-16th Century, after a complaint from neighboring Palegar, Kempegowda was jailed and his territories were confiscated by the emperor. He was later released after being imprisoned for five years.
• After having ruled for about 56 years, he died in 1569.
• A metal statue of Kempegowda was posthumously installed in 1609 at Gangadhareswara temple at Shivagange.
• According to the World Book of Records, it is the first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city. The statue stands 108 feet in height with a sword weighing 4 tonnes.