Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, Whose Statue Is Being Installed At Bengaluru Airport?

Travellers coming to Bengaluru¡¯s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on the outskirts of the city will soon be welcomed by a gigantic 108-ft bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, credited to be the founder of the city.

A similar statue will also be installed inside the Vidhana Soudha premises within a year, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced.

Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, a 16th century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire, is credited as the founder of Bengaluru.

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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.

Kempegowda is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs, The Indian Express reported.

It is said that he was from the dominant agricultural Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.

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His name is everywhere in the city-the Kempegowda International Airport, the Kempegowda Bus Stand, and even the main metro station in the city is called Nadaprabhu Kempegowda metro station. An arterial road in the old city is called the K G Road or the Kempegowda Road.

Why statue at airport?

The 108-ft bronze statue is being constructed in a 23-acre heritage park on the airport premises. It has a 4,000 kg sword which arrived at the Bengaluru airport from Delhi last month. The sword was brought in a special truck from Delhi.

In September 2019, then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had announced plans to install a bronze statue of Kempegowda at the city¡¯s international airport at the cost of Rs 100 crore.

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This announcement had come a day after a massive protest by the Vokkaliga community in Bengaluru over the alleged targeting of its members, including Congress leader D K Shivakumar, the Caf¨¦ Coffee Day founder V G Siddharth (deceased) and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by central probe agencies.

The protest had come at a time when the BJP was making plans to poach several Vokkaliga community leaders from southern Karnataka as part of its strong push to make inroads in the old Mysuru region, which is considered as the Vokkaliga stronghold.

BJP¡¯s plan to install statue

The plan of constructing the statue was taken forward by the present CM Basavaraj Bommai.

The CM has said that the statue will be unveiled along with the inauguration of the much-awaited international airport¡¯s Terminal-2.

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¡°The statue of Kempegowda is in its final stages of completion and it is the tallest statue of Kempegowda,¡± Bommai said.

Kempegowda is an iconic figure among Karnataka¡¯s second most dominant Vokkaliga community after Lingayats. The saffron party plans to woo the Vokkaliga community by honouring Kempegowda, according to the BJP sources.

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