An appropriate road map of Karnataka could provide a perspective of this fascinating strip of land by the Arabian Sea. Its length is profuse with the greenest of coconut groves, rambling paddy fields, echoing streams and sandy coastal areas.
As one goes east, the land elevates with the Western Ghats mountain range, specifically the hilly uplands of Malanad. Beautiful is where the mountain range ends and the desolate stretch of the Deccan Plateau begins.
Held to be the most primordial land on earth, this part of Karnataka is arid for the most part. However, the silvery ribbons of the Cauvrey, Sharavathi and Ghataprabha occasionally crisscross it.
The Karnataka of today is at the forefront of an ever-modernizing civilization. One needs to dust off some modern influences to actually see that Karnataka historically formed the southern extreme of the mighty Mauryan Empire, in 300 BC. |
