South India

Karnataka

Coffee hills, silk looms, and coastal fire.

Karnataka holds two very different Indias inside one border: the misted coffee estates of Coorg, and the coastal fire of Yakshagana theatre performed in Udupi villages until sunrise.

In between sit handloom towns like Bagalkot, where the Ilkal saree is still woven on pit looms passed from mother to daughter.

Worth knowing

·All-night Yakshagana theatre performances
·Ilkal handloom weaving on a pit loom
·Coffee and cardamom estate work in Coorg

Living traditions

Traditions & performing arts of Karnataka

Performing Art

Karnataka

Veerabhadra Kunithaವೀರಭದ್ರ ಕುಣಿತವು

Performing Art

Karnataka

Dollu Kunithaಡೊಳ್ಳು ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Veeragaseವೀರಗಾಸೆ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Pata Kunithaಪಟ ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Yakshaganaಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Kamsaleಕಂಸಲೆ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Pooja Kunithaಪೂಜಾ ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Huliveshaಹುಲಿವೇಷ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Bhootharadhaneಭೂತಾರಾಧನೆ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Nandi Dhwaja Kunithaನಂದಿ ಧ್ವಜ ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Somana Kunithaಸೋಮನ ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Ramayana Dramaರಾಮಾಯಣ ನಾಟಕ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Mahabharatha Dramaಮಹಾಭಾರತ ನಾಟಕ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Mahishasuramardini Dramaಮಹಿಷಾಸುರಮರ್ದಿನಿ ನಾಟಕ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Nagamandalaನಾಗಮಂಡಲ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Gombeyaataಗೊಂಬೆಯಾಟ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Goravara Kunithaಗೊರವನ ಕುಣಿತ

Performing Art

Karnataka

Mahakali/Aghori Kunithaಮಹಕಾಳಿ/ಅಘೋರಿ ಕುಣಿತ

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Mysore painting

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Channapatna toys

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Mysore silk weaving

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Bronze temple lamps

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Stone temple carving

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Floral garland craft

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Traditional silverwork

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Traditional wooden yoke craft

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Stone carving

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Hampi stone-bead craft

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Wooden temple chariot carving

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Clay idol making

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Rangoli

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Clay lamp making

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Ritual mask making

Craft & Tradition

Karnataka

Bhoota costume craft

Festivals in Karnataka

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Religious

Karnataka · September/October

Dasara

Karnataka's ten-day state festival built around the Mysuru Palace, culminating in a torch-lit procession where a bejewelled elephant carries the Chamundeshwari idol through the old city.

Religious

Karnataka · February/March

Mahashivaratri

A night of fasting and temple vigil devoted to Shiva, observed with lingam abhisheka and all-night bhajans at temples across the state.

Religious

Karnataka · March/April

Bengaluru Karaga

One of Bengaluru's oldest living festivals, where a priest of the Thigala community carries a towering flower pyramid on his head through the old city streets before dawn.

Harvest

Karnataka · November–March

Kambala

A traditional buffalo race run through flooded, slushy paddy fields across coastal Karnataka, timed to the post-harvest season.

Arts

Karnataka · November

Hampi Utsava

A three-day cultural festival staged amid Hampi's Vijayanagara-era ruins, with dance, music and light shows set against the boulder-strewn landscape.

Fair

Karnataka · February (biennial)

Marikamba Jatre

Sirsi's biennial fair honouring Goddess Marikamba, centred on two towering wooden temple chariots pulled through the town.

Religious

Karnataka · August/September

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ten days of clay Ganesha idols installed in homes and public pandals, ending with immersion processions through the streets.

Religious

Karnataka · October/November

Deepavali

The festival of lights, marked with oil lamps, rangoli at the doorstep, and fireworks across every town and village.

Religious

Karnataka · April/May

Basava Jayanti

The birth anniversary of the 12th-century poet-philosopher Basavanna, marked with processions and recitations of his Vachana poetry.

Spiritual

Karnataka · October–May

Bhoota Aradhane

Coastal Karnataka's ancestral spirit-worship ritual, where a costumed performer becomes the vessel for a bhoota, a guardian spirit, to bless and counsel the village.

Seasonal

Karnataka · March/April

Ugadi

The Kannada New Year, greeted with a taste of bevu-bella, neem and jaggery, as a reminder that the year ahead holds both bitterness and sweetness.

Experiences in Karnataka

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1 day· Bangalore, Karnataka

WRIKSH Bangalore — A Dasara Day of Holige Making

A single working day in a Bangalore kitchen timed to Dasara — the festival where Karnataka reaches for Mysore Pak and Holige first. Twenty-five guests arrive to a traditional breakfast, then spend the morning with a senior home cook making puran (the chana dal + jaggery filling) and the afternoon rolling, stuffing and cooking the Holige on the tawa. Everyone eats some hot off the pan and leaves with a small kraft box of ten Holige packed within the hour — fresh enough to gift that evening. The head cook leads the demo, an assistant cook runs the tawa rotation so nothing burns, and a WRIKSH organizer keeps the day on schedule and takes photos.

₹1,800 / person₹2,499See details →