512th birth anniversary of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda: Karnataka CM releases postal envelope

In order to mark the occasion of the 512th birth anniversary of the founder of Bengaluru, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday released a postal envelope bearing the portraits of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda and restarted the construction work of the Kempegowda Study centre.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwatha Narayana announced that the occasion will be celebrated as 'Bengaluru Habba', a cultural event of three days from next year.

"Every year, the Kempegowda birth anniversary is celebrated on June 27. To coincide with this, starting from next year, 'Bengaluru Habba' will be celebrated from June 26-28," said Narayana.

According to an official release, the event was organized by Kempegowda Heritage Area Development Authority at the Banquet Hall in Vidhana Soudha.

The 108 feet statue of Kempegowda, for which the chief minister had laid the foundation last year, was supposed to have been erected by now at Bengaluru international airport. But, it has been delayed due to the Covid impact.

The work of the bronze statue is in progress at NOIDA (Ram Sutar work station) and the statue will stand up by coming February, Narayana said, and added, a Central Theme Park spread over 23 acres depicting the history of Nadaprabhu's lifetime will also come up there.

"As many as 46 spots have been identified as Kempegowda heritage sites and they will be developed on priority. The related land acquisition and other process have already been initiated. This span of the area comprises a forest of about 15,000 hectares. By including all these, there is also thought to create a tourism circuit," Narayana explained.

Yediyurappa said Kempegowda was a great visionary and a progressive thinker, and added, his laying foundation for building the city of Bengaluru about 500 years back stands as a testimony to the insights he had towards urban development and administration.

The Kempegowda Study Centre which will be built in the Jnanabharati campus of Bengaluru University, which the Chief Minister flagged off virtually, will be established at a cost of Rs 45 crores. The centre will engage in studies throwing light on the history of Nadaprabhu and involve in researches pertaining to urban development and administrative structures.

( With inputs from ANI )

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