Unveiling of a statue of the 16th-century founder of Bengaluru – Nadaprabhu Kempegowda

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

It is the “first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city,” as per ‘World Book of Records’. The monument is named as the “Statue of Prosperity“.

• It has been built to commemorate the contribution of Kempegowda, the founder of the city, towards the growth of Bengaluru.
• Renowned sculptor and Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vanji Sutar has designed the statue.

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda

• Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is a 16th-century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire.
• He belonged to the Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.

Contributions 

• He is credited as the founder of Bengaluru City. 
• 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.
• He is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.
• One of his social reforms was to prohibit the custom of amputating the last two fingers of the left hand of unmarried women during “Bandi Devaru”, an important custom of Morasu Vokkaligas.