Karnataka names 71 achievers for the Rajyotsava Award, its second-highest civilian honour

30 October 2026

The Karnataka government on 30 October named 71 people for the 2026 Kannada Rajyotsava Award, ahead of the state's 71st formation day on 1 November. The award is the state's second-highest civilian honour; the highest is the Karnataka Ratna. This year's winners come from fields ranging from literature, Yakshagana and cinema to the judiciary, the media and social service, and 12 of them are women. Among the names are former Advocate General B.V. Acharya for the judiciary, Yakshagana artiste Gopala Ganiga, writer Dr Indira Hegde, photojournalist Vishwanath Suvarna and A.C. Bhandary of the Akhila Bharata Tulu Okkuta for social service. Each winner gets Rs 5 lakh, a 25-gram gold medal and a memento. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar was to present the awards at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru on 1 November.