South India · Karnataka
Mangalore, Karnataka
Sources: wikimedia
About Mangalore
- Coastal
- Riverside
Where it is
Mangalore, officially Mangaluru, is Karnataka's chief port city, on the Arabian Sea coast between the Netravati and Gurupura rivers, with the Western Ghats rising to the east.
History
Named after the goddess Mangaladevi, Mangalore was an old trading port ruled by the Alupa kings, Vijayanagara and the Keladi Nayakas, with the Portuguese active on the coast from the 16th century. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan held it in the late 18th century, and the Treaty of Mangalore of 1784 ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War. After 1799 it came under British rule, and the Basel Mission, arriving in 1834, set up printing presses, weaving and tile factories.
People
Mangalore is multilingual: Tulu is the most widely spoken language, alongside Konkani, Kannada, Beary and Malayalam. Its communities have long worked in fishing, trade and banking, and the region is a heartland of Yakshagana theatre, the Pili Vesha tiger dance at Dasara and the Kambala buffalo races.
Known for
- Seafood, neer dosa and ghee roast
- Red clay Mangalore roof tiles
- Panambur and Tannirbhavi beaches
- Kudroli Gokarnanatha and Mangaladevi temples
- Yakshagana, Kambala and Pili Vesha
Did you know?
Several major Indian banks began in Mangalore, among them Canara Bank, founded in 1906, and the first Kannada newspaper, Mangaluru Samachara, was published here in 1843.
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