Karnataka tourism sector is getting bigger and better day by day

India is one of the best tourism destinations in the world. The country is known for its cultural diversity. The Southern Indian state of Karnataka has some of the best tourism destinations in the country.

The state of Karnataka was created on November 1, 1956 under the States Reorganization Act. It was originally known as the State of Mysore. In 1973, it was renamed Karnataka. The state is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast and Kerala to the southwest. Covering an area of 74,122 square miles, Karnataka is the eighth largest state of India in terms of area,

It is also ranked the fourth most popular state in the country for tourism. Karnataka contains 507 of 3,600 centrally protected monuments in India. The highest number of monuments is located in Uttar Pradesh. Aside from these, there are additional 752 monuments protected by The State Directorate and Museums. There are another 25,000 monuments that are yet to receive protection.

There are four regions in Karnataka- North Karnataka, the Hill Stations, Coastal Karnataka and South Karnatka. Recently, the government of Karnataka introduced “The Golden Chariot,” a train which connects popular tourist destination between Karnataka and Goa.

North Karnataka has some great monuments that date back to the 5^th century A.D. Kannada empires, who ruled the Deccan had their capitals in the region. Badami Chalukyas monuments are located at Pattadakal, Aihole and Badami.

Aihole is considered as the crade of Indian architecture covering more than 125 temples and monuments built between 450 and 1100 CE.

In March 2010, the departnment of tourism, government of Karnataka, announced that it has a master plan for the development of the tourism in the state. The plan is prepared based on the vision 2020. The plan is first of its kind in Karnataka which hopes to attract investments ranging from Rs.100 billion to Rs.200 billion in the next three to five years.