Aluru Venkata Rao(12th July 1880 - 25th Feb 1964) was one of the most eminent leaders of the the Karnataka Ekikarana movement. He had a very strong impact on the Ekikarana movement which was fighting for a separate state encompassing all Kannada speaking areas of Mysore, Bombay Presidency and Nizam's Hyderabad. Even though the first strains of this movement had started as early as in 1856 and the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha had been established in 1890, the movement took a dramatic turn with the arrival of Aluru Venkata Rao on the scene. The single most important event that spurred the movement into a frenzy was the publishing of Aluru's magnum opus, Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava in 1912. Such was the impact of his work on the masses that he came to be known as the Kannada Kula Purohita or the 'High priest of the Kannada kula(family) ' Kannada - aptly described as sirigannada (known to few as Kanarese) is one of the oldest Dravidian languages and is spoken in its various dialects by roughly 45 million people. ... Flag of former princely state of Mysore. ... Bombay Presidency was a former province of British India. ...

Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava

Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava literally means The glory that was Karnataka!. It was a book that recounted in great detail the glorious history that had been Karnataka's until the Marathas, Nizam and the British took over. The book created tremendous impact on the young and old alike. The movement soon caught the imagination of the public and people started rallying around the Ekikarana movement and the movement picked up momentum.