EMBLEM OF KARNATAKA

EMBLEM OF KARNATAKA

The official Emblem of Government of Karnataka in India has a red shield in the centre, charged with a white two-headed bird, ‘Ganda Berunda’ and fringed in blue. Crested above it, four red-maned, yellow lions stand back-to-back facing four directions (only three are visible) on a blue circular abacus with a blue frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of a galloping horse on the left, a Dharmachakra in centre, a bull on the right and the outlines of Dharmachakras on the extreme left and right as part of Sarnath's Ashoka Pillar. The shield is flanked on either side by red-maned, yellow lion-elephant ‘Sharabha’ supporters (mythical creatures believed to be upholders of righteousness stronger than lions and elephants) standing on a green, leafy compartment. Below the compartment the national motto of India, ‘Satyameva Jayate’, Sanskrit for ‘truth alone triumphs’ is written. This emblem is adapted from the royal emblem of Mysore and is carried on all the official correspondences made by Government of Karnataka. The Gandaberunda (also known as the Berunda) is a two-headed bird of Hindu mythology thought to possess magical strength. The Ganda Berunda took physical form in the Narasimha (Man-Lion) incarnation of Vishnu.