Kabir : Indian saint and poet of Nirguna Bhakti Movement. He believed in the unity of God and equality of all religions.
Kalpana Chawla : Dr. Kalpana Chawla was the first (Indo-American) woman to go into space. Her first mission was on 19.11.97. Her second mission 0n 16.1.03 ended with a tragic explosion minutes before landing on 1.2.03. In a way to honour her, India's first meterological research satellite has been named as Kalpana-I.
Kamaraj Nadar, K : One of the leading freedom fighters and Congress Party leaders. He was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and introduced several measures for the welfare of downtrodden in Tamil Nadu. He was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1976.
Kamban : A great Tamil poet and author of great Kambaramayanam lived in the 9th Century A.D. He was a native of Tiruvalandur in Tamil Nadu. He was hailed as “Kavi Chakravarthi”. Kamban has given full- fledged artistic expression to the grandeur and vigour of this cultural upsurge in the greatest literary epic of India.
Kanishka : He was the third and greatest King of the Kushan dynasty. He was a great conqueror. He was a Buddhist, and his reign witnessed the division of Buddhism into two sects namely Hinayana and Mahayana. Kanishka was a follower of the Mahayana sect. Kanishka was a great patron of art and literature. The well known Ayurvedic physician Charaka was his court physician. He was the author of Charaka Shastra, Nagarjuna, Ashvagosha, and Vasumitra. Buddhist scholar flourished in his reign. Ashvagosha wrote “Buddha Charita”. The Gandhara school of architecture flourished during his reign. He founded a town Kanishkapura.
Karnam Malleswari : Indian weightlifter from Andhra Pradesh, became First Indian woman ever to win an Olympic medal.
Kennedy, John : He was the youngest and the first Catholic President of United States. He was assassinated in Dallas on 22.11.1963.
Khan Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan : A stalwart of India’s freedom struggle who personified Gandhiji’s ideals and ideas, died in Peshawar on January 20, 1988 at the age of 98 after battling for life for more than 6 months. He was buried as per his will in Jalalabad in Afghanistan, 86 k.m. from the Pakistan border on January 22, 1988. A recipient of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for 1967, he was honoured with India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in the year 1987. He was also associated with Red Shirt Movement. He is also called “Frontier Gandhi”. Kishore Kumar : The King of melody, who held sway over the music world for the past three decades died on 13.10.1987 at the age of 58.
Kofi Annan : The seventh UN Secretary General who is credited with the achievement of averting a possible military strike by Anglo-American forces on Iraq over weapons inspection issue. Recipient of the Seoul Peace Prize 1998 for his contribution to world peace.
Krishna Deva Raya : The Vijayanagar Kingdom founded by Harihara and Bukka rose to prominence by Krishna Deva Raya, the last great Hindu ruler of Southern India belonging to Tuluva dynasty. His reign was remarkable for the encouragement and development of art and culture. Tradition mentions that “Ashtadiggajas” flourished in his court. The Telugu poet “Allasali Peddanna” was a famous poet. His reign constitutes a golden age in South Indian History. He opined “A crowned king should always rule with an eye towards Dharma”.
Krishnamurthy, Jiddu : A renowned philosopher of India. His patrons, Annie Besant and C.W.Leadbeather wanted to make him the world teacher after Christ and Krishna and created the order of the star in the East in 1911. In 1929, he dissolved the order of the Star of the East as he felt that spiritual organisations were a hindrance to the discovery of the truth.
