It’s 200 years since brave Rani Channamma fought the British at Kittur Premium

The government of Karnataka plans to celebrate the bicentenary in a grand manner. District in-charge minister Satish Jarkiholi has held two meetings with officials to review preparations for a three-day Kittur Utsav in October.

The equestrian statue of Rani Channamma in the village of Kakati lies to the south of the Bengaluru-Pune national highway. Those driving past hurriedly can miss the statue. A detour into the service road leads to the gram panchayat office on whose premises stands the tall metal statue. A metal board proclaims Kakati to be the birth place of Channamma.

A walk of around one kilometre into the small street on the right leads to an empty ground with a couple of mud domes. This used to be the family home of Dhoolappa Gouda, Channamma’s father. There is nothing else to remind visitors of the significance of the place where the warrior queen spent the first 15 years of her life.

Similarly neglected is the public garden in Bailhongal town that houses her grave. The park has no plaque with details of the queen’s life or death. The grave stone remains unclean and the paint is coming off. There are no guides to show visitors around the park or the prison that she was kept in.

Fewer people know of the Deshanoor palace, the summer hunting lodge of King Mallasarja Desai, her husband. It is unmarked. One has to walk down the valley to reach the place, which is surrounded by lantana and other weeds. The only stories one hears are those by cowherds who speak of the kings and queens of Kittur.

The majestic fort of Kittur is maintained by the ASI and the government of Karnataka, but there are no guides here either.

Grand plans of building a replica of the fort in a 52-acre plot in Bacchanakeri village along the national highway, or in situ development of the Kittur fort have not taken off yet.

The two battles of Kittur of 1824 were among the earliest armed battles against the British East India Company in south India after the Anglo-Mysuru wars fought by Tipu Sultan. They were led by Rani Channamma, queen of Kittur, who rallied against the British agent in Dharwad in October and November 1824.