The team visited the Kittur Rani Chennamma Fort on 14/10/2021. Large sections of the fort of Kittur are now in ruins. Apart from incredible structure we can observe the ‘water transport system’ aimed to reduce the work of women. The Fort included a total of five wells- from each water well had a stone carved pipe like structure transporting water to every part of the household. Kitchen was well equipped with a drainage system, garin storage and milk-curd underground stone area.
The Kittur Rani Chennamma Fort Museum has collections of Rani Chennama’s portraits, swords and armoury of that century. It also housed sculptures in and around the 11th to 15th century. Majority of the sculpture was Veeragallu or the Hero Stone and the Mahasati Stone.Hero Stone are the memorial stones which can be seen all over the country; but the stone found in this region is unique in that instead of men, we see women involved in episodes like archery and sword fighting. From their dresses to their posture, everything seems to be heroic in nature.In contrast to this are the Mahasati stone where a woman, for instance, is inviting death after hearing of her husband’s demise. Other than these two important stones, there were sculptures of gods, of women worshiping, women with children etc. The Museum also included books on the history of Kittur and Rani Chennamma.
Rani Channamma - Depictions at Kittur Fort
