District admin. undertakes repairs to the Channamma statue at Kittur

Repairs are underway on the right arm of the Rani Channamma statue at Kittur. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Officials of the Belagavi district administration have carried out repairs to the Kittur Channamma statue after the right hand fell off accidentally in Kittur.

Repairs began immediately after the reports came in and were completed within hours, police said.

The matter has raised some concerns as the state-level Kittur Utsav is scheduled to begin on Friday.

A team of blacksmiths from Belagavi worked hard to reattach the right hand to the statue.

Blacksmiths cleaned it, soldered the missing parts and fixed it back. The sword that had slipped from his hand was then returned to its proper place.

Finally, the right arm was polished after a coat of paint was applied to the broken area. Local police wrapped the bronze statue in red cloth after the arm fell off on Monday evening.

Karnataka Rakshana leader Vedike Rudragouda Patil, MLC Hanumanth Nirani and seer Kalmathu Sri Rajayogindra Swami demanded that the state government replace the statue.

Mr. Nirani asked the district administration to consult experts in the field of metallurgy and sculpture to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.

The equestrian statue stands at the entrance to the historic city, off the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway.

The statue stands 50 feet high above the ground. The metal statue is about 10 feet tall. It is estimated to weigh over one ton.

It was unveiled in 1997. It was relocated a few meters from the main road during the widening of the National Highway as part of the Golden Quadrangle project in 1999.

It was cleaned and painted during the 200th anniversary of the Kittur War in 2024.

Published – 21 Oct 2026 19:11 IST