Kittur Fort

The ruins of its Kittur fort, as they are now, best known for the heroic resistance of its queen, Kittur Chennamma, against the British. The fort was built by Allappa Gowda Sardesai, the ruler of the Desai dynasty between 1650 and 1681. It was held by the Desai Marathas, as well as Rani Chennamma, a lingayat woman warrior of Karnataka who revolted against the British in 1824.

Rani Chennamma known for having led an armed rebellion against the British East India Company all the way back in 1824. That’s 33 years before the first war of independence or the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.

Now a ruin that remains, once was a three storeyed structure that displayes Peshwa-Islamic architecture. Inside the palace, one will find a Pole Star Vision Room, where Chennamma would track the the ‘Pole’ star through an ancient telescope.

There is a temple right outside the ruins and an archaeological museum that houses a collection of antiquities that were discovered in Kittur. The archaeological museum, known by as the Kittur Rani Chenamma memorial government museum, is managed by the state department of archaeology and museums. One can spend some time exploring the museum and check many historical relics, weapons, shields, swords, mail-coat, engraved doors & windows and modern paintings.

The Fort it self was built with extremely western planning. It has a swimming pool inside, with a visitors hall, a secret well to save water, a waiting room where visitors could wait before meeting the queen.

Timings

Kittur fort is open from 08:00 AM to 05:30 PM and is open throughout the year.

The monument authorities do not charge any fee from the visitors.

Where to Stay

While Kittur does not posses a large range of hotels and resorts to stay, one should explore staying in nearing cities of Belgaum and Hubballi

How to reach the Fort

Kittur village is about 4 Kms off from NH48 (Mumbai – Bengaluru Highway), Falls almost midway from Hubballi and Belgaum