District admn. carries out repairs to Channamma statue in Kittur

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

The repairs were taken up immediately after news came and completed within hours, the officers said.

The issue had raised some concerns as the State-level Kittur Utsav is scheduled to begin on Friday.

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

The blacksmiths cleaned it, soldered the missing parts and fixed it back in place. The sword that had slipped from the hand was then restored to its rightful place.

Finally, the right hand was polished after a coat of paint was applied at the broken area. Local officers had wrapped the bronze statue in a red colour cloth after the arm fell off on Monday night.

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike leader Rudragouda Patil, MLC Hanumanth Nirani and seer of Kalmath Sri Rajayogindra Swami had demanded that the State government replace the statue.

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

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

The statue stands 50 ft high above the ground. The metal statue is around 10 ft tall. It is estimated to weigh over a tonne.

It was unveiled in 1997. It was relocated a few feet away 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 War of Kittur in 2024.