In news– The Karnataka government has decided to celebrate ‘Onake Obavva Jayanti(birth anniversary)’ on November 11 throughout the state every year.
A brief note on Obavva
- She was a woman warrior who fought the forces of Hyder Ali single-handedly with a pestle (‘onake’ in Kannada) in Chitradurga, Karnataka in the 18th century.
- She was the wife of soldier Kahale Mudda Hanuma, who was the guard of the fort.
- She showed presence of mind and took on the forces when her husband was away from his post.
- She died fighting the ‘creeping soldiers’ of Hyder Ali and protecting the fort of Chitradurga with her ‘Onake’ and this then gave her the name ‘Onake Obavva’.
- After Obbava’s attack on Hyder Ali’s soldiers, her husband went up to the fort and blew his horn to alert the army about the invaders.
- Madakari Nayaka’s soldiers rushed and killed everyone in Hyder Ali’s small troop.
- The hole through which Hyder Ali’s soldiers entered is called ‘Onake Obavvana Kindi’ (kindi means hole in Kannada) and has become a tourist spot along with the Chitradurga Fort.
- In the state of Karnataka, she is celebrated along with Abbakka Rani, Keladi Chennamma and Kittur Chennamma, as the foremost women warriors and patriots.
- In 2018, the Chitradurga police started ‘Obavva Pade’, a squad of women police constables to protect and educate women about the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.
Madakari Nayaka of Chitradurga–
- Nayakas of Chitradurga ruled parts of eastern Karnataka during the post-Vijayanagara period.
- During the rule of Hoysala Empire and Vijayanagara Empire, they served as a feudatory chiefdom.
- Madakari Nayaka V was a brave soldier and a shrewd administrator as well.
- He allied himself with Haider Ali of the Mysore Kingdom at times and at other times with the Marathas.
- It was during his time that Haider Ali attacked the Chitradurga Fort leading to the heroics of “Onake Obavva”.
Source: The Indian Express
