Kittur Fort and Palace

Kittur Fort in Belagavi district was built by Allappa Gowda Sardesai, the fifth Kittur ruler, who reigned from 1660 to 1691. It is remembered above all as the seat of Rani Chennamma, the queen who led an uprising against the East India Company in 1824. The walls are of black basalt quarried locally, and the site spreads over about 23 acres, once encircled by a water-filled moat.

Within the fort are a watchtower, tanks, the ruins of the palace and a museum run by the state Department of Archaeology and Museums, showing weapons, stone sculptures, paintings and finds from the area. The three-storey palace mixed Peshwa and Islamic styles and had an audience hall with carved pillars, a durbar hall and a vast dining hall; a hidden well fed by brass pipes set in the walls supplied it with water. A park named after the queen lies nearby, and the yearly Kittur Utsav marks her revolt with parades, folk music, dance and theatre.