November 11: Onake Obavva Jayanti
From this year, the Karnataka government has decided to celebrate ‘Onake Obavva Jayanti’ on November 11 throughout the state
- Onake Obavva is a woman warrior who fought the forces of Hyder Ali single-handedly with a pestle (‘onake’ in Kannada) in Chitradurga in the 18th century.
- She died protecting the Chitradurga Fort, which was ruled by Madakari Nayaka in the 18th century.
- Obavva is considered to be the epitome of Kannada pride and celebrated along with other women warriors of Karnataka state.
- Onake Obavva’s courage and quick thinking have been praised by the people of Karnataka, especially in the Chitradurga region, where a stadium is named after her.
- Inspired by Onake Obavva, in 2018, the Chitradurga police started ‘Obavva Pade’, a squad of women police constables to protect and educate women in the district.
- This was later extended to Bangalore.
