The right arm of the equestrian statue of Rani Channamma in Kittur, Belagavi district, Karnataka, fell on the night of 19 October, The Hindu wrote. The statue stands at the entrance to the historic town, off the Pune–Bengaluru national highway. This is an incident to a monument, not a political contest before a court and not confirmed vandalism.

The reason the bronze arm broke is not known. Officers quoted by The Hindu say it may have rusted and broken in rain and wind. The Times of India notes a suspicion that daily-wage workers using a lift while cleaning near the statue may have erred; that remains unverified. We do not merge the two hypotheses into a single cause.

The tahsildar, taluk panchayat officials and police inspected the spot. The arm and the sword were taken to the tahsildar’s office. TOI writes that the administration covered the statue with a cloth as a precaution, and that DSP Veerayya Hiremath visited the site, in the Kittur police-station limits.

The Hindu gives the dimensions: about 50 feet from the ground to the top, the metal figure about 10 feet, more than a tonne. It was unveiled in 1997, moved a few feet when the highway was widened in 1999 under the Golden Quadrangle, and cleaned and painted in 2024 for the 200th anniversary of the War of Kittur.

Kittur Utsav is due to open on 23 October. Pro-Kannada groups want a new statue and, if that cannot be done in three days, at least a repair before the opening. Rudragouda Patil, of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike taluk unit, says he filed a replacement memorandum four years ago and that officers ignored it.

Patil asked that state chief minister D. K. Shivakumar, who is due at the valedictory, announce not only a replacement but a larger statue. Sri Madiwala Rajayogindra swami of Kittur Kalmath and MLC Hanumant Nirani also asked for immediate repairs and a new statue. Those are demands, not a government decision and not work already done.

Deccan Herald notes the festival is announced for 23 to 25 October. Until a public expert report exists, the closed fact is the fall of the right arm on the night of 19 October, the sword at the tahsildar’s office, the cause unconfirmed, and no named vandal.

Image: Manjunath Doddamani Gajendragad, Rani Channamma, 2008, public domain, Wikimedia Commons; an older portrait/statue, not a photograph of the monument broken in 2026.

Sources consulted: Hand of Rani Channamma statue falls 4 days before Kittur Utsav - The Hindu; Channamma idol in Kittur town damaged - Times of India.