Story of Brave Lady Onake Obavva

Nov 11th to be celebrated as Onake Obavva Jayanti, in Karnataka.

Tribute to Onake Obavva on her birth anniversary. The wife of a fort guard, she single-handedly killed hundreds of soldiers of Hyder Ali with an onake, a pestle, at the impregnable Chitradurga Fort of Karnataka.

Finally, we have begun to pay tribute to the REAL HEROES.

It was around 1779, when Chitradurga in Karnataka was ruled by a tribal king named Ontisalaga Madakari Nayaka. He defended his kingdom twice from the attacks of Hyder Ali.

Kahale Muddanna Hanuma was a guard at the Chitradurga fort. His wife was Obavva.

Hyder Ali, Sultan Of kingdom of Mysore, attacked the fort of Chitradurga, with the intent to usurp the fort. A chance sighting of a man entering the Chitradurga fort through a hole in the rocks led to a plan by Hyder Ali to send his soldiers through that crevice. His soldiers decided to enter the fort through the small crevice one by one. The hole was big enough for only a single person to crawl through.

The story goes, Guard Hanuma had gone home for lunch. During his meal, he wanted water and his wife Obavva, went to get water from the well. As she was walking to the well, she heard some noise and noticed Hyder Ali’s soldiers getting ready to enter the fort through the crevice.

She ran back home and not wanting to disturb her husband who was having his lunch, she grabbed her Onake (a long pestle used to powder spices), stood at the entrance of the crevice and started killing the soldiers of Hyder Ali as they entered through it. She hit each soldier on his head as they appeared out of the opening. She then quietly dragged their body inside the wall without raising the suspicions of the rest of the troops.

A short while later, when her worried husband came looking for her, he saw a pile of dead bodies and his wife standing by the crevice with a blood stained onake.

After Obbava’s attack, her husband went up to the fort and alerted the army. The soldiers of Madakari Nayaka rushed and killed the Hyder Ali troops. However, Obavva missed the last invader and was killed by him. The hole through which the Hyder Ali soldiers entered has been named as “Onake Obavva Kindi”.

Onake single-handedly defended Chitradurga Fort for several hours at the same time killing hundreds of the enemy soldiers. That is how this brave woman saved the fort of Chitradurga from Hyder Ali, that day.

What is Onake Obavva Jayanti?

In 2021, the State Government of Karnataka decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Onake Obavva. It is celebrated every year on November 11.

#EmpoweredWomenOfIndia

Writer: Rupa Murthy ( She had written this article in 2017 and is sharing it again).

Note:

There is chapter on Onake Obavva in book #SaffronSwords Part II (under publication by Garuda Prakashan) along with 51 more episodes/chapters of valor of our warrior ancestors from 8th century to independence. Book is very popular and depicts true valour of Hindu warrior unlike the skewed history chi is taught by left historians to us.

• Saffron Swords Part I- India
• Saffron Swords Part I- US

Here is a short excerpt from the book

“In 1779, Hyder Ali and his troops laid siege of Chitradurga fort at the base, unable to enter. Madakari Nayaka had used the fort effectively for defense during the earlier two battles. So did he in this battle in 1779. Hyder Ali had been looking for an opportunity to enter the fort by any means…..”

List of related posts of Hindu warriors’ bravery:

1. Maharani Durgavati-Saffron Swords by Manoshi Sinha
2. Brave Kuyili sacrificed herself life to win over Britishers 1780
3. Queen of Ullal- Braveheart Abbakka Chowta
4. Queen Hadi Rani who sacrificed herself for Rajput Honour
5. Kiran Devi with her dagger on Akbar’s throat
6. Story of Brave Lady Onake Obavva
7. A Tale of Bravery and Chivalry : Rajputs
8. Maharaja Chhatrasal Bundela- Victor of 52 glorious wars
9. Overview of Brave resistance of Hindus against Islamic jihad in Kerala
10. Braveheart Prataprao Gurjar – Battle of Salher, 24 February 1672
11. Jaimal Rathore of Badnor and Patta of Kelwa
12. Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar who defeated British every time
13. King Sambhaji Raje & Knight Williams Wallace- Two warriors, similar life
14. Tanaji Malusare -The Lion of the Famous Singhgadh Fort War
15. Freedom fighters Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu
16. The 27 Years Maratha War(1681 to 1707A.D.) which saved Hinduism
17. Battle of Kamrupa-King Prithu annihilated and Bakhtiyar Khilji finally
18. King Suheldev routed out 10 lac strong army of Invader Salar Masood
19. Sardar Jasaa Singh Ahluwalia- Abdali’s Nightmare