This digital archive is located at the intersection of gender studies, cultural archiving and digital humanities and seeks to digitize the diverse contributions of women from North Karnataka. The aims of this digital archive are two-pronged- to bring together life writings, performances, creative writing, historical material and any other ephemera related to prominent women from North Karnataka, and subsequently, generate and pursue new research questions that emerge from visualizing/arranging such data. Towards that end, the research team has engaged in traversing and analysing the ‘field’ of North Karnataka, while taking into cognizance its rich historical past.
Northern Karnataka offers a rich history of women’s contribution to the political, historical and cultural fabric of the state- a fact that has been historically neglected. Existing literature/records of women in North Karnataka history and traditions is scant. Individual works- such as books, short stories, nursery rhymes and fictional recreations- do exist that offer imaginative, fictional and even anecdotal insights.
In terms of
books on important women figures from North Karnataka works such as Rani Chennamma by Sadashiva S. Wodeyar, Publisher: (1977 Original from the University of Michigan), Kittur Chennamma, Edited by- Zheng Cirino (2012) , The Queen of Kittur: A Historical Novel by Basavaraj Naikar (2016,), celebrate the valour of Rani Chennamma of Kittur.
Rani Channamma - Depictions at Kittur Fort
Equally visible as a significant female voice from Karnataka, though of a literary and spiritual nature is Akka Mahadevi with her short vachanas being famously translated by Susie Tharu and K. Lalitha, as well as by AK Ramanujan (Women Writing In India: Volume I: 600 B.C. to the Early 20th Century: 1).
Songs for Shiva by V. Chaitanya - Vachanas by Akka Mahadevi
