Shravanabelagola Gomateshwara Temple | Bahubali Statue

Situated on top of the Vindhyagiri hill at an altitude of 1020 metres, in Shravanabelagola town, is the tallest monolith nude statue in the world. It is the statue of Bahubali Gomateshwara, the son of Rishabhanatha, the foremost 24 sacred saints in Jainism. He is depicted at a height of 60 feet in the upright posture of meditation to attain salvation by practicing renunciation, self-restraint and complete dominance of ego. It is believed that Bahubali and his brother Bharatha waged a war against each other to acquire the power over the dynasty. Though the former won the contest, he subsequently abandoned his kingdom, family and other worldly attachments to become a monk.

Karnataka Archeological Department has collected around 800 Jain related inscriptions here covering the period from 600 to 1830 A.D. According to them, it is mentioned that this statue was built by Chamundaraya, a poet and minister from the Western Ganga Dynasty between the years 978 and 993 CE. The statue has ringlets of broad shoulders with arms stretched straight down, curly hair, large elongated ears, open eyes and sporting a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The base of the statue depicts an anthill. A creeper is twined around both his legs and arms, blossoming into flowers and berries on the upper arms. The statue has linguistic carved inscriptions in Kannada and Tamil.

This region has cuisine and food practices influenced by Jainism. Shravanabelagola or the white pond of the Sravana (Jain monk) or the Jain monk is so named with reference to the colossal Jain image of the place. The derivation of the word ‘Belagola’ is from two Kannada words Bel (white) and Kola (pond) that mentions the beautiful pond in the middle of the town. The statue can be reached by taking some 600 steps, offers a picturesque view of the plains as well as nearby hills. Palanquin facility is also available for those who do not want to take the steps. Adjacent to this hill is the small hillock ‘Chandragiri Hills’, that has some temples in Dravidian architecture. There are many inscriptions around the hill which are about the evolution of Kannada literature and Jainism.