Shravanabelagola – home to the world’s largest monolithic statue

Located 100 miles from Bangalore, Shravanabelagola is a major Jain pilgrimage centre. It is situated in Hassan district of Karnataka, and is on the route from Bangalore to Mangalore.

More than 20 centuries ago, the route to this once thriving city led from Magadha, in present day Bihar. The king who consolidated most of north India, Chandragupta Maurya, spent his last years here. His illustrious grandson, Asoka, who is credited with being the first king to have put India on the global map, built a memorial here for his grandfather.

The most popular attraction of Shravanabelagola (meaning ‘pure white pond’) is the statue of Bahubali, or Gomateshwara. At 18 meters, or nearly 60 feet from head to toe, it is believed to be the world’s largest monolithic statue. Standing in awe-inspiring majesty atop the Chandragiri hills in the serene gait of an ascetic who has renounced the world, the statue can be spotted from a distance of at least 20 miles.

Being a Digambar Jain, Bahubali is fully unclothed. Legend has it that he was a prince who gave up worldly attachment after defeating his brother, Bharata in an individual combat, which changed both their lives.

Since he was a prince, he is depicted as a strikingly handsome man with exceptionally broad shoulders, a hallmark of a man of royal descent (The name ‘Bahubali’ literally translates to “one with strong shoulders”).

The precise year of its construction is given as 981 A.D., which makes it more than a millennium old. Chavunda Raya, a general of a 10th century king of the region, Gangaraya, is credited with having got this statue sculpted and installed, when his mother, it is said, had an afflatus to get this work done.

Jain devotees gather here from all over the world for an event that has great significance for them –the Mahamastakabhisheka, (Maha=great; mastaka=head, and abhisheka=anointment or coronation). This is a grand spectacle that happens once in 12 years.