Shravanabelagula is located in Hassan district , Karnataka, India. It is one of the mot important Jain pilgrim center. How it got its name?
"Bel" means white and "Kola", the pond, the city has a beautiful white pond in the center. It is believed that great emperor Chandragupta Maurya,became ascetic under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu and ending his days in sallekhana (death by fasting) here. To this day one can see his foot print. More than 800 inscriptions are found at shravanbelgula,dating various time from 600 to 1830 AD.
Statue of Gomteshwara
Who is Gomteshwara?
According to Jainism, lord Bahubali was son of first Trithankar "Purudev" also known as "Vrishabhadeva or Adinath". Lord Bahubali had to fight with his own brother "Bharata" to became the Chakravarti (Supreme Emperor) but he changed his mind and went to the forest for penance. According to legend, he stood meditating for such long time that anthills formed on the ground where he stood,snakes lay coiled at his feet and creepers grew around his body.
It was the king Ramchmalla II of Ganga Dynasty who inspired by the great soul of lord Bahubali, built the cossal statue of Lord Bahubali.
The statue is 58 feet 8 inch on the Vidyagiri hills, and it is world largest monolithic stone statue. The base of the statue has inscriptions in Kannada date 981 AD.The Statue is curved out of black granite rock.
Let EXPLORE ...
How to get here :
Nearest Airport : Bangalore International Airport
Nearest Railway: Hassan Railway station
Distance from Bangalore is approx 297 km, book a cab, drive your own vehicle, get into a bus, anyways you have to visit this place once before you DIE!!!
"Bel" means white and "Kola", the pond, the city has a beautiful white pond in the center. It is believed that great emperor Chandragupta Maurya,became ascetic under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu and ending his days in sallekhana (death by fasting) here. To this day one can see his foot print. More than 800 inscriptions are found at shravanbelgula,dating various time from 600 to 1830 AD.
Statue of Gomteshwara
Who is Gomteshwara?
According to Jainism, lord Bahubali was son of first Trithankar "Purudev" also known as "Vrishabhadeva or Adinath". Lord Bahubali had to fight with his own brother "Bharata" to became the Chakravarti (Supreme Emperor) but he changed his mind and went to the forest for penance. According to legend, he stood meditating for such long time that anthills formed on the ground where he stood,snakes lay coiled at his feet and creepers grew around his body.
It was the king Ramchmalla II of Ganga Dynasty who inspired by the great soul of lord Bahubali, built the cossal statue of Lord Bahubali.
The statue is 58 feet 8 inch on the Vidyagiri hills, and it is world largest monolithic stone statue. The base of the statue has inscriptions in Kannada date 981 AD.The Statue is curved out of black granite rock.
Let EXPLORE ...
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| Main Entrance to Temple |
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| A flight of 641 stone cut steps |
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| The Welcome Gate |
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| Reminds of Yudhisthira going to heaven |
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| Foot Print of Chandragupta Mauraya |
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| ChandraGupta Mauraya's foot print |
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| Notice |
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| Jain Gurus |
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| 24 Jain Tirthankaras |
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| Old Kananda Scripts |
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| Gommateshwara 58 feet , 26 feet wide and 10 feet long |
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| Carved out black granite of the hills |
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| AntHill in background signifies his incessant penance |
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| A snake from Antthill |
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| A creeper which twine around both legs |
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| His shoulders broad and arm straight down. |
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| His arms culminating as a cluster of flowers and berries at upper portion of the arm |
How to get here :
Nearest Airport : Bangalore International Airport
Nearest Railway: Hassan Railway station
Distance from Bangalore is approx 297 km, book a cab, drive your own vehicle, get into a bus, anyways you have to visit this place once before you DIE!!!
very informative and interesting .....Chandragupta was influenced to accept Jainism by the sage Bhadrabahu; he abdicated his throne to spend his last days at the above mentioned place.......where he fasted unto death..........
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