Shravanabelagola

The statue of Bahubali, or Gommateshwara, stands about seventeen metres high on Vindhyagiri hill, carved around 981 from a single granite outcrop, showing the figure standing in meditation so long that vines have grown up his legs. It is reached by around six hundred and fifty steps cut into the rock, climbed barefoot as the whole hill is sacred. Every twelve years the Mahamastakabhisheka is performed: a scaffold is built and the statue is anointed from above with milk, saffron, sugarcane juice, sandalwood and flowers before hundreds of thousands of people. The facing hill, Chandragiri, holds older Jain temples and inscriptions.

History

The name means "white pond of the Shravana", for the pond in the middle of the town, and tradition holds that Acharya Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya meditated on Chandragiri hill, where Chandragupta is said to have died as a Jain monk. The 58-foot monolithic statue of Gommateshwara on Vindhyagiri was erected by the general Chavundaraya for his mother, with a Prakrit inscription of 981 CE at its base, and the roughly eight hundred inscriptions collected nearby span the years from 600 to 1830 CE; every twelve years the statue is anointed in the Mahamastakabhisheka (Wikipedia, Shravanabelagola).

What you'll find

• The Bahubali statue - seventeen metres cut from one granite outcrop.
• The barefoot stair - around six hundred and fifty steps up the rock.
• Chandragiri - the facing hill with early Jain temples and inscriptions.
• The tank - the pond between the hills that gives the town its name.

When to go

October to March; the anointing ceremony falls roughly every twelve years and draws enormous crowds. The barefoot climb is punishing on hot rock, so early morning is essential.

Before you go

Shoes must be left at the bottom and the granite becomes painfully hot by mid-morning. The climb is steep with no shade. Doli chairs are available and expensive.

Nearby

Belur and Halebidu lie north; Mysore is south.

Key facts