His Majesty ...Bahubali !

(Or)the Man with strong arms ! Bahubali the first Tirthankara of Jain

Last week i decided to go somewhere , just anywhere ....lol

I decided to take off to Shravanabelagola with a friend of mine..
Shravanbelagola means "Monk of the white pond" or "White pond of shravana a Jain monk"

Shravanabelagola has 2 hills .
Vindhyagiri where the monolith of Gomateshwara /Bahubali stands and chandragiri where a small statue of Bharatha the brother of Bahubali is located

Vindhyagiri midway.







There were inscriptions in ancient Kannada and Sanskrit








Carved from a single rock in 981 AD a 57 foot monolith in Hassan -Karnataka is a largest free standing  rock statue in the world,
Gomateshwara or Bahubali is the first son of Jain Thirtankara
Jainism believes that in this time cycle 24 Thirtankaras were born and Mahavira was one of them ,


The temple guard.



Bahubali has curly hair and very long ears .
There is a faint smile on his lips , it is believed that he stood here meditating for years motionless
The nude north facing Bahubali in the posture of Kayotsarga symbolizing renunciation and self control.
Nudity here means subjugation of ego and also represents victory over worldly desires

The men and the women in the movie sometimes get into the business of exposing the body , but here the naked stiffness means determination
In Tamil and in Sanskrit  naked is called "Nirvana "



The 9th century Sanskrit poem



All 24 thirtankaras are here .


The below picture is the avatar of the 25th Thirtankara..iam sure my followers believe me..



Bahubali ..also in white marble .








This photograph of Chandragiri hill and tank at sravanbelagola was taken in 1890 by a photographer is from Lord Curzon collections of  "Souvenir of Mysore "album 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shravanabelagola#/media/File:Shravanabelagola.jpg


I took the same photograph after 126 years ..
"Photograph of downhill dominated by Kalyani Pond
Chandragiri looks impressive from Vindhyagiri"



At the foot of Vindhyagiri




Chandragiri Midway


Chandragupta Maurya is believed to have meditated here
A small statue of Bharatha , brother of Bahubali is on the top of Chandragiri





Ancient Sanskrit Inscriptions of 6th , 7th and 8th  Century covered by Glass






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