Discovering Jain Culture

Located at Channarayanapatna in Hassan district , Shravanabelagola is about 150 km from Namma Bengaluru..
Shravanabelagola has 2 hills Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri..
Bharatha's statue (Bahubali's brother) is found on Chandragiri and Gomateshwara (Bahubali) is found on Vindhyagiri.

On the way up the Vindhyagiri hill ,there are about 700+ inscriptions here mostly in Sanskrit and ancient Kannada

Pic , taken by my Tour Guide..

These are old Kannada characters dated  back 10th century

Thats the view of Chandragiri hill from Vindhyagiri .

Lets Start hiking..

An undesirable side of Indian Culture was seen almost everywhere ...
First i saw an Indian  woman (may be a Jain) who was along with probably her spouse , i saw them hiking
A hiking couple kissing each other.
I believe that a couple that hikes together will always stay together life long and i was impressed with them.
The woman was in  red saree and was wearing  bangles, bangles hold a significant place in Indian society representing prosperity and fortune and is an inseparable part of Indian Culture ..

As and when we approached  them closer on the hike , we ended up throwing away a smile at the couple as they were hiking along with us , the lady was arrogant did not throw a smile back and she started to stare at my dress/outfit  lol.....

We realised they were not couples and its an extra marital affair as per the Tour Guide
According to the Guide Many couples come here only to Romance.
It was heart breaking and how could any human being in his full senses do such a thing in a sacred place like this ? Why cant they just go home and do their stuff.???

Yes , Indians have almost forgotten their culture .They believe that what ever they do , if they do it wearing a saree and bangles nobody will ever doubt their character  lol...
This is India today and its very sad to write and also to read about it , Iam really sorry !

These inscriptions can help Karnataka understand the development of Kannada Literature.

Way up and it was damn hot , you cannot hike bare foot .
Pls make sure that you at least wear socks.

Gomateshwara a 57 feet tall statue is world's largest Monolithic Statue
Unfortunately i was unlucky as Gomatshwara was undergoing a chemical treatment and nobody was allowed inside .
The temple premises was not accessible due to the chemical treatment organised for Jain Scriptures

Chemical treatment for Gomateshwara .

She is Trishala..Trishala is the wife of Siddhartha..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trishala

Not me , the statue iam pointing my finger to is Trishala

Baby Moon..........Baby+Moon..even i love Babies...
Closer look at Trishala..and her Baby inside her womb

According to Jain Culture , a woman will see wonderful dreams when the embryo is enliven in her body through the descent of a life (soul) in her mortal body.
And hence Trishala Scripture is placed here in this manner which is representing Jain culture with a womb and embryo

Members of Jain community celebrate this event of dreams even today , it is known as "Swapna Darshan"
The dreams that they see is carved here on the rocks
One of the 16 dreams they see is a pair of fish as seen below
A pair of fish..

The  Tour Guide informed us that Unfortunately if you ask any Jain women about this today, they probably might say that it is old fashioned as they have completely adopted the western culture.
He told me " You might see them wearing a saree and bangles like the woman we saw on the hill but thats it , they know nothing at all about Indian Culture"
Its a sad world out here..

A group of well educated adults ate chips and chocolates on the way down  the hill relaxing and then they simply threw the bottles and chocolate wrappers on the hill.
Is this how you respect Gomateshwara???
I saw the priest driving away some couples asking them to move out of temple premises
No civic sense ...and it seems the well educated people showcase their worst civic sense in tourist places
Monuments becomes lover spots for the young and the older ones with extra marital affairs lol..
Sadly this is India now..

Me relaxing on the way back ...

Well last night Gomateshwara came into my dreams and said
"Dear Sree , you are like my daughter ....meaning iam 1000 + year old ..and then he said
Iam standing nakid on the top of the hill , you can come to visit me the way you want, then he says Patriotism and civic sense is what makes you civilized , and it has no correlation with your outfit , well iam standing nakid here , yet 1000's of people come to visit me every day "

Gomateshwara is on my side ...Friends , Pls dont misunderstand me by my outfit.
Almost after 2 years  iam  wearing a shorts with style and do a tour activity .

Some water , it is good to carry bottles of water

Not a bad idea...

Lets hike chandragiri hill to get a glimpse of Bharatha

Chandragiri Hill and the view  of Vindhyagiri from Chandragiri hill.

Statue of Bharatha , brother of Bahubali
Do you know that India is named after Bharatha a Jain Monk..

I dont want to disappoint my audience , here is a pic of Gomateshwara from my previous visit to Shravanabelagola in August 2016

My heart is full of respect for those who created this wonderful place
Every time i go here , i discover something new about my country India...


Finally Ice cream..tour ends with a delicious orange flavour..
Ha... even a road side vendor follows British English....
According to American English its Flavor and according to British English its Flavour

Lets make India an Incredible India truly.