| Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa | |
| — town — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Karnataka |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Jainism | |
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Jainism Portal |
Shravana Belgola (Kannada: ಶ್ರವಣಬೆಳಗೊಳ Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa) is a city located in the Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 158 km from Bangalore. The statue of Gommateshvara Bahubali at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Jainism, one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural activity under the patronage of Western Ganga Dynasty of Talakad.
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Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is located at 13 km to the south-east of Channarayapatna in the Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district of Karnataka. It is at a distance of 51 km south-east of Hassan, the district centre. It is situated at a distance of 12 km to the south from the Bangalore-Mangalore road (NH-48), 78 km from Halebidu, 89 km from Belur, 83 km from Mysore, 233 km from Mangalore, 17 km from Hirisave and 157 km from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka.
Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the Shravana" is named with reference to the colossal image of Gommaṭa - the prefix Śravaṇa serves to distinguish it from other Belgolas with the prefixes Hale- and Kodi-, while Beḷgoḷa "white pond" is an allusion to the pond in the middle of the town. The Sanskrit equivalents Svetasarovara, Dhavalasarovara and Dhavalasaras used in the inscriptions that support this meaning.
Some inscriptions mention the name of the place as Beḷguḷa, which has given rise to another derivation from the plant Solanum ferox or Hairy-Fruited Eggplant. This derivation is in allusion to a tradition which says that a pious old woman completely anointed the colossal image with the milk brought by her in a gullakayi or eggplant. The place is also designated as Devara Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the God" and Gommaṭapuram "city of Gommaṭa" in some epigraphs. The epithet Dakshinakasi "Southern Kasi" is applied to it in some modern records.
Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa has two hills, Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri. Acharya Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya are believed to have meditated there.[1] Chandragupta Basadi, which was dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya, was originally built there by Ashoka in the third century BC. Chandragiri also has memorials to numerous monks and Śrāvakas who have meditated there since the fifth century AD, including the last king of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. Chandragiri also has a famous temple built by Chavundaraya, who was a disciple of Nemichandra.
The 57-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshvara is located on Vindyagiri Hill.[2] It is considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue. The base of the statue has an inscriptions in Kannada and Tamil, as well as the oldest evidence of written Marathi, dating from 981 AD.[3] The inscription praises the king who funded the effort and his general, Chavundaraya, who erected the statue for his mother. Every twelve years, thousands of devotees congregate here to perform the Mahamastakabhisheka, a spectacular ceremony in which the statue is covered with milk, curds, ghee, saffron and gold coins.[4] The next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held in 2018.
More than 800 inscriptions have been found at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa, dating to various times from 600 to 1830. A large number of these are found in the Chandragiri and the rest can be seen in the Indragiri and the town. Most of the inscriptions at the Chandragiri date back before the 10th century. These inscriptions include texts in the Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Marathi, Konkani, Marwari and Mahajani languages. The second volume of Epigraphia Carnatica, written by B. Lewis Rice, is dedicated to the inscriptions found here.
The inscriptions are written in various Halagannada (Old Kannada) and Purvahalagannada (Pre-Old Kannada) characters. Some of these inscriptions mention the rise and growth in power of the Western Ganga Dynasty, the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysala Empire, the Vijayanagar Empire and the Wodeyar dynasty. These inscriptions have helped modern scholars to understand the nature and development of the Kannada language and its literature.[5]
On August 5, 2007, the statue of Shravanbelagola was voted by the readers of Times of India (an English Daily) as the first of the Times of India's list of seven Wonders of India.[6] 49% votes went in favor of the statue.
Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is the seat of the ancient Bhattaraka Matha, belonging to the Desiya Gana lineage of Mula Sangh, from the Digambara monstic tradition. The Bhattarakas are all named Charukirti. Bahubali College of Engineering is a educational institute at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa.
The matha and Jain temple are situated at base of Vindhyagiri hill.
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