Gommaṭeśvara · 981 · Digambara · a later tīrtha
Shravanabelagola
श्रवणबेलगोला
The colossal Bāhubali, cut from one rock on a hill in Karnataka in 981, and the great Digambara tīrtha of the south.
Bāhubali is Ṛṣabha's son, who fought his brother Bharata for the empire, won, and gave it up where he stood to remain in meditation until creepers grew on him; the image shows the vines. Cāmuṇḍarāya, a minister of the Gaṅga king, had it carved in 981, and every twelfth year it is anointed from a scaffold in the mahāmastakābhiṣeka.
The tradition also brings Bhadrabāhu here with the emperor Candragupta as his disciple, to take sallekhanā, the final fast, on the smaller hill; that is the Digambara account of the order's move south, and it is printed as its. This is the one Digambara site on the map, and the map says so.
Measurements and counts
| Image | Bāhubali - Gommaṭeśvara |
|---|---|
| Carved | 981 · Cāmuṇḍarāya |
| Anointing | mahāmastakābhiṣeka, every twelfth year |
| Tradition | Digambara |
| Today | Shravanabelagola, Hassan district, Karnataka |