Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola is a historical temple town and pilgrimage center located near to Channarayapatna of Hassan district of Karnataka in India. Shravanabelagola is famous for the Bahubali Statue which is supposed to be the tallest monolithic stone statue in the world with a height of 58 feet carved out of a single block of granite. The largest number of Digamber Jain Basadis in India is found at Shravanabelagola. Shravanabelagola is also famous for the largest number of rock inscriptions, concentrated at a single center.

Gomateshwara / Bahubali Statue at Shravanabelagola

Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri

Shravanabelagola is famous for two hills called Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri where most of the monuments are located. These two hills are spread on both sides of Temple Pond. The main temple of Gomateshwara is located on Vindhyagiri hill along with Odegal Basadi, Tyagada Kamba, Siddhara Basadi, Chennanna Basadi, Akhanda Bagilu, etc.

Chandragiri is home for about 14 shrines among which Chamundaraya Basadi, Chandragupta Basadi, Chandraprabha Basadi, Kattale Basadi and Parshwanatha Basadi are important.

More than 800 inscriptions have been found at Shravanabelagola dating from 600AD to 1830AD. Some of the inscriptions mention the rise and growth of the Western Ganga Dynasty, the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysala Empire, the Vijayanagar Empire and the Wodeyar dynasty.

White pond at Shravanabelagola

Sculptures at Shravanabelagola

Gomateshwara Temple

The Gomateshwara temple is built on top of vindhyagiri hill at an altitude of 3347 feet. The 58 feet Bahubali statue in Gomateshwara temple is the world’s largest monolithic stone statue. A flight of 620 steps provide access to the temple from the entrance near the pond. An inscription dating back to 981Ad can be seen on the base of the statue. The inscription praises the king who funded the effort and his general, Chavundaraya, who erected the statue for his mother. There is a large pillared mantapa around the statue which has 43 carved images of Jain Teerthankaras. Gangaraja, a general of the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana erected these mandapas. The bottom part of the statue has Kannada inscriptions. The main temple is surrounded by a large outer wall which has carved images of animals like Lion, Cow Monkeys and images of Jain figures and female figures.

Mahamastakabhisheka

Mahamastakabhisheka is a spectacular ceremony which is held once in 12 years in Shravanabelagola. The Statue of Bahubali is smeared with thousands of pots of Milk, Ghee, Curd Sugar, Flowers, yoghurt, bananas, jaggery, dates, almonds, poppy seeds, saffron and sandalwood.

Tyagada Kamba

Tyagada Kamba is a wonderful 10th century monument situated on Vindhyagiri hill on the way to Bahubali Gomateshwara Temple, past Odegal Basadi. Tyagada Kamba is a small, open pavilion with an elaborately carved stone pillar which is an unmatched artistic beauty. Built on an elevated platform, the pillar has elaborate carvings from bottom to top. It is believed that Chavundaraya, minister of Ganga Dynasty distributed gifts to needy people from this pavilion. It is believed that the original inscription at bottom of the pillar was erased by Heggade Kanna in 1200 AD. He installed an image of Yaksha at the top of the pillar and added inscriptions on the pedestal. The upper mandapa of the pavilion was built using brick and mortar in 15th century.

Chandragiri Hill

Thyaga Kamba

Odegal Basadi

Odegal Basadi also known as Vadegal Basti or Trikuta Alaya is a wonderful 14th century basadi situated on Vindhyagiri hill on the way to Bahubali Gomateshwara Temple. The Odegal Basadi is named so because of the odegal or stone proportions used for strengthening against its basement walls. The basadi is built on a highly elevated platform supported by huge blocks of stone pillars. It is the only trikutachala(triple shrine) in Shravanabelagola. The Odegal Basadi is the first structure one encounters after entering the main fortification on the hill top of Vindhyagiri.

The temple has a small mukhamandapa followed by a large mahamandapa with circular pillars. The mahamandapa has three sanctums facing different directions with beautifull statues of Tirthankaras housed inside. The main sanctum of Adinatha Thirthankara is a beautiful sculpture carved out of black granite stone in sitting posture with wonderfully carved background. The other two sanctums house Neminatha Thirthankara and Shanthinatha Thirthankara statues. This is an active temple with regular poojas performed.

Odegal Basadi, Shravanabelagola

Best Time To Visit Shavanabelagola

The best time to visit Shravanabelagola is between the months of October and March.

How to Reach Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola 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 fromMysore, 233 km from Mangalore, 17 km from Hirisave and 157 km from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, India