4. INSPIRATION TO SIMILAR
IMAGES
The installation of the colossal image of Gommatesvara on the
Vindhyagiri hill at Sravana-Belagola on Sunday, the 13th of
March, 981 A.D. by Chmunmda-Raya proved to be an event of great historical
significance from the point of view of the position of Jainism in
Karnataka. This memorable even created a deep impact on the minds of the
people in general and of the Jainas in particular. The installation of
this most lofty and at the same time most beautiful image, which was
without a parallel in the history of Karnataka at the that time, not only
raised the prestige of the Jainas among the general peple of Karanataka
but also provided sufficient inspiration for the Jaina chieftains and
rulers of different dynasties in Karnataka to emulate the noble example of
Chief Minister and Military General Chamunda-Raya by erecting similar
colossal image of Bahubali on the tops of the hills in their regions.
Accordingly, three colossal images of Bahubali were set up at i) Karkala (
Dist. South Kanara), ii) Venura ( Dist. South Kanara) and iii) Gommatagire
( Dist. Mysore) in Karanataka upto the 17th century A.D. and at
iv) place called Bahubali (Dist. Kolhapur) in Maharashtra and v)
Dharmasthala ( Dist. South Kanara ) in the 20th century A.D.
1) Bahubali Colossus at Karkala : The rulers of Karkala in
the 15the century were warm supporters of Jaina religion and the credit of
making them the followers of the Jaina doctrine goes to the Jaina �gurus�
of Hanasoga. It was at the instance of Laliotakirti Maladhardeva
Bhattaraka of Hanasoge that cheiftain Viora Pandya, the son of
Bhairavendra, caused to be constructed and set up the colossal image of
Gommata on the top of a hill karkala on Wednesday, the 13the of February,
1432 A.D.. The image is 41 feet 5 inches high, 10 1/3 feet broad, 10 feet
thick and weighing about 80 tons. This huge image was carved from the
block which was cut and taken from the southern slope of the hill and
transporting it was erected on the hill about 300 feet high at Karkala.
The question naturally arises as how this huge image was moved to its
place. In the connection Fergusson, the art historian of India, says; �
The task of carving a rock standing in its palce had it even been twice
the size, the Hindu mind never would have shrunk from; but to more such a
mass up the steep smooth side of the hill seems a labour beyond their
power, even with all their skill in consecrating masses of men on a
single point.� Yet the fact remains that, at least at karkala, the statue
with its immense proportions was moved up a smooth and steep rock nearly
300 feet high. According to tradition � ( mentioned by E. Thurstone in
his book. � Thi Castes and Tribes of Southern India,� vol, II. PP. 422
-23), the statue was raised on to a train of twenty iron carts furnished
with steel wheels, on each of which 10,000 propitiatory coconuts were
broken, and covered with an infinity of cotton, it was then drawn, by
legions of worshippers up an inclined plane to the platform on the
hilltop, where it now stands.
About this image of Bahubali at Karkala, Walhouse, the famous
art critic says that �This is one of those colossal statues that are found
in this part of the country, statues truly Egyptian in size, and
unrivalled throughout India as detached works�Nude, cut from a single mass
of granite, darkened by the monsoons of centuries, the vast statue statue
stands upright, with arms having straight, but not awkwardly, down the
sides in a posture of somewhat stiff but simple dignity.�
ii) Bahubali Colossus at Venura : Timmaraja, the ruler of
Panjalike Rajya, who claims decent from the family of famous Chamunda-Raya
who had set up the colossal image at Sravana-Belagola installed at the
instance of Charukirty Bhattaraka of Sravana-Belagola the image of
Bahubali on the top a hill near the bank of river Phalguni at Venura in
District South Kanara. The colossal image, 35 feet high, was installed on
Thursday, the 1st of March, 1604 A.D.
The three colossal monolithic made Jaina statues at
Sravana-Belagola, Karkala and Venura are considered as among the wonders
of the world. ( vide �Imperial Gazetteer of India page 121). About the
outstanding features of these three image, Dr. Vincent Smith, the renowned
art historian, says thus, �These are undoubtedly the most remarkable of
the Jain statues and the largest free-standing statues in Asia� All three
being set on the top of eminences are visible for miles around, and, in
spite of their formalism, command respectful attention by their enormous
mass and expression of dignified serenity. The biggest, that at
Sravana-Belagola, stands about 56 feet less in height, with a width of 13
feet across the hips, and is cut out of a solid block of gneiss,
apparently wrought in situ. That at Karkala, of the same material, but
some 15 feet less in height, is estimated to weight 80 tons. The smallest
of the giants, that at Venur, is 35 feet high. The three images are
almost identical, but the one at Venur has the �special peculiarity of
cheeks being dimpled, with a deep grave simile�, which is considered to
detract from the impressive effect. The extreme conventionalist of Jain
art is well illustrated by the fact that, whereas all the three colossi
are substantially identical, save for the smile at Venur, the dates very
widely�. ( vide A Histroy of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, page 268).
iii) Bahubali Colossus at Gommatagiri : The 18 feet high
image of Bahubali has recently been located on the top of a small hill of
bout 100 feet in height, at Gommatagiri, a place in the interior quiet
region at about 25 km. distance in the North-West direction from Mysore
city on the Mysore-Hunsur Road. Nothing is so far known either about the
date or the name of the person at whose instance the statue at this place
was erected. It is suggested that the image might have been installed in
the 14th century A.D. But it got the public attention only
from 1950 A.D. onwards. The third �Mahamastakabhisheka�, i.e., great
head-anointing ceremony, of the image was performed on the 7th
of September, 1952 A.D. in the presence of the Raja-Pramukha of Mysore.
iv) Bahubali Colossus at Bahubali hill : After a lapse of
nearly four centuries, the practice of erecting colossal images of
Bahubali is gaining ground and is becoming popular not only in Karnataka
but in the Maharashtra region adjacent to Karnataka. Accordingly at the
sacred place of Bahubali hill, also known as Kumbhojagiri, in the
Hatakanangle Taluka of Kolhapur District (Maharashtra State) situated in
about 20 kilometers from Kolhapur city, the 28 feet high colossal image of
Gommatesvara was consecrated on the 8th of February, 1963. The
peculiarity of this image is that while other colossal images of Bahubali
are carved out of granite stone, this image at Bahubali hill has been
carved out of white shining marble. This huge image was carved near the
marble quarry in Rajasthan and was transported to the Bahubali hill by
rail and road after making specially deigned carriages which were drawn on
sandy and soft roads covered with thick metal sheets, In addition, the
pedestal of the image is carved out of pink marble and is designed to
represent an open lotus. On the pedestal of this image two artistic pink
marble statues in the sitting posture of Chamunda-Raya, the pioneer of
erecting colossal Gommata status, and og Gomati-Devi alias Gullakahaji,
the legendary devoted old women, have been placed on the left and right
side of the image respectively. Such statues of these two prominent
devotees are not found elsewhere. Again this image has installed at the
instance of the great Jaina Acharya Charitra-chakravarti Santi-sagara
Maharaj. Further, this image has been installed not by any single person
but by a Jaina educational institution, known as Bahubali Brahmacharyasrma,
(- the pioneer institution of Jaina Gurukula system of education ) under
the guidance of its founder saint Gurudeva Samanta-bhadra Maharaj. Further
more, this image has been installed not on the top of the hill but at a
height of 50 feet on the slope of the hill and is surrounded by the
replicas, made by concrete and stone, of the prominent sacred places in
India. The outstanding feature of this image is that it has been installed
at the place which is the center of nearly three lakhs Jaina population-
especially rural Jaina population and in the area which has got the
highest density of Jaina population in India. Such concentration of Jaina
population is not found at other places where colossal Gommata images have
been erected. Moreover, this image has revived the practice of erecting
colossal imags of Bahubali after a long interval of 360 years, since it is
the first the statue of this type to be erected after the statue of
Bahubali erected in 1604 A.D. at Venura in South Kanara. This example is
being followed by others.
v) Bahubali colossus at Dharma-Sthala : Shri D. Virendra
Heggade, the Jain �Dharmadhikari� i.e., the traditional administrative
head, of the Hindu sacred place Dharmsthala in South Kanara District has
caused to be mad monolithic stone statue 52 feet high weighing about 210
tons. This colossal statue of Bahubali was carved at Karkala by the
famous old sculptor Shri Renjal Gopal Shenoy. This gagantic statue of
Gommatesvara at Sravana-Belagola was trasported from Karkala to
Dharmasthala and was ceremoniously received on the 23rd of
March, 1973 A.D. at the hill known as Shri Bahubali Vihar in Dharmasthala
town. This impressive image of Bahubali has been erected at the place Shri
Bahubali Vihar and it planned to organise the �consecration ceremony� of
the image in 1982 A.D.
Thus
at present there are six similar colossal image of Bahubali in South India
as follows :
|
Sr. No. |
Date of consecration |
Place |
Height |
Quality of stone
|
| |
|
|
Feet |
|
| 1. |
13-3-981 |
Sravana-Belagola |
57 |
Light-grey granite |
| 2. |
13-2-1432 |
Karkala |
41�5� |
Light-deep granite |
| 3. |
1-3-1604 |
Venura |
35 |
Deep-granite |
| 4. |
Not known |
Gommatagiri |
18 |
Blake granite |
| 5. |
8-2-1963 |
Bahubali Hill |
28 |
White Marble |
| 6. |
Proposed 1982 |
Dharmasthala |
52 |
Light-deep-granite |
( N. B.
: These images are shown on the map attached )
In recent times the practice of erecting colossal Bahubali
images is being adopted in North India and accordingly one such image
carved in granite at Karkala in South India has been installed at
Ferozabad in Uttara Pradesh. It means that the practice is now becoming
popular.
