Oct 28, 2008 04:01 PM
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(Updated Oct 31, 2008 05:52 PM)
To sing praise for a un heralded general Chamundaraya, unlike the emperor Sri Krishna Deva Raya calls for courage of conviction. A visit to shravanabelagola and the subsequent search for the hidden mystery on the monumental monolithic statue of Bahubali took me to unexplored territories.
Chamunda Raya, a general with Ganga King, was impressed by the fabled Bahubali’s exploit and his renunciation of worldly pleasures and power over his kingdom. Bharata was crowned as emperor based in Ayodhya, but his brother Bahubali was based in the south as per succession plan of Rshabanath, who abdicated and took sanyas. Bharatha the younger son wanted to annex his elder’s brothers kingdom too by hook or crook. Both the armies were assembled face to face. The generals realized the futility of blood shed, they asked the brothers to have a personal duel to establish their sovereignty. Thus the battle of wits began Dristhi Yudda – looking at each other without winking, Jalla Yudda – sprinkling water at each other till one gives up and Malla Yudda – big wrestling match where one back is pressed to the floor in consecutive manner. All these battles were won unanimously by Bahubali. Yet the final move of trying to chop his brother’s head with a weaponry was also foiled. Even though Bahubali triumphed over his brother, he gave up his kingdom due divine intervention to give up worldly pleasures and follow the path of Dharma. This was an eye opener to his brother Bharata who started worshipping his elder brother akin to God. This fabled story was inspiration galore for general Chamunda Raya to commission 58 feet monolithic statue with the help of Nemichandra with great pomp and show.
To unravel rest of the mystery and a little bit of unknown history, my friends you got to visit my travelogue in https://indiabackpacker.blogspot.com/ This travelogue is an inspirational piece aided by reference on Jainism. It is no way trying to belittle or downgrade any body concerned. It is just a factual presentation of history and to glorify the real architects who have been forgotton in the annals of history records.
Sharvan Belagola means, a delight to the eyes, or a lake with crystal clear purity. This place is easily accessible on SH 48 from Bangalore to Mangalore, one takes a turn at Belur cross or near Chennarayapatna. It is just 14 kms with well laid roads. One can stay at Hotel Raghu or at the Mutt to experience the wonder of Jain monuments, and the area around it are littered with heritage.
Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri are the two hillocks on which history was created from time immemorial. Chamunda Raya is credited to immortalise GOMMATESWARA and bring the magic of Jainism and announce to the world the noble deeds of Bahubali. *
