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THE GANGAS AND ŚRAVANABELGOLA
S. L. SHANTAKUMARI
The place of the Sramaņas or Sravanabe!go!a has played a dominent role in the religious history of our country from the earliest times. Even today it has remained a place of celebrity on account of its being a centre of pilgrimage which had brought under its influence many dynasties from the days of the Kadambas till the Wodeyars of Mysore. It attained fame as a sacred place when Bhadrabāhu, the great ascetic, selected this place for his stay along with his disciple Candragupta, who is variously taken as Candragupta Maurya or Samprati, the grand-son of Asoka or a ruler having the same name, from Ujjaini. Bhadrabahu is said to have breathed his last here and even Candragupta scems to have ended his life by following Sallekhanā on the smaller hill here, which is named after him as Candragiri. From that time onwards it has been a great religious centre. History shows that since then this place attracted a large number of ascetics in different periods and from different regions. For example, the great Ācārya Aristanemi, who, accompanied by many disciples, is said to have come from north India and attained perfection through Sukladhyāna, on the hill Kațavapra' or Candragiri. There were others like Akşayakirti who came from Madura," Nāgamati ganti from Chittūr, Jaina gorava from Kaļantūr' who had selected this place as a religious resort. There are references to Panadabhatāra, Isänaparameşthi' who came from places like Neļubore and Kittūr respectively.
The Gangas have occupied an important place in the history of South India. Their contribution to South Indian culture is considerable. They extended their patronage to Jainism in a distinct way. The Ganga kingdom had the distinction of producing such great rulers like Sivamāra, Durvinita and Marasimha. It produced such eminent generals like Cāvundarāya who was responsible for the erection of the colossal Gommatēšvara, renowned poets like Cāvundarāya, who patronised Ranna and Nāgavarma etc. It is well known that almost all the Ganga kings practised
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| SR No. | 012066 |
| Book Title | Gommateshvara Commemoration Volume |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T G Kalghatgi |
| Publisher | Parshwanath Shodhpith Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 1981 |
| Total Pages | 198 |
| Language | English, Hindi |
| Classification | Smruti_Granth & Articles |
| File Size | 8 MB |