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of eminent sculptors and had the colossus measuring 57 ft. in height made after considerable labour. Lewis Rice who first prepared the volume of "Mysore Gazetteer" stated that the magnificient image of unequalled beauty with a serene and contemplative face with a mild smile was prepared by Arittonemi, which is a prākrit form of Arishtanemi. History makes no reference to such Sculptor, though there was one Acharya Arishtanemi who lived in about 650 A.D. as testified to by inscription No. 11 (E.C. Vol. II). Mention is made in inscription No. 458 of one Arittanemi-panditara, the destroyer of other philosophies. There is no other Arishtanemi mentioned in any of the inscriptions. It appears to me that as was usual with the ancient artists, they preferred to remain anonymous rather than carve their names somewhere. Chamundarāya must have employed a large number of workmen, though some Jaina Acharya might have supervised the work, since the image is identical in description with that given by Jinasena Acharya in his Mahapurana.
This colossus of incomparable beauty, serenity and engrossed in contemplation of the self, has received encomiums from numerous foreign artists and historians who visited India. None can dispute that the colossal image of Gommateshwara is an immemorable contribution of Chămundarāya to Indian art and a tribute to the workmanship of the sculptors of the time, who have chosen to remain anonymous. It may be of interest to students of history to know that a similar small bronze image is to be found in the Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay.
The image is standing erect facing the North. It is, as already stated, serene in facial expression and the head is attractive "with curled hair in short spiral ringlets" as described in the Mahapuräna. Upto the thighs, the figure is supported by ant-hills upto the thighs. Thereafter. The upper portion of the image stands erect without any support standing on an open lotus whose petals are proportionately carved to spread out accommodating the big feet. A plant of Madhavi creeper has been carved to snow as if it has grown encircling the thighs and the arms. It has been cut out of a solid granite rock standing on the top of the hill Indragiri. Even though it has been standing in the open overlooking the whole world, it has braved the vagaries of the sunshine, cold and rains.
Gommateshwara has watched over India for 1000 years preaching his message of Ahimsa and peace, of the perishable nature of worldly wealth and glory, of the need for renunciation of worldly pleasures, and meditation with concentration on the infinite qualities of the soul to attain imperishable bliss in heaven, never to return to the worries and anguishes of worldly life.
Behind the statue is a closed corridor with small uniform cells containing small images of the Twentyfour Tirthankaras and of some Yakshas and yakshinis.
"The statues of this Jain Saint (Gommata)" says Fergusson in his book : History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Vol. 11 "are among the most remarkable works of native art in the south of India. Three of them are wellknown and have long been known to Europeans. That at Sravanabelgola attracted the attention of the Duke of Wellington, when as Sir Wellesley, he commanded a division at the seige of Seringapatam. He, like all those who followed him, was astonished at the amount of labour such a work must have entailed, and puzzled to know whether it was a part of the hill or had been moved to the spot where it now stands. The former is the more probable theory. The hill is one mass of granite about 400 feet in height, and probably had a mass or Tor standing on the summit, either as a part of the subadjacent mass or lying on it. This, the Jains undertook to fashion into a statue 58 feet in hight, and have achieved marvellous success..... Whether, however, the rock was found in situ, or was moved, nothing grander and more imposing exists anywhere out of Egypt, and even there no known statue surpasses in height, though it must be confessed that, they do excel it in perfection of art they exhibit". (Page 72). But it is certaii. that the Rameses in Egypt do not exhibit the same saintly expression on the face which is artistically most perfect and absorbing as in the case of Gomateshwara.
गोम्मटेश दिग्दर्शन
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