Jain Journal 1974 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 42

JULY, 1974
Having consecrated the colossus Camundaraya desired to have the image anointed ceremoniously by the customary rite known as 'pañcāmṛta-abhişeka-ceremonial bathing in five nectars (milk, butter, honey, sugar and water). Elaborate preparations were made and equipment in titanic quantities set ready; but when actually the sacred liquid was poured over the colossus it would not even reach the thighs. It was not that the quantity was insufficient but Camundaraya had become conceited at his remarkable achievement-rather justifiably. Just then his guardian deity, Kusmandini Yaksi, came in the guise of a pious old woman carrying milk in a little 'gullakayi' shell as her humble offering for the sage. When this ridiculously small quantity of milk was poured over the image, strange to say, the entire colossus was flooded with the liquid. Such was the power of humility and strength of piety, Camundaraya learnt his lesson, and in gratitude had the figure of the old dame (subsequently known as Gullakayaiji) carved in stone and erected in front of the colossus.
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From the episode came into vogue the ritual of bathing the colossus ceremonially, periodically. The usual interval is twelve years and the ceremony is styled 'Mahamastakabhiseka' or the Great Head-Anointing Ceremony. The first recorded historical ceremony was in 1398 A.D. at the instance of one Panditarya. The other dates are 1675 A.D. (Santivarni), 1659 (Doddadevaraya Wodeyar), 1675 (Visalaksa), 1677 and 1800 (Krishnaraja Wodeyar III of Mysore) 1825, 1827, 1887, 1900, 1910, 1925, 1940 and 1953. The latest was in 1967. It is a function of supreme significance for the Jainas all over India, particularly for those belonging to the Digambara sect who congregate in hundreds of thousands at Sarvana Belgola on this awe-inspiring occasion. The actual ceremony is indeed a sight for the gods; its grandeur is, perhaps never surpassed by any event in the World. This great honour shown to a sage who renounced the worldly life for quieting the spirit is symbolic of the high esteem in which the ideal of renunciation is held in India.