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APRIL, 1981
187
Mangalore / a Souvenir/ issued by The Canara Industrial & Banking
Syndicate, Ltd., on the occasion of opening their new building at Mangalore/compiled and edited by K. S. Haridasa Bhat/p. 48.
Of the three famous Gomata (meaning a handsome man/vide Govinda Pai) statues, two are found in South Kanara within a distance of about 30 miles of Mangalore towards the east. The statue at Karkala is 41" 5", in height and is estimated to weigh 80 tons. That at Venur is smaller, being only 35'. Besides being of colossal size, the Karkala statue is rendered more striking by its situation on the top of a huge granite rock 300 ft. high on the margin of a most picturesque little lake. As Mr. Walhouse describes it in Fraser's Magazine (Mar. 1875)) 'nude, cut from a single mass of granite darkened by the monsoons of centuries, the vast statue stands upright, with arms hanging straight, but not awkwardly, down the sides in a posture of somewhat stiff but simple dignity. The hair grows in close, crisp curls the broad fleshy cheeks might make the face seem heavy, were it not for the marked and dignified expression conferred by the calm forward gazing eyes and acquiline nose, somewhat pointed at tip.'
The feet each 4'9" long rest on a stance, wrought from the same rock that seems small for the immense size and weight of the statue. A lotus stem springing at each foot is carried up in low relief twice round each leg and arm.
The image was erected by king Vira Pandia in 1432 to Bahubali ( son of Vrsabha, the first Tirthankara) who renounced the world at his most victorious moment. The same image at Venur though short in stature has an individuality all its own with its divine smile shedding lustre and yet held in deep restraint.
Mysore and Coorg/issued on behalf of the Tourist Division, Minstry
of Transport & Communications, Government of India/reprinted December 1957/pp. 33-36.
Sravana Belgola is 62 miles from Mysore by road. It abounds in monuments that recall the achievements of an age long past. Its inscribed and sculptured records have kept green the memory of strange deeds of sacrifice and religious devotion which are full of poignant interest.
Wedged between the two hills of Candragiri and Indragiri which rise abruptly from an otherwise flat plain, the situation of Sravana
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