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THE IMAGE OF SRI GOMMATESVARA.
ALOFT, conspicuous, magnificent and mighty, on the high
enchanting basis of the lofty summit of Vindyagiri, stands serene and sublime, the colossal statue of a dignified human figure. This supremely striking, sacred and unusually majestic image marks the site of one of the most interesting and important spots in the south of India, one whose traditions carry us back to the earliest authentic period of Indian History. This place is the famous Sravana Belgola, also known as Gommatapura and Dakshinakasi, a very important place of pilgrimage for the Jains. This village lies picturesquely between two rocky hills, one larger than the other, which stand up boldly from the plain and are covered with huge boulders. “In the whole beautiful State of Mysore it would be hard to find a spot, where the historic and picturesque clasp hands so firmly as here." Both the hills are as important historically as they are sacred religiously. It is on the larger hill or Doddabetta or Vindyagiri that the colossal image of Sri Gommatesvara, of wondrous beauty, stands carved out of a single rock which grows out of the very hill itself.
The image is nude and stands erect facing north. The face is a remarkable one with an exquisitely impressive expression at once serene and smiling, contemplative and composed. The hair is curled in short spiral ringlets all over the head, while the ears are long and large. The shoulders are very broad, the arms hanging straight down the sides, with the thumbs turned outwards. The waist is small. The figure has no support above the thighs. Upto that point it is represented as surrounded by ant hills, from which emerge serpents; and a climbing plant twines itself round both legs and both arms, terminating at the upper part of the arm in a cluster of berries or flowers. The pedestal is designed to represent an open lotus.
This colossal image of Gommatesvara is carved in a finegrained light-grey granite, and has not been injured by weather or violence and looks as bright and clean as if just from the chisel of
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
