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SVASTI -Essays in Honour of Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah
deity of the kşetra, Brahmappa. The most important ceremony is the Pañca-Kalyāņa ritual, in which the stages of the life of one of the 24 Tīrthankaras are revered. The five kalyānas are the conception (garbhakalyāna), the birth (janmakalyāna), the religious initiation (dīkņākalyāna), the highest wisdom (kevalajñānakalyāna) and liberation from the cycle of births (mokşakalyāna).
Thousands of pilgrims gather on the hill for the great abhisheka, they stand or sit at Bāhubali's feet or on plateaus that are constructed especially for the celebration, or outside the immediate temple premises on the hill, wherever any place can still be found. Already in the early morning hours, long before the commencement of the actual ritual, pilgrims begin their ascent of the large hill; they sing, pray and, in the case of many women, lay out typical auspicious symbolic patterns in rice in front of themselves while reciting mantras. There is a fixed dress order: all, especially those who participate in the anointing with a small kalaśa, must wear new, unused clothing in white or orange; men must wear a traditional garment such as a dhautra or lungi, and women must wear a sari.24 An ocean of white and orange waits at the feet of the Gommateśvara, while directly in front of the statue the priests begin with the pūjā. In the open courtyard of the temple in front of Bāhubali, a square surface is laid out in wheat. The beautifully ornamented kalaśas, that are used in the ritual, are placed on it. The kalaśas are traditional bellied metal jugs, decorated with white or yellow cotton threads. They contain the ritual liquids, and they are closed with a coconut. A ring of mango leaves is inserted between the coconut and the mouth of the vessel, and also a rice straw, and they are further decorated with a white or yellow flower. There are different kinds of kalasa fillings, and there are also different kinds of kalasą materials and positionings. The kalaśas are filled with water (jala), coconut water (narikela), sugar cane juice (ikşurasa), milk (kşīra), rice powder (sveta-kalaka-cūrņa), kurkuma powder (harita kalaka-cūrņa), a mixture of herbal extracts (kaşāya), sandal paste water made of Mysore sandal (śrīgandha), coloured sandal paste water (candana), sandal paste water made of eight varieties of sandal wood (astagandha), and saffron water (kesaravrsta). Between the "kasāya" and "śrīgandha" kalaśas stand four corner kalaśas (kõna kalaśa), particularly large kalaśas that are filled with water, standing at the corners of square arrangement of kalaśas. Additionally there are also special categories of kalaśas, such as the "first kalaša" (prathama kalasa), the "gem kalaša" (ratnakalasa),
24 Children up to the age of ten may wear sewn clothing (kurtā paijāmā / salvār kamīz). 25 The kalasas on the ground are, according to my knowledge -- with the exception of the few special, highly priced kalaśas, that are festively carried on top the heads of the donors -- only filled with water. The huge quantities of additional holy water, milk, and coloured liquids are manually carried up beforehand (or in the case of Dharmasthala are carried up in an elevator) and are used to fill small kalasas above repeatedly from gigantic barrels that never stood below. This guarantees that enough liquids are available to colour the body of Bāhubali completely without unspectacular pauses. The first kalaśas used in Dharmasthala in 2007 were large Nandini milk barrels.
