|
In Saravanabelgola, a small village
about 160 kilometres from Bangalore, two rocky hills rise abruptly
out of the plains. On top of the larger hill stands a 58 foot tall
granite statue, an extraordinary image of a Jain saint,
Gommateshwara, in the nude. This colossus, reputedly the largest
monolithic sculpture in the world, has been carved in situ out of a
living rock. The figure dominates the landscape and can be seen from
as far away as 25 kilometres. Steps carved on the rocky slope lead
upto the statue. Rows of devotees walk their way up to get a closer
look at Gommateshwara and take one more step towards escape from the
cycle of birth which is the ideal of all Jains.
This sculpture was carved nearly a
thousand year ago, when Jainism was flourishing in south India. King
Rachamalla of the Ganga dynasty, a great patron of Jainism, was
ruling over this area. His minister and commandant Complished poet
and a pious Jain, installed this gigantic figure of character from
Jain mythology.
The story of Gammateshwara has been an
enduring theme in the art and literature of the southern state of
Karnataka. Adinatha, the first of the 24 defined Jain saints
(tirthankaras) had two sons—Bharatha, the first mythical king of
India and Bahubali, who later came to be known as Gommateshwara. The
two brothers competed for the Kingdom of the father and faced each
other in many duels, both physical and intellectual. Bahubali emerged
as the victor in all the encounters but gave away the kingdom to
Bharatha, preferring to seek enlightenment. He stood in penance,
naked in the open in the forest, unmindful of the snakes that crawled
over him, the vines that clambered up his legs and the ant-hill that
arose around him. Years passed and Bahubali unflinchingly waited for
enlightenment. It came the moment his brother, Bharatha recognised
his spirituality and worshipped him. Bahubali became Gommateshwara.
Legends tell us that Chavundaraya’s
mather dreamt of seeing a mammoth statue of Gommateshwara and vowed
not to eat till she saw her dream realized. The mother and son set
out on pilgrimage and across the two hills at Sravanabelgola which
had already been venerated as a sacred spot. It was here, in the 3rd
century B.C. that Badrabahu, the preceptor who brought Jainism to
south India and his royal disciple Chandragupta, the Mauryan emperor,
had stayed for many years and made it the center of their evangelical
activities. Here Chavundaraya chose the larger hill for the dream and
ordered the carving of the monolith out of a tor that stood on top.
The images was consecrated in 980 A.D. According to local tradition,
it was Aristanami the sculptor who created the image.
The Gommateshwara statue at
Sravanabelgola is a magnificently rendered figure, symbolic of the
glorious state of Jainism in the 10th century A.D. The
gargantuan proportions of the sculpture have not reduced the sense of
feeling and life in the sculpture. The body is perfectly proportioned
and reflects effectively the serenity of a soul in search of
enlightenment. The head with its curly spirals of hair and the
expressive eyes seem to endow the statue with life. The saint’s
steely determination in penance has been beautifully brought out by
the sculptor.
Jainism for centuries was the foremost
religion in this area. There are many inscriptions, monuments and
literary works that give us an idea of this period. The Jain-church
at that time was very well organized with different orders. The sect
that dominated was the Digambara, which literally meant ‘sky-clad’.
The monks of this order went about naked and practiced an ascetic way
of life. They lived in monasteries often located in rocky caverns and
subsisted on alms from devotees. So the sculptural representations of
Jain monks and saints are all naked and they are depicted only in two
positions, either sitting as in a yogic pose or standing straight,
with hands hanging down along the body, without any flexion.
Gommateshware is always shown in a standing posture and his
distinguishing feature is the creeper growing around his legs.
The unclothed male figures of the Jain
pantheon are expressive of the ascetic aspect of the faith. These
images are totally naked. But this nudity is very removed from
sensuality. It is indicative of the isolation of one who has
transcended every bond. The empty space that the sculptor provides
between the hands and the body and between the legs of the image are
meant to emphasis the splendid aloofness of these saints. Contrast
this with the early Greek nudes which glorify the human body and
depict it in different postures.
Interstingly, Gommateshwara is
worshipped only in south India. The earliest sculptural
representations of this saint are in the form of relief sculptural
representations of this saint are in the form of relief sculptures in
the rock-cut cave at Aihole and Badami, about 350 kilometres form
Bangalore. Both these sculptures are attributable to the 6th
century A.D. From then on the cult began to spread around this area
and images of Gommateshwara can be seen along the west coast and in
Tamil Nadu also. But it was in Karnataka that the cult was most
popular, as evidenced by the occurrence of these colossal images of
Gommateshwara in different parts of the state.
In subsequent centuries, some kings of
this area also erected granite colossi of Gommateshwara, hewn from
massive rocks, in the manner of the one at Sravanabelgola. But none
of them match the size and grace of the first one.
Near the west coast at Karkala, not far
from the port town of Mangalore stands another Gommateshwara, erected
in 1437 by Veerabandya, a lacal ruler. This 42-foot high figure is
atop a rocky hill of 300 feet. This statue was not carved in situ but
was sculpted and hauled up to the summit of the hill with what must
have been truly Herculean efforts. The question that strikes the
visitor is how the statue was moved up? Fergussen, an art historian
of the British days, records with awe, “to move such a mass up
the steep, smooth side of the hill seems a lobour beyond their power,
even with all their skill in concentrating masses of men on a single
point”. According to local ballads, the staue was placed on a
train of 20 iron carts, with steel wheels and this contraption was
drawn by thousands of worshippers on an inclined plane, right up to
the top.
Close to Karkala is Venur, a small town
on the banks of a river and there on platform stands 38-foot tall
statue of Gommateshwara. This is the work of Veera Thimmanna, who
ruled this area in the 16th century. When he was planning
the installation of this statue, the ruler of Karkala, a descendant
of the king who had installed the colossus at Karkala, objected to
the idea of another statue being erected close to his kingdom. He was
concerned that the importance of the monolith in his place would
diminish. Anticipating trouble, the king of Venur buried the statue
he had made in the river bed. However, in the battle that ensued the
king of Karkala was defeated and the statue was dug up and
consecrated at Venur in 1604.
About 30 kilometres from Mysore on the
Hunsur road is a sacred spot called Gommatagiri. There on a 100-foot
high rock stands an 18-foot tall statue of Gommateshwara, which on
stylistic grounds is assignable to the 14th century A.D.
It is much less still and rigid than the figures at Karkala and
Venur. All these statues of Gommateshwara face north and are located
in prominent positions. As recently, as 1973,a 39-foot high image of
Gommateshwara was installed on a hill at Dharmasthala in Karnatka and
it had been sculpted at Karkala.
The practice of creating such gigantic
images has been in vogue even earlier in other parts of the world. It
is quite possible that the idea came from one of these sources. The
statue of Ananda at Polonnarua and of Buddha at Awakana both in Sri
Lanka spring to mind. The Buddha figure at Bamian in Afghanistan and
that of Rameses 11 in Egypt are other examples. But what sets the
Gommateshwara of sravanabelgola apart is that it has been carved out
to a single, living rock.
| 
