Believers descended, bathed in vermilion from head to toe. It was a luminescent hue, the type that would glow lightly in the twilight sun. In the Jain pilgrim centre of Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, the 88th Mahamasthakabhisheka or the great anointing was held in all its glory.
The occasion also marks one of the largest congregations of Digambara (skyclad/naked) monks in the quaint little agrarian village. From February 17 to 25, devotees and Digambara saints would anoint a 58.8 feet tall statue of Bahubali/Gommateswara with sugarcane juice, saffron, sandalwood paste and milk in recurring abhsihekas that would commence with water. The devotees first trek up Vindhyagiri, where, to mark the event, a scaffolding has been pre-prepared from which the devotees can perform the abhisheka. According to the event organisers, at least 500 people could watch the event, seated on the scaffolding. On the inaugural day, 108 kalashas were utilised to bathe the statue. The first kalasha—which would offer a chance for an inaugural bath—was auctioned off at a whooping Rs 11.6 crores to a Rajasthan-based businessman Ashok Patni. Every time strands of saffron engulfed the Bahubali, devotees erupted in screams of celebration.
It was a slow, exhausting trudge up the mountains. Even the vast battalion of police deputed to control the crowd were finding it difficult to manage devotees milling in through the two gates kept open to the shrine. While the devotees trekked up, Digambar Jain monks—bald, fully naked and carrying fans made of peacock feathers—trekked up the hills through another path. Among the groups of old, emaciated monks, occasionally passing blessings along as devotees courtseyed before them, there were young ones barely in their twenties. I tried to catch up with one, hoping to fire off a quick few questions. "Later," he mumbled. "Come to Tyagi nagar [accomodation for the monks] later today," his assistant translated. But, the very aggressive police cavalcade that arrived before the prime minister's visit, ensured that nobody came within an arm's length of the area.
Shravanabelagola is a village far removed from the hustle and bustle of city life. As historical researches have suggested, sage Bhadrabahu arrived with a delegation including King Chandragupta Maurya in the third century BC. Going by the numerous historical accounts, the Chandragiri hills adjoining Vindhyagiri is a goldmine of history, with tons of shilasanas (stone inscriptions); at a point, according to historians, it was the place where the Jain munis came to die. In Jainism, Sallekhana or Santhara is an act of voluntary fasting to death.
But, for tourists and devotees alike, Vindhyagiri is where the biggest attraction lies. There is said to be no parallel, in size and architectural beauty, to the near 60 ft Bahubali statue atop the hill. According to history, Bahubali, though not one of the 24 tirthankaras (saints or ford makers), was the first to achieve moksha, enlightenment. Born in Ikhsvaku dynasty of Ayodhya to the first tirthankara Rishabhadeva and queen Sunanda Devi, the exceptionally handsome prince is said to have got into a tiff with his brother Bharatesh over territory, and engaged with his brother in three types of combat. Just before he was about to beat the latter, Bahubali was overcome with shame over all the violence, took diksha and after 365 days of penance achieved salvation. According to legends it was Chaundaraya, the chief commander to king Rachamallah of the Ganga dynasty, who set up the statue. It is popular lore that Chaundaraya's mother Kalala Devi had a vision of a Bahubali statue atop Vindhyagiri hills. The statue came into being after Chaundaraya shot an arrow towards the very location.
So how does an orthodox belief process reconcile with changing views of the modern world? The event is livestreamed, telecast wide, with all modern equipments that could count even the number of devotees at the scaffolding at a certain point of time. "Compare the case of 1980 and now. With the advent in technology, we use lighter scaffoldings which can accommodate more number of people," says Vinod Doddanavar, the general secretary of 2018 Gommateshwar Bhagwan Bahubali Mahamastakabhisheka Committee.
"Technology has come in to accommodations, too, as the aspiration levels of the people have gone up. Most of the devotees come from metro lives, with comfortable lifestyles. Such factors have to be made comfortable. Now, with bar coding and advent in digitalisation, we can regulate people on the hilltop and we get real time figures. We know what category has come, how long they will be staying on the hilltop."
How about young Digambara monks making the climb? "The credit goes to upword of 3,000 sadhus and sadhvis in propagating the tradition. The life, mindset and struggle of a monk is hard to dissect," he says. As if on cue, bells rung outside the Kanchi math where we were having a conversation, as monks passed by.