Place · Bahubali monolith statue · India
Venur Bahubali, Belthangady
Also known as Bahubali colossus, Bahubali colossus (Venur), Belthangady, Venur Bahubali
The 38-foot (11.7 metre) Bahubali monolithic statue at Venur in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, erected in 1604 by Timmanna Ajila IV, the local Jain chieftain — the smallest of the five surviving Bahubali monoliths of coastal Karnataka. The statue stands on the Phalguni river bank facing east. The deity Bahubali is carved from a single granite block. The Mahamastakabhisheka (great head-anointing) ceremony is held every 12 years; the 2012 Mahamastakabhisheka drew over 50,000 Jain pilgrims. The adjacent 1604 Shantinatha Jain basadi (temple) and the Ajila chieftain samadhi complete the Venur Jain complex. ASI protection since 1962. Managed by the Venur Jain Mutt. The adjoining Phalguni river has a sacred bathing tank for pilgrim pre-darshan ritual.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 13.050, 75.050
Connections (1)
- Gomateshwara monolithsKarkala Bahubali
Karkala's forty-two-foot Bahubali of 1432 and Venur's smaller one of 1604 follow Shravanabelagola's colossus of about 981, and all three stand in a hundred-kilometre stretch of coastal Karnataka — a regional habit of carving a standing naked ascetic out of a single granite hill, kept up by Jain merchant and ruling families for six centuries. Each is anointed periodically in the same twelve-yearly rite.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Belthangady”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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