In the old inscriptions it is designated as
Katavapra (Black hill), in Sanskrit and as Kalvappu or Kalbappu in Kannada. A
portion of this hill is known as Tirthagiri and Rishigiri. With the exception
of one shrine, all the basadis on the hill are enclosed in a walled fort area.
Almost all the temples are built in the Dravidian style of architecture, the
oldest of them going back probably to the eighth century A.D. Altogether the number
of the temples in the walled fort area is fourteen and their plans are mostly
similar to one another.
This hillock is one of the oldest Jain pilgrim
centers in the south as it has the tomb of Bhadrabahu Muni and many other great
Jain devotes. First we noticed Kuge Brahma Stamba (pillar) a highly decorative
pillar with an image of Brahma. A small seated figure of Brahmadeva is
positioned at the top, facing east.
The pillar stands on a high platform of three
tiers; the lowest is broad and squared the middle one octagonal, and the upper
one circular. The Pithas were originally held in place by eight elephants, each
oriented towards the diks and vidiks (the four directions), but now only a few
remain. Lions are carved at the middle tier, with the asta-dik-palakas with
retinue and musician are represented. An inscription on the pillar notes the
death of the Ganga king Marasimha II, in 974
A.D., so the Pillar was likely installed not much after that date.
The Tyagada
Brahmadeva pillar stands 2.30 meters high. It was erected in front of the
enclosure leading to the colossal Bahubali shrine. The pillar has a small Gopura on top with Kalasa as the crown. Inside is the seated figure of Lord
Brahma. The four side of the pavilion on top contain Jain figures, facing the
four directions.
The erection of free-standing pillars like Kuge
Brahmadeva represents an interesting aspect of Ganga
art. Jain pillars are generally of two types: Manasthambas and Brahmasthambhas.
The Manasthambhas, also known as Indrasthamba pillars, are those which have a
pavilion at the top contain figures that face the four directions. In the case
of Brahmasthambhas, a seated figure of Lord Brahma sits at the top. The huge
Kuge Brahmadeva pillar at Chandragiri and the Tyagada Brahmadeva pillar at
Vindhyagiri are excellent examples of free-standing pillars from this period,
and both stand as witness to the importance of Brahmadev in the Jain cult.
Next is the Basadi housing Shanthinatha and
Suprashwantha. Soon after is seen the Parshwanatha Basadi with a tall
Manasthamba in front of it.
Chamundaraya
basadi in Shravanabelagola is one of the largest Jaina temples on the hill both
in style and in decorative features. The temple is 68 feet long and 36 feet
wide. The temple consists of a Garbhagriha a Sukhanasi a Navaranga and a
Mukhamantapa. It has an upper storey above the Garbhagriha and Dravidian
Sikhara. The outer walls have decorations of pilaster over which are three
friezes containing ornamental niches, Yalis and seated Jina figures. The outer
wall of the upper Garbagriha also has similar three friezes over which are a
simple Dravidian Sikhara. These mouldings attract the visitors even from a
distance. The
Mukhamandapa rests on 4 pillars with sloping eave on all the three sides. Thus
the whole temple is very elegant. The lower part of the temple is interesting
it has undecorated flat base with neatly cut roundish and projected moulding
above. There is a similar but smaller moulding above. Between the two mouldings
is a highly decorated eave is prominent at the roof level. This is the most decorated
part of the structure and adds a special grace.
The Kattale Basadi also called the Padmavathi basadi
has an image of Yakshi Padmvathi in it but main diety here is Adinatha and is a
considerably huge structure. The Chandraguptha Basadi though small is the
oldest a creation of the local Ganga rulers
and is believed to have accompanied Bhadrabahu Muni to his place. The frontal
entrance gate is of the days of the Hoysala dynasty, highly emlellished. The
three shrines here house Parshwantaha at the center and the Yakshis, Padmvathi
and Kushmandini in those on either side.
At
Present there is a sculpture of Naminatha in the lower Garbhagriha, five feet
in height flanked by male Chauri bearers on either side. The Garbhagriha
doorway is decorated and has Sarvaha Yaksha and Kushmandini Yakshi. It is
believed that this Neminatha image originally belonged to another temple but
now kept here. The upper Garbhagriha has an image of Parsvanatha of three feet
in height. Its Pedastal has an inscription which states that Jinadeva, son of
the minister Chamundaraya built this Jina
Temple. Perphes this
refers to the consecration of the image in the upper Garbhagriha, The
inscription on the pedestal of Neminatha states that it was consecrated by Echana,
son of minister Gangaraja of the Hoysala period in 1128 AD. And the upper
storey was added by Chamundaraya’s son Jinadeva in 995 A.D. and the present
image was bought from some other temple and consecrated in 1128 AD. The very
fact that it is named after Chamundaraya is taken as evidence to say that it
was built by him who also set up the great colossus of Gommatesvra here.
The deity of Lord Brahma at Iruve Brahmadeva is
carved out of solid rock, done in the Late Phase of Jain Basadi sculpture. The
image is fairly small. The temple sits to the north in the main Chandragiri
complex. There, the solitary shrine consists of a Garbhagriha, with the low
relief deity of Brahmadev. An inscription on the doorway dates the temple to
about 950 A.D.
The history of this hillock dates back to 2nd
Century B.C. and has a history that is 1000 years older than that of Indragiri.
We can find many inscriptions spread across the hillock. These inscriptions
help us understand the antiquity of Jainism and Shravanabelagola.
The recorded
history surrounding the hill started in 300 BC when Shruthakevali, Bhadrabahu
and Chandragupta Maurya visited the place in order to attain religious peace.
The Small Hill derives its name of Chandra from the fact that Chandragupta was
the first of the Rishis who lived and performed penance there.
Bhadrabahu Cave
A number of Jain Basadis
are found on the Hill. Some of the prominent ones are Shantinatha Basadi, Parshwanatha
Basadi, Chandragupta Basadi, Kattale Basadi, Majjigana Basadi, Shasana Basadi, Chandraprabha
Basadi, Parshwanatha Basadi II, Chavundaraya Basadi, Eradukatte Basadi, Savatigandhavarana
Basadi, Terina Basadi, Shantishwara Basadi, Iruve-Brahmadeva Basadi. Apart from
these a number of other monuments such as Bhadrabahu Cave,
Marasimha's Manastambha, Mahanavami Mantapa, Bhadrabahu Inscriptions, Gangaraja
Mantap and Nishidhi Mantaps can be found on Chandragiri.
6 comments:
I have heard of the Chandragiri hill but never thought it consists of so many Basadis. Beautiful photos and narration. Jain Basadis always have some attraction.
Nice photos and narration.
www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com
Nice article....
I enjoy reading write-up. Hope i can discover a lot more articles like this one. Thanks for posting.
ur posts are v.much useful to everyone. good work bro :)
Thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments:-)
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