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Worshippers have to walk up the 600 steps barefoot to Shravana Belgola shrine.
Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the Shravana" is named with reference to the colossal image of Gommaṭa - the prefix Śravaṇa serves to distinguish it from other Belgolas with the prefixes Hale- and Kodi-, while Beḷgoḷa "white pond" is an allusion to the beautiful pond in the middle of the town. The Sanskrit equivalents Svetasarovara, Dhavalasarovara and Dhavalasaras used in the inscriptions that support this meaning.
Some inscriptions mention the name of the place as Beḷguḷa, which has given rise to another derivation from the plant Solanum ferox or Hairy-Fruited Eggplant. This derivation is in allusion to a tradition which says that a pious old woman completely anointed the colossal image with the milk brought by her in a gullakayi or eggplant. The place is also designated as Devara Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the God" and Gommaṭapuram "city of Gommaṭa" in some epigraphs. The epithet Dakshinakasi "Southern Kasi" is applied to it in some modern records.
[edit] History
Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa has two hills, Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri. Acharya Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya are believed to have meditated there.[1] Chandragupta Basadi, which was dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya, was originally built there by Ashoka in the third century BC. Chandragiri also has memorials to numerous monks and Śrāvakas who have meditated there since the fifth century AD, including the last king of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. Chandragiri also has a famous temple built by Chavundaraya, who was a disciple of Nemichandra.
The 57-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshvara is located on Vindyagiri Hill.[2] It is considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue. The base of the statue has an inscriptions in Kannada and Tamil, as well as the oldest evidence of written Marathi, dating from 981 AD.[3] The inscription praises the king who funded the effort and his general, Chavundaraya, who erected the statue for his mother. Every twelve years, thousands of devotees congregate here to perform the Mahamastakabhisheka, a spectacular ceremony in which the statue is covered with milk, curds, ghee, saffron and gold coins.[4] The next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held in 2018.
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