| February 8 was a big day for
Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. It marked the
millennium's first Mahamastakabisheka, the
head anointing ceremony of revered Jain icon
Lord Bahubali, or Gomateshwara.
As with all things holy, the day-long ceremony
began with prayer. Jain monks carried the
holy water from the Digambar Jain mutt to
the venue. To the chant of hymns, the pontiff
Charukeerthi Bhattarka filled a giant pot
with rice and sealed it with silver coconut,
signalling the inauguration of the spectacular
event.
At an auspicious moment, two monks hoisted
the first pot on the shoulders of a devotee
from Rajasthan called Ashok Kumar Patni.
The latter had the privilege of pouring
the first stream of holy water on the head
of the world's tallest free-standing statue.
The bathing had begun.
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Devotees pour milk over the monolithic statue
of Jain sage Gomateshwara during the Mahamastakabhisheka
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The ceremony, which comes once in 12 years
and lasts over six hours, began at 10.41 am
when the 1,024-year-old monolith was anointed.
Priests climbed the special scaffolding and
assisted pot-holders in anointing the statue
with water, coconut, sugarcane juice, rice
flour, herbs, milk, sandal paste, turmeric,
precious stones, and 52 varieties of flowers
from around the world.
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Devotees pray at the feet of the Gomateshwara
statue on the Vindhyagiri hill
as the part of the Mahamastakabhisheka. |
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Devotees pour turmeric paste on the head
of the Gomateshwara statue.
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Dressed in saffron and white, thousands of
devotees gathered at the Chandragiri and Vindyagiri
Hills for the grand event. As trumpets marked
the beginning of the rare, auspicious ceremony,
thousands looked up to witness the anointing.
For six hours, 108 jal kalashas (pots)
were poured on Bahubali by devotees from
around the world. 1,000 litres of milk,
3,000 litres of water, 250 kilograms of
turmeric and sandal were poured on the gigantic
statue, which kept changing colour, much
to the awe of the world media that had gathered
to document proceedings.
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Jain devotees reach for flowers as they
are poured over Gomateshwara
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The last Mahamastakabhisheka venerating Gomateshwara
Bahubali took place on December 19, 1993.
Little about the ceremony has changed, except
for the finale in recent years that has included
an enormous shower of flowers from a helicopter.
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Jain nuns climb the Vindhyagiri hills to
reach the Gomateshwara statue
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The stone sculpture symbolises renunciation,
self-control and subjugation of the ego as
the first steps towards salvation. The nude
form -- also referred to as Digambara -- of
Lord Bahubali, represents complete victory
over earthly desire that hampers one's spiritual
ascent towards the divine.
The rite of the sacred bath occupies an
important place in Hindu practice as well
as Buddhist and Jain.
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Devotees pour vermillion water on the Gomateshwara
statue.
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The next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held
in 2018.
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