We traveled from Mysore to Shravanbelgola, then onto Hassan. And it was a rather long and slow trip by bus, but worth it.
Our first stop was to go see a statue that would put "the david" to shame. It was a 17m high monolithic state of the naked Bhagwan Bahubali (Gomateshvara). According to Jainism was the first person in the world believed by the faithful to have attained enlightenment, so deep in meditation that vines are growing around his legs. You can't see the statue from the bottom of the hill, it is enclosed in a temple with no roof. So, we climbed up and were quite impressed. It truely was an impressive carving, done from a single rock. And yes- he is butt naked, around the temple there are also several mini versions carved in the walls.
There were a huge group of giggling school children there as well, I wonder if there parents had to sign permission slips for them to see the nudity. They were eager to have a chat. We have been amazed at the level of the kids we have come acrossed english skills. It is truely a credit to their teachers/families. They all tell you how they know "english is the global language" and "they must study it hard to achieve". One of the most out there things either of us had seen to date on this trip happened as we were walking back down from the statue. A Jain monk was making the asscent to the temple, and he was BUTT NAKED. You could tell he was some sort of religious man, not a crazy hobo, and the indians around us were very respectful as he went past, some even stopping to kiss his feet!
An indian couple felt compelled to explain the situation to us, they must have thought we looked uncomfortable (and we did a bit), and let us know that he was "a very holy man". Ohh, and the school kids all decided to walk down past this man too. To this day, I don't think I will ever forget that. Can't remeber if we went to Belur or Halebid (will update later) to see a nice temple. Late afternoon is prime time at these places, and it was a special experience. Next stop Hampi, update you soon. More thumbnails ...
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