Shravanabelagola - Bahubaali

So after a brief break I was back to utilize my weekend .Me and badri had decided to go to Madhugiri FORT .hah!! Man propose and GOD disposes , they say .

It turned out we weren't going there after all.Getting up late in Sat morning(around 8 am Yeh!! thats LATE very LATE ;-)) we decided that it was quiet late for trekking rather lets go for some thing easy and quick.Shravanabelagola was at back of our minds

So after a quick breakfast and wash we headed towards majestic , to catch the direct bus to Shravanabelagola (around 11.40 am)
The bus was supposed to be luxury express .;-)
It wasn't that bad though.Our main concern was time as Sharvanabelagola is 160 km from Bangalore.so we were expecting to reach there by 4.00 pm (yes !4 hrs for 160 km ;-)
considering the road condition and traffic and EXPRESS speed of the bus ;-) ).

At 3.00 pm we had a quick mini lunch ;-)

we reached Shravanbelagola town around 3.45 pm .
Now a bit about this place

Shravanabelagola is a Jain pilgrim center.The town is situated between two hills known as Vindyagiri( also known as Indragiri) and Chandragiri. The unquenchable thirst one develops after visiting the giant monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali at Indragiri is further deepened by inscriptions. and sculptures that virtually speak history dating back to Indus Valley Civilization; and much more.

Frankly i wasn't expecting much.Just a statue and a temple ."oh GOD ! its going to be so boring".....Also as sun was fast fading i was expecting a quick return. just 30 min of site seeing then back( remember its a 4 hrs journey ).

so after getting down , i saw this SMALL hill and said right! just 10-15 of visit.then we'll
go to Chandragiri hill on our way back and have lunch then head back ... nothing special.
The entrance to the Hill
Now as we approached the entrance of hill (indragiri is where the statue is ) we realized that every one was climbing the hill steps with bare feet without any shoes or sandals.Removing the shoes and socks we felt the heat on the rock.

we started climbing.And we climbed and climbed and i started getting tired.Still no sign of our destination.I saw some old women wizz past me towards the top.
"Damn!!!" i said to myself."Need to hit the gas" i said and started climbing faster gulping in more air to support my lungs which was quickly running out of oxygen ;-) .
I stopped at one point to see the old women ,shrink smaller ..as if they were running on a plain.i looked around and was astounded.

The scene that greeted me filled me with immense extascy.I could see the whole city and as I moved i saw cahndragiri looking over indragiri .Chandagiri is comparatively smaller than Indragiri

one of the fascinating things about this hill is there are several inscriptions denoting certain events ,dating as far as 900 AD.

These inscriptions are in Hindi,Kannada,and Marathi languages.



After reaching the enterence (or the gateway as it is called)called akhanda bagilu of Hoysala times, we were totally out of breath.We took a break and enjoyed the view as cool breeze brushed our faces ,filling our lungs with fresh air and cooling our systems ;-)




As we climbed further we came across Tyagada Kamba.a small pavilion with elaborately carved pillar in the center.

It was probably erected in late 10th century.


Negotiating a seired of steps from Tyagada Kamba we stood before the Akhanda Bagilu(Monolithic gateway).This is one of the largest and finest reliefs of Gajalakshmi in the country This doorway was assignable to 980AD.

As we climbed further i appreciated the acrchitectural challenge the builders might have face .
there were several inscriptions on the walls of the temples dateded back to 900 AD.

And then we entered the main temple housing the Bahubali( Mahavir is refered to as bahubali )
the colossal image of bahuballi marks the culmination of artistic excellence achieved by
ganga sculptours.the magnificent sculpture was installed by Chavundaraya in around 982 AD.This north facing sculpture measures 18 mts in height.
Here the stark nudity of the sculpture indicates the absolute renunciation of a Kevalin(One who attains supreme Knowledge) and the stiff stance itself suggest the firm determination and self control.
Surrounding this sculptors were some fine artistic carvings

the below pic of a poem written for bahubali by poet Boppanna.I have no idea what it says but its inscription on block of stone is what caught my eyes
"Job over!!" I thought.It was 4.45 PM now and we were hungry and tired(although the view and breeze were very refreshing ).As we looked around from the top it scenery was simply AWESOME


As we started getting down form the hill i found many inscription on the rocks .Were these genuine one , did ASI(Archeological Survey of India ) miss these i dont know but these looked genuine .
I also found another very keen observer of these inscriptions ;-).
There was also a part of this hill which many tourist skipped , called channa basti.
There was a 24 pillared open hall which was constructed by chennanna in 1667 AD.
The 24 pillared open hall ..... above pic.

As we explored more, our adventure spirit came to fore.We found a series of steps leading further up.I must give credit to Badri who , although tired and hungry ,suggested to explore the destination of these steps.

The steps kept rising and as it approached the top , it was breathtaking.

Words cannot convey the gr8 magnificence and the grandeur of the view.
i felth how much i missed thses views and the gr8 and strange feeling that they arouse in me.It was as if i was practically tacken back to old time.I wondered how the pilgrims could come to the top( remembers the steps were build by the govt ...)and undergo a spiritual transformations.

How people were in harmony with the nature and how nature was provided care and sustenance to them , as if there was a relation between man and nature....
I felt some how on our way to PROGRESS we lost our selves ,we became so weak and dependent....
we stood there for some time enjoying and reliving the time .It was as if nature was showing us how grand and vast it is ...that to feel elated and happy one just needs to come closer to it.... Ok Ok no more philosophical stuff :-)

It was 5.15 PM now ,We were very hungry and needed to catch the bus to Channarayapatnam (the last direct bus to Bangalore was at 4.00 pm).we started our decent( if i may say so ).

I didnot miss Lalbagh at all.
Guess history is not of much importance to them ;-)

We were hungry and after scaling 630 steps to and fro were quiet tired.Then badri sugessted we have our lunch at this HOTEL(Raghu is name of my manager ;-))

"NOOO!!!!!NEVER!!!" I said .I would rather stay hungry than have food here ;-)
Badri suggested "imagine u r eating HIM , and not the masala dosa ...." Ye!!! gr8 idea "
After having raghu errr i mean masala dosa we set out for channaraypatnam.

The view form the bus stop was gr8 .We were getting late and decided to come again to cover the
Chandragiri hills then.

The journey to channaraypatnam was amazing(it is 11km form sharvanabelugole).

I saw small children playing int he field with their parents sitting in leisure and talking .i thought
"God!! Do we miss such time in the city ..."

We reached Channaraya patnam and immediately got into bus for Bangalore.We got in , and to our gr8 luck we got the front seat ,right next to the bus driver, with full view of the road and bulwark of trees.
It was a gr8 ride back to Bangalore.We reached by 10PM and had our meals in majestic and were back in our rooms by 11.30 pm .

It was an amazing day and I must give credit to Bangalore electricity dept for it (officially 1 hr power cut un official 3-4 hrs power cut ) ;-). I think credit also goes to the govt to making such tourist place well connected to Bangalore.

I feel lucky to be able to visit and explore more of INDIA and try to understand its history.

In the end i would like to quote a beautiful poem from the book "Into the Wild "

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more."
— Lord Byron