On the hill of Dharmasthala, Indian temple village, in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India, is a monolith naked statue of Bhagwan Bahubali, or Gomatheshwara--an Indian crown prince who led an ascetic life after defeating his older brother, Bharata, in a duel. Bahubali renounced all his possessions to attain supreme knowledge Kevalajnana, thus being worshiped by Jains.

Read more about Bahubali here.

A gold-plated miniature statue of Bahubali at the foot of the 39-foot granite statue.

You may wonder why the statue is naked and why there are naked worshipers. With limited time going here, I did not know much about it thus, it led me to research more about Bahubali. According to this website:

"Nakedness is an essential part of religion...Nudity and other forms of austerity are intended to strip away karma matter and create a detached state of desireless-ness that will not attract further karma. The goal is ahimsa, a lack of desire in which no living thing is harmed. Jain ascetics sometimes fast to death as a severe penance for killing creatures and to work off as much karma as possible."

Jain worshipers at the Bahubali temple in Hassan.

The statue of Bahubali in Dharmastala, in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka is a 39-feet statue made from a single solid piece of granite. It was built in 1973. This religious site is often visited by pilgrims and tourists. No naked worshipers were seen during the visit.



Every 12 years, they hold Mahamastabisheka festival in Shravanabelagola, where they pour coconut milk, sacred water with sandalwood paste, turmeric and other sacred fluids.

Going inside the compounds needs one to remove their footwear, but they allow wearing of socks. The concrete pavement would be too hot on summer months and walking barefoot would prove to be difficult especially in the afternoon when the sun is in its full ascent.

Walking on hot pavement, it dawned on me that I would not be a perfect candidate for asceticism, that calls for the renouncing of worldly possessions and comfort. But one thing that makes me like this religion is their doctrine of non-violence. It was said that: "Mahatma Gandhi was strongly influenced by the Jain leader Raychandbhai Mehta, a political leader and holy man who promulgated non-violence."



View Hassan to Dharmastala in a larger map


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