A day in Shravanabelagola & Melkote!

This was a last moment plan after my slightly bigger plan of covering Mangalore and the coastal regions had to drop because of various reasons. The initial plan was to go to Mangalore in train via Hassan and Sakleshpur through the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya forest rail track. The train traverses round about 25 tunnels and 45 bridges amidst the mountains and forest through scenic terrain giving one of a kind feeling; as the route was once famous for the railway track trekking, which I'd done when the track was in an abandoned state before 2006 and trains were not yet operational. So, this time I wanted to check the route on a train.
When passing through this route, one can also see the Bisle ghat and the Kumarparvata ranges which are among the most challenging and interesting trekking options in Karnataka. From Mangalore had plans of going to Udupi to visit the Lord Krishna temple and then Malpe-St. Mary's Island; and finally covering the coastal areas and finishing the trip at Kollur and heading back.
But, after dropping this plan I was not sure where to head to, as haven't left any place to be covered at least within 200km radius of Bangalore. I didn't want to waste the Saturday for sure, this being a long weekend with leave declared on Monday for the All India bandh; and wanted to cover a different kinda place for breaking the monotony and with ample scope for Photography. That's when my brother (Ramesh) suggested about Shravanabelagola which's of much importance to Jains and is a good tourist attraction as well, along with Melkote which is an important place for Vaishnavism. We'd been here before with the family and I've got a blog of the same in the archives; but wanted to head here primarily because of the unique rocky terrains and the stunning views which one gets from here.
I would say for an amateur like me or a professional photographer this place's abound with so many options and subjects!

The plan was finalized only the night before and on short notice Ramesh's friend Rakesh and my friend Ajmal were ready to come. We planned to start by sharp 6am, and usually stick to the timings. But, this time around even though brother's friend and my friend had been ready, Ramesh got stuck at work as he works in a kinda night shift. We'd to wait till 7am for him to come, and started immediately.
The route was through Yeshwanthpur-Pennya circle (which's a mad mess given any time of the day!)-Dasarahalli-Tumkur rd-Take a left at Nelamangala and proceed till we see the deviation board towards Shravanabelagola.We'd our morning tea at Nelamangala signal which sure was a breather after the hell @ Dasarahalli circle.
The drive was long and the next pit stop was for breakfast, at a place from where we'd still 100 odd kms to cover. Till the breakfast stop we'd covered a lot of interesting and mundane topics in the conversations. The breakfast was simple, in the form of Idli-Vadas and dosa; accompanied by tea which refreshed the mind for the rest of the journey.
The rest of the journey was filled with, me giving an extended brief about Shravanabelagola and other tourist attractions near to it, among which was Melkote - which we were to visit after this.

Now, something about Shravanabelagola - This is predominantly an important place of worship for the Jain community which is located in the Hassan district 158km from Bangalore to be precise, wherein the famous "Mahamastabhishekha" which happens only once in 12 years is held and 1000s of devotees congregate here to perform it. It is a spectacular ceremony in which the statue is covered with milk, curds, ghee, saffron and gold coins. There is extensive media coverage as well as lot of Photographers of world acclaim come to catch a glimpse of the act of faith. I remember seeing a video by BBC, which was plain fantastic.
It reached a peak in architectural and sculptural activity under the patronage of 'Ganga Dynasty' of Talakad. And you need to see the architecture here to appreciate it; you can also see interesting intricate carvings depicting life in those times a 1000 yrs ago and also see some interesting writings/epigraphs (which has dates of the inscriptions mentioned) of the important events of those times.

The Statue here is claimed to be one of the biggest monolithic statue in the world, a feat in itself; and it is not of Mahavir Jain as is the common perception of the tourists, but of "Lord Bahubali or Gomateshwara" who was a king before he renounced everything and came here to do penance. His penance continued till he got Enlightened, and it is depicted on the statue that plants and carriers grew on him and mole hills were formed around him.

The Entrance and the path surrounding the main enclosure

It is believed that the famous and one of the all time great Emperors of India - Chandragupta Maurya has also meditated here after he'd renounced his kingdom and come to south to seek moksha.
Now coming to the term 'Enlightenment' or 'Moksha' which has been the center of Hindu and also all religions which have originated in India since time immemorial, is one of the most interesting and widely studied topic in the western world about India. Albeit it doesn't have many takers in the modern era, it still remains as the final emancipation of mankind. Of which historian and BBC reporter - Michael Wood speaks in his great documentary "The Story of India (2007)".

Small Bahubali at the foot of the Big Bahubali

Coming to the account of our climb - while starting at the base the view of the steps ahead is sure different and inviting; the climb obviously starts with a few clicks. As we were climbing Ajmal was concerned about the effect it'd have on his legs, as it is a bit challenging to the person who ain't used to frequent climbs; but that doesn't matter one bit owing to the interesting climb/walk it is. Proceeding ahead we noticed a small structure built out of a cave adjacent to a huge boulder.

To be continued..