Shravanabelagola, 981 CE: a minister carved a prince in stone, standing naked in the pose he held for twelve years. The prince was not meditating to gain peace. He was meditating to let go of the need for it
You climb seven hundred steps up a hill in Karnataka and at the top you find a man 57 feet tall, carved from a single block of granite, standing barefoot with his arms at his sides. His eyes are half-closed, his gaze fixed on the point of his own nose. Vines twine around his legs. He is completely naked.
His name is Gommateshwara, and he is empty by choice
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The story before the stone
He was born a prince. Bahubali, the son of Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara, the one who shows the way across the river of suffering. His elder brother Bharata wanted to be chakravartin, the universal emperor, and demanded that all his brothers bow to him and give up their kingdoms.
Ninety-eight of them bowed. Bahubali refused.
Three contests were held without bloodshed: a staring match, wrestling in water, wrestling on land. Bahubali won all three.
But in that moment of victory, something turned in him. He had beaten his brother. He had the power to rule. And he understood he did not want it.
In the moment of victory, disgust came over him.
Bahubali walked away from the throne. He gave his kingdom to his son. He gave away his possessions, his ornaments, his robes. Then he walked up a hill, stood perfectly still, and began to meditate.
The meditation
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He stood that way for twelve years.
The Jain texts say the vines grew so thick around his legs they looked like a man turning to stone. Animals burrowed under his feet. Birds nested in his hair. Dust and clay built up around him. His skin cracked. His hair turned grey.
He did not move.
The meditation, in Jain philosophy, is called kayotsarga: staying upright, giving the body its own way, while the mind turns inward. Bahubali was not trying to escape suffering. He was trying to let go of the need to control anything: his body, his mind, the world, even the idea of peace itself.
In the ninth year or the tenth, something changed. He realized he still harbored one last thing: pride in his achievement. He was proud of his renunciation. That pride, however subtle, was still a chain. So he let that go too.
After twelve years, the texts say, he attained kevala jnana: total omniscience. Not because he had done something right, but because he had finally stopped trying to be right at all.
The statue, twelve metres tall, disappears under the offerings, every part of him anointed and re-anointed.
Why he stands naked
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In Digambara Jainism, the strictest sect, a monk wears nothing. Clothes are possessions. The choice to wear nothing is the choice to own nothing, not even your modesty.
Bahubali stands naked because nakedness, in this philosophy, is not vulnerability. It is the end of the pretense that you are anything other than breath and bone, temporarily alive on the earth. To be naked is to admit you came here with nothing and will leave with nothing. Everything in between is borrowed.
The statue that Chamundaraya, a minister of the Ganga dynasty, had carved in 981 CE is showing that truth in stone. A man who was king, who had power, who had a choice to keep everything, chose instead to keep nothing.
His face in the stone is serene. The eyes look down the bridge of the nose, inward. There is the faintest smile at the corner of his mouth.
What happened next
Bharata, the universal emperor, saw what his brother had done and understood. A kingdom rules over land and people. But Bahubali had conquered himself. That was a greater thing.
Bharata came down from power too. In the end he renounced the world, became a monk, and attained the same omniscience his brother had found. India’s name, the Jain texts say, comes from Bharata’s rule. But the story the texts dwell on is not Bharata’s conquests. It is the moment he realised there was nothing left to conquer.
Every twelve years
At Shravanabelagola, every twelve years, there is a ceremony called the Mahamastakabhisheka, the head anointing. Thousands of pilgrims climb the seven hundred steps, and from scaffolds built high around the statue, they pour sandalwood paste, saffron, milk and flowers over Gommateshwara’s stone head, bathing the face and shoulders that have stood motionless for more than a thousand years.
The ceremonies go on for weeks. The statue, twelve metres tall, disappears under the offerings, every part of him anointed and re-anointed. Then the scaffolds come down, and Gommateshwara stands alone again, empty and serene, waiting for the next twelve years.
What visitors come looking for at the statue varies. Some come for a blessing. Some for peace of mind. Some because it is beautiful and strange to see a naked stone giant in an ascetic posture, looking inward.
But what the statue teaches, if you spend enough time looking at it, is something simpler. Bahubali did not find inner peace. He found freedom from the need for peace, or unpeace, or any state at all. He found it in the one place where it could be found: in the willingness to want nothing, to be nothing, to let go and keep standing.
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How old is the Gommateshwara statue at Shravanabelagola?
The statue was built around 981 CE during the reign of Ganga dynasty ruler Rachamalla IV. It was commissioned by his minister and commander Chavundaraya. This makes the statue approximately 1,043 years old, placing it firmly in the early medieval period of South Indian history.
Who is Gommateshwara and why is he depicted as a naked figure?
Gommateshwara is another name for Bahubali, the son of Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara in Jain tradition. He is depicted without clothing because the Digambara sect of Jainism holds that complete spiritual renunciation includes the abandonment of all physical possessions, including clothing. The nakedness is a deliberate symbol of total liberation from worldly attachment.
What is the Mahamastakabhisheka and how often does it happen?
The Mahamastakabhisheka is a grand ritual anointing ceremony in which the Gommateshwara statue is bathed with milk, saffron, turmeric, sugarcane juice, gold coins, and precious gems. It takes place once every twelve years and is one of the largest religious gatherings in India. The most recent ceremony was held in 2018 and drew over one million participants.
Is the Gommateshwara statue actually carved from a single piece of rock?
Yes. The statue is a monolith, meaning it was carved entirely from a single granite outcrop on Vindhyagiri Hill. No separate pieces were attached, and no mortar or binding material was used in its construction. This makes it one of the most remarkable feats of ancient stone carving anywhere in the world.
Can anyone visit Shravanabelagola, or is it restricted to Jain pilgrims?
Shravanabelagola is open to all visitors regardless of religion. However, there are some conduct guidelines at the site, including removing footwear before ascending Vindhyagiri Hill. The Archaeological Survey of India maintains the location as a protected monument, and it welcomes tourists, historians, and pilgrims alike throughout the year.
Sources & References
Adi Purana, attributed to Jinasena (9th century) — the account of Bahubali, his contests with Bharata, his renunciation and 12-year meditation, cited in Wikipedia entries on Bahubali and Bharata.
Kalpana Jain, “What the ancient Jain saint Bahubali taught me about pride, arrogance and ego” (2026) — Bahubali’s disgust at violence and his perception of the futility of conquest; the three contests.
Wikipedia, “Bahubali,” “Gommateshwara statue,” “Bharata (Jainism),” “Kayotsarga” — the 57-foot monolithic statue (981 CE), Chamundaraya’s commission, the Digambara tradition, nakedness and renunciation, the Mahamastakabhisheka ceremony every 12 years.
“Ādinātha, Bharata, and Bahubali: The Foundational Story of Jain Civilization,” The Indian Blog (2025) — the story of Bahubali’s subtle ego during meditation and its role in his attainment of omniscience; Bharata’s spiritual recognition of his brother’s achievement.
Impart Encyclopedia of Art, “Gomateshvara Statue, Shravanabelagola” (2026) — the statue’s facial expression, vines around the legs, and depiction of asceticism.
