Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola in Hassan district is one of the most important Jain pilgrim center, located between the Indragiri and Chandragiri hills. In Kannada language, "Bel" means white and "kola", the pond, an allusion to the beautiful pond in the middle of the town. It reached a high point in architectural and sculptural activity under the patronage of Gangas of Talakad.

Indragiri has thousand-year-old tallest monolithic statue of Gomateshwara, 57ft. in height installed by the Ganga General Chavundaraya. Bhagavan Gomateshwara Bahubali statue is considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue. The base of the statue has inscriptions in Kannada (dated 981 CE) and Tamil, as well as the oldest evidence of written Marathi, from 981 AD. It has Siddhara Basadi, odegal Basadi, Chennanna Basadi and Chauvvisa Tirthankara Basadi and a finely engraved pillar called Thyagada Brahma pillar. Chandragiri has the Chandragupta Basadi of the Gangas and the big Parshwanatha Basadi. The last shruta-kevali, Bhadrabahu Swami, and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya (formerly the king), meditated in Chandragiri hills. Chandragiri also has a famous temple built by Chamundaraya, who was a disciple of Acharya Nemichandra Siddhanta-chakravarti. The town below the hill has the Jaina matha with very old paintings on its walls. Shravanabelagola has more than 500 inscriptions and some of them refers to Sallekhana (starving to death) by the Jaina ascetics. Most of the inscriptions at Chandragiri date back to the 10th century. These inscriptions have helped modern scholars in understanding the nature, growth and development of the Kannada language and its literature.

Mahamastakabhisheka, the head anointing ceremony of Lord Gomateshwara takes place every 12 years. During this ceremony, the statue of Lord Gomateshwara is bathed with water kept in 1008 kalashas (vessels) collected from almost all the rivers and water resources of the land. Jain priests pour pots of curd, milk, honey, vermilion, coconut water, turmeric paste and even shower gold and silver on the statue during the ceremony.
The next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held in 2018 A.D.