1993 Mahamasthakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola

Anish said “Hey Sidda! Let’s go see Mahamastakabhisheka”
I: let me check at with parents
Amma said “no” as usual. I persisted. Appaji said “Let them go or they’ll have to wait another 12 years.” I was all smiles.

December 19, 1993. Anish and I left home at 2am on my Kinetic Honda. The night chill was bearable within city limits but once on the highway it was freezing, especially while riding in the front. Fingers became numb, nose would freeze… The ride was somewhat lonely, hardly any traffic on the highway, which in a way was good. Somewhere near Kunigal, we saw a car with a smashed front with a sole occupant seemingly waiting for help to arrive.

The chill factor got worse as we rode on, at times we shivered. After Channarayapatna, we left the highway at Hirisave and took the road to Shravanabelagola. Last 18km to our destination. A few kilometers before Shravanabelgola we saw a huge camp. rows after rows of tents, hundreds of them. That was the camp setup for devotees from other places, mostly out of Karnataka. People were up and getting ready for the grand Abhisheka which was due to start in a few hors. Small groups were huddled around fire trying to keep the warm in the freezing cold. We rode slow, looking at the sights… then we saw a row of shops set up for the camp. We stopped as soon as we saw a tea-shop. As I remember it took us a minute to get off the scooter… our joints were frozen stiff. We stood close to the coal stove trying to soak up the warmth. The first few minutes we had difficulty holding the glasses because the finger tips had lost sensation. After three glasses of tea we felt a little better but it was still cold. 

At Shravanabelagola we parked my Kinetic Honda in the town bus-stand which is close to Chandragiri. Gomateshwara statue stands on Vindhyagiri and we wouldn't be allowed up there since we did not have the required passes for the event. However public was allowed on Chandragiri, we positioned ourselves on some rocks which had a clear view of Vindhyagiri. Gomateshwara's head and shoulders were visible. A huge scaffolding had been erected around the statue.

Cold was giving way to sun’s heat now. The place was getting busy now with people filling up the hill we were on and we could see the privileged ones, mostly in white, slowly trudging up Vindhyagiri towards Bahubali. Down below, police had barricaded the streets and vehicles were off limit and we suddenly realized our scooter in the bus-stand would be difficult to take out. We moved it to a different spot and came back to our place on the hill. The hill was almost full now. The time was nearing… I’m not too sure the order of colors, we saw water, milk, sandal paste, turmeric, vermilion, flowers… Just imagine the quantity of liquids required to bathe the almost 18m statue! It was a sight worth looking at. 

We watched just the first one hour of the event and decided to leave… we did not have plans of getting stuck in the ever increasing crowd. We said bye to Bahubali, Shravanabelagola and the people and moved towards Channarayapatna where we had lunch and started off towards Bangalore.

Four years later, Gulveer and I visited Shravanabelagola during a weekend. We reached late afternoon, checked into a hostel, a simple little place, went for a walk, saw Bastis… it was relaxing, silent, peaceful and serene. Morning, we woke up early, bathed and went up Vidhyagiri and stood before Bahubali’s feet. Wow! What a statue it is! I was wondering how it was created, how much it weighed, there was no chance for any mistakes while the artists sculpted... We spent about an hour looking around the cells where the monks used to live. As I type out the words, I feel I should revisit the place.

India is full of such wonders, be it natural or man-made. There’s so much to see; our temples, forts, towers, wells and what not. What kind of talent and skill gave such wonderful forms to stones! Truly amazing!! Surely people of those times had put in lot of effort and time to create these wonders. They also lived in synch with nature. Modern man somehow ends up messing up with Mother Nature… sad but true.

PS: 3 days after publishing this post i.e. on Dec 31st, I visited Shravanabelagola. This time with Durga, Deepak and Gulveer.

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