Shravanabelagola, nestled by the Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri Hills, protected by the monolith Bhagwan Bahubali, and home to over 2,300 years of Jain heritage, is a veritable picture postcard of our history and heritage spanning the centuries. In the town of Shravanabelagola, stands a colossal rock-cut statue of Gommateshwara Shri Bahubali. About eight hundred odd inscriptions which the Karnataka Archeological Department has collected at the place are mostly Jaina and cover a very extended period from 600 to 1830 CE. Some refer even to the remote time of Chandragupta Maurya and also relate the story of the first settlement of Jains at Shravanabelagola. That this village was an acknowledged seat of learning is proved from the fact that a priest from here named Akalanka was in 788 CE summoned to the court of Himasitala at Kanchi where having confuted the Buddhists in public disputation, he was instrumental in gaining their expulsion from the South of India to Ceylon.
Shravanabelagola nestled by the Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri Hills protected by the monolith Bhagwan Bahubali and home to over 2300 years of Jain heritage is a veritable picture postcard of our history and heritage spanning the centuries In the town of Shravanabelagola stands a colossal rock-cut statue of Gommateshwara Shri Bahubali About eight hundred odd inscriptions which the Karnataka Archeological Department has collected at the place are mostly Jaina and cover a very extended period from 600 to 1830 CE Some refer even to the remote time of Chandragupta Maurya and also relate the story of the first settlement of Jains at Shravanabelagola That this village was an acknowledged seat of learning is proved from the fact that a priest from here named Akalanka was in 788 CE summoned to the court of Himasitala at Kanchi where having confuted the Buddhists in public disputation he was instrumental in gaining their expulsion from the South of India to Ceylon