Mahamasthakabhisekha of Lord Bahubali held with great pomp

Dharmasthala, Karnataka, Feb 2: Mahamasthakabhisekha, the head anointing ceremony of the 34-ft-tall monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali, was held here today with religious fervour, pomp and gaiety.

The stone statue, atop the Ratnagiri hillock in this temple town, changed its hue as pots of various liquids were poured over the head, as slogans like 'Bolo Bhagwan Bahubali Ki Jai' raised by the jampacked devotees rent the air. It was pristine white when pots of milk was poured and the colour soon changed to yellow when sandalwood paste was offered, followed by red when asthagandha water was poured and black when kashayam (concoction) was offered.

The spectacular sight was witnessed from far as the third head anointing ceremony, held after a gap of 12 years, passed off successfully, 25 years after its installation.

The statue was anointed with 1008 kalasams with 'Pratham Kalashabhishek' (Ratna Kalash) performed by Surendra Zaveri of Delhi.

Various Jain munis, including Sri Vidyananda Muni Maharaj from Kundkund Bharathi in New Delhi, witnessed the ceremony that lasted over five hours.

In all, 100 litres each of tender coconut and sugarcane juice, 300 litres of milk, 25 kg of rice flour, 100 kg each of turmeric powder and astagandha powder, 30 kg of sandalwood paste, 20 kg of chandan and five baskets of flowers were used during the ceremony, supervised by chief priest Chandanath Indra and assisted by 22 other Jain priests. Sri Vardhaman Sagar Muni Maharaj guided the Mahamasthakabhisekha.

Union Minister of State for Information Ambareesh, MPs and State Science and Technology Minister Ramachandra Gowda witnessed the ceremony.

The monolithic statue was the second largest statue of Lord Bahubali after the 57-ft-high statue at Shravanabelagola, where the Mahamasthakabhisekha was performed last year.

The first Mahamastakabhisekha of this 210 tonne statue was held in 1982 when it was installed and the second in 1995.

The Masthakabhisekha would continue for another month with various Jain associations participating in it.

To mark the occasion, the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project which was confined to the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada would be extended to the neighbouring districts of Shimoga and Chikmagalur, Dharmadhikari of the Kshetra Dr D Veerendra Heggade told UNI. An additional staff of 600 would be required to extend various activities under the project to improve the socio-economic condition of people, especially women, he added.

He said the Mahamasthakabhisekha was held for world peace and universal brotherhood for which Lord Bahubali stood for.

UNI