Udupi: The Mahamastakabhisheka of world famous Bhagwan Bahubali of Karkala will be held from January 21-31, 2015.
The Mahamastakabhisheka is an important Jain festival held once every twelve years, to venerate and anoint the huge 17.3736 meter, 42-ft high statue of the Siddha Bahubali. It is the second biggest stone monument of the Lord, after the one in Shravanabelagola in Hassan. It’s been twelve years since the last anointment in 2002 and the Mahamastakabhisheka which was due in 2014, but postponed due to a variety of reasons, is now scheduled to be conducted from January 21 to 31, 2015 – at Karkala by the Sri Bahubali Swami Mahamastakabhisheka Samithi.
History has it, that Lord Bahubali’s statue also known as Gomateshwara was installed by the king of Karkala Veera Pandya Bhairarasa in the year 1432 on top of a granite bed that is about 300–500 ft thick at Karkala. The statue proudly stands as the symbol of sacrifice made to mankind for the peace and nonviolence by Bahubali.
The Ceremonies
As per Jain tradition, the ten-day Mahamastakabhisheka (anointment) will be performed by various families for 9 days and on the last day, January 30th, a Sarvajanika Abhisheka, will be held with the grandeur it deserves
Ceremonial offerings will be made from the top of a specially constructed metallic frame work. The media committee coordinator Gunapal Kadamba said that 500 people can stand on the various platforms at a time, which is a significant improvement from the past. For the first time an iron made Attelage has been constructed as against the past when wooden Attelages were constructed. The organizing committee has spent 50 tonnes of iron for the Attelage and the construction has cost around Rs 50 lakhs. Mahaveer Prasad, who is in-charge of the construction of the Attelage, has informed that the construction of the Attalige took two months.
He added, “On the first day, the Abhisheka would start off with 54 kalashas and it would increase to 108, 216, and 504, and on the 10th day, the number of kalashas kept for the rituals would be 1008”.
According to tradition, first 1008 kalashas of water will be poured over the statue, then tender coconut water, sugarcane juice, milk, rice flour, turmeric paste, kashaya (a herbal concoction), kalka churna, shrigandha (sandal paste), chandana (colored sandal paste), ashtagandha (eight varieties of sandal paste), saffron and flowers, and a grand Arathi will be performed. Finally flower petals will be showered on the idol. Except for ‘Ksheerabhisehka’ all other Abhishekams will be done in the capacity of 300-500 liters, so as to the wet the entire statue. Around 750 liters of milk is used for Ksheerabhisehka. The ceremony will conclude with the ritual ‘Okali’.
Visitors are allowed 10-15 minutes inside the scaffolding and are charged Rs 20 for elders and Rs 10 for the children below 12 years of age, he informed
The expenditure per day will be in the range of Rs 10 -15 lakh. More than 40 thousand devotees are expected to visit Bahubali for 9 days, and on the last day it is expected to cross more than a lakh, Kadamba said.
Infrastructure Development:
Kadamba said that the state government had released Rs. 13.5 crore for the festival, out of which Rs. 11.5 crore would be spent on development works, Rs. 1 crore for drinking water facility, Rs. 45 lakh for sanitation facilities, and Rs. 20 lakh for beautifying Karkala.
He said that special care has been taken to develop basic infrastructural facilities like roads, drainages, drinking water facilities and hygienic conditions. He added that a self-service dining hall with a seven thousand square feet area would be built soon. 5 LED screens and 15 LCDs will be put up across the city for the benefit of devotees, he stated.
The government infrastructure improvement plan includes development of the road connecting Jain Basadi via Nallooru, Karkala (1.5 kms), the stretch from Hiriyangadi to the Basadi (2 kms), the Koodlu Theertha road near Hebri, the Koti-Chennayya Theme Park Road and the Nakuru – Kajke – Santhekatte, Jomu Teertha Road (0-4 kms) in the Udupi Vidhana Sabha constituency.
The administration has sanctioned developmental works on the five prime roads in the Taluk under Nabard Rural Infrastructure Development Fund.
Dignitaries:
Several eminent persons are expected to grace the Mahamastakabisheka ceremonies
Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala would inaugurate the first day of the festival on January 21; Former minister Veerappa Moily on January 22; National vice-president of BJP – B. S. Yeddyurappa on January 23; Former vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party – Dr. Najma Akbarali Heptulla, Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple – Veerendra Heggade, Former Union Minister – Oscar Fernandes and Former MP, Jayaprakash Hegde on January 24; District in charge minister B Ramanath Rai, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Capt Ganesh Karnik on January 25; Women and Child Welfare Minister Umashree on January 26; Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa and president of the Karnataka state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party Pralhad Joshi on January 27; Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on January 28;
Swamiji’s from Tamil Nadu are expected to be the chief guests on January 29; other dignitaries expected to be present include, the Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Sadananda Gowda, Mahesh Sharma, State ministers U T Khader, Abhaychandra Jain, Kimmane Ratnakar, D K Shiva Kumar and Mahadev Prasad.
