Shravanabelagola
Shravanabelagola has been a sacred temple city and pilgrimage site for Jaina art, architecture, religion and culture for over 2,300 years. It is located in Karnata state in India. Shravanabelagola derives its name from the place and Jain religion. ‘Bili-gola’ refers to the White Pond that lies between two hills, Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri, and Shravana means Jain ascetic. Early pilgrims visited the hills as early as 300 BC in order to attain religious peace. Chandragiri Hill is named after Chandragupta, the first of the rishis who lived and performed penance there. Shravanabelagola boasts the largest number of Digambara temples and rock inscriptions in India. Some of them record death by starving (sallekhana) by Jaina ascetics and laymen.
The Vindhyagiri hill is home to a spectacular 17 m monolithic stone statue of Bhagwan (Lord) Bahubali Gomateshwara (978-993 AD), considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue. It is carved from single stone of smooth fine grey granite and Gomateshwara stands erect over anthills and serpents with a serene expression on his face. Creepers encircle his legs and waist. About 650 steps have been cut on the Vinghyagiri hill to reach this 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.