Veneration ceremony ends on a grand note

Jain pilgrimage centre witnesses huge turnout in last two days of nine-day anointing ceremony of Gomateshwara.
A huge turnout of devotees on the last day of the anointing ceremony of Lord Bahubali in Shravanabelagola on Sunday | Express
A huge turnout of devotees on the last day of the anointing ceremony of Lord Bahubali in Shravanabelagola on Sunday | Express

SHRAVANABELAGOLA : The anointing ceremony of Lord Bahubali in Shravanabelagola town of Hassan concluded on Sunday. The nine-day veneration attracted lakhs of visitors and devotees to the temple town.Chief pontiff of Shravanabelagola Jain mutt Charukeerthi Bhattaraka swamiji said the nine-day religious rituals were completed with the anointing on Sunday. He added that anointing of the monolith will take place on Sundays till the end of June.

“Devotees and general public can perform anointing of Lord Bahubali till June 2018. The turnout was huge and devotees from all over the country and abroad came visiting during the veneration. The amenities provided to visitors by the government and mutt were appreciated. The Shravanabelagola mutt will honour Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, senior bureaucrats and officials who have helped in conducting the veneration ceremony successfully,” he said.

The ceremony was conducted under the guidance of Muni Vardhamansagar who has been heading the rituals for the last three occasions. The Bhattarak pontiffs of various Jain mutts in Karnataka too helped in conducting the anointing smoothly. Last two days of veneration witnessed a huge crowd and thousands of people waited in long queues to get a glimpse of 58-foot tall monolith of Bahubali. Police had a tough time in managing the crowd and traffic that kept pouring from all the directions. The hightened security, however, did not go well with the locals and visitors in Shravanabelagola. The police defended their action that crowding has to be avoided in the central parts of Shravanabelagola due to visits of VIPs and ministers.

Shravanabelagola,  a centre of peace: Rajnath Singh
Lauding the historic Jain pilgrim centre Shravanabelagola  for spreading the message of peace, non-violence and patience all over the world, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the need of the hour is to follow the principles and values of Jainism for the welfare of the society.  Addressing the gathering here on Sunday, Singh called Jainism a “scientific religion” as it has a lot of literature and vital records to substantiate it.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com