12-year wait ends, all eyes on 42-ft-tall Karkala Bahubali

MANGALURU: The 10-day Mahamastakabhisheka ceremony for the 42-foot-tall monolithic stone image of Lord Bahubali atop a rocky hill will begin in Karkala on Wednesday.
Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts could be called the land of Bahubali as they host three towering monolithic statues at Karkala, Venur and Dharmasthala. Among them, the Karkala Gomateshwara is the tallest at 42 feet.Karkala — an evolved version of the original ‘Kari Kallu’ — derives its name from the black stones that cover the vast landscape.
Mahamastakabhisheka was performed at Karkala in 1951, 1957, 1962, 1990 and 2002. The gap of 12 years was not maintained for various reasons and the anointing in 1990 was held after a gap of 28 years due to problems caused by the implementation of the Land Reforms Act.
The imposing monument was installed by King Veera Pandya Bairarasa at the behest of guru Lalithakeerthi, a pontiff of Karkala Jain math, in 1432 AD.
The Karkala monolith of Bahubali is the third largest of the four Bahubali statues in Karnataka, the first one being the 57-foot-tall monolith at Shravanabelagola. Dharmasthala and Venur statues measure 39 feet and 35 feet, respectively.