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43-526: Shravanabelagola (pronunciation: [ ɕɾɐ.ʋɐˈɳɐ bɛ.ɭɐ.go.ɭɐ ] ) is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 144 km (89 mi) from Bengaluru . The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas (pilgrimage destinations) in Jainism , one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural activity under

86-505: A Sanskrit drama, the characters should speak Maharashtri Prakrit in verse and Shauraseni Prakrit in prose. But the 10th century Sanskrit dramatist Rajashekhara does not abide by this rule. Markandeya, as well as later scholars such as Sten Konow, find faults with the Prakrit portions of Rajashekhara's writings, but it is not clear if the rule enunciated by Vishvanatha existed during Rajashekhara's time. Rajashekhara himself imagines Prakrit as

129-536: A distinction between Jain and non-Jain Prakrit literature. Jacobi used the term "Jain Prakrit" (or "Jain Maharashtri", as he called it) to denote the language of relatively late and relatively more Sanskrit-influenced narrative literature, as opposed to the earlier Prakrit court poetry. Later scholars used the term "Jain Prakrit" for any variety of Prakrit used by Jain authors, including the one used in early texts such as Tarangavati and Vasudeva-Hindi . However,

172-484: A good command of the original language of the texts, as several of the extant Prakrit texts contain inaccuracies or are incomprehensible. Also, like Sanskrit and other ancient languages Prakrit was spoken and written long before grammars were written for it. The Vedas do not follow Panini's Sanskrit grammar which is now the basis for all Sanskrit grammar. Similarly, the Agamas, and texts like Shatkhandagama , do not follow

215-557: A large period of the first millennium, literary Prakrit was the preferred language for the fictional romance in India. Its use as a language of systematic knowledge was limited, because of Sanskrit's dominance in this area, but nevertheless, Prakrit texts exist on topics such as grammar, lexicography , metrics, alchemy, medicine, divination , and gemology . In addition, the Jains used Prakrit for religious literature, including commentaries on

258-410: A single language or a single kind of language, alongside Sanskrit, Apabhramsha, and Paishachi . German Indologist Theodor Bloch (1894) dismissed the medieval Prakrit grammarians as unreliable, arguing that they were not qualified to describe the language of the texts composed centuries before them. Other scholars such as Sten Konow , Richard Pischel and Alfred Hillebrandt disagree with Bloch. It

301-472: Is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and Pali . The oldest stage of Middle Indo-Aryan language is attested in the inscriptions of Ashoka (ca. 260 BCE), as well as in

344-528: Is a veritable picture postcard of our history and heritage spanning the centuries. In the town of Shravanabelagola, stands a colossal rock-cut statue of Gommateshwara Shri Bahubali. About eight hundred odd inscriptions which the Karnataka Archeological Department has collected at the place are mostly Jaina and cover a very extended period from 600 to 1830 CE. Some refer even to the remote time of Chandragupta Maurya and also relate

387-487: Is an allusion to the pond in the middle of the town. The Sanskrit equivalents Śvetasarovara , Dhavalasarovara and Dhavalasarasa used in the inscriptions that support this meaning. There are more than 560 inscriptions in Shravabelagola. Some inscriptions mention the name of the place as Beḷgoḷa, which has given rise to another derivation from the plant Solanum ferox (hairy-fruited eggplant). This derivation

430-532: Is in allusion to a tradition which says that a pious old woman completely anointed the colossal image with the milk brought by her in a gullakayi or eggplant. The place is also designated as Devara Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the God" and Gommaṭapuram "city of Gommaṭa" in some epigraphs. Shravanabelagola has two hills, Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri . Acharya Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya are believed to have meditated there. Chandragupta Basadi, which

473-699: Is located at 11 km (6.8 mi) to the south-east of Channarayapatna in the Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district of Karnataka . It is at a distance of 51 km (32 mi) south-east of Hassan, Karnataka , the district centre. It is situated at a distance of 12 km (7.5 mi) to the south from the Bengaluru-Mangaluru road (NH-75) , 18 km (11 mi) from Hirisave , 78 km (48 mi) from Halebidu , 89 km (55 mi) from Belur , 83 km (52 mi) from Mysuru , 144 km (89 mi) from Bengaluru ,

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516-546: Is located on Vindyagiri Hill. It is considered to be the world's largest monolithic statue. The base of the statue has an inscriptions in Prakrit , dating from 981 CE. The inscription praises the king who funded the effort and his general, Chavundaraya, who erected the statue for his mother. Every twelve years, thousands of devotees congregate here to perform the Mahamastakabhisheka , a spectacular ceremony in which

559-496: Is possible that the grammarians sought to codify only the language of the earliest classics of the Prakrit literature, such as the Gaha Sattasai . Another explanation is that the extant Prakrit manuscripts contain scribal errors. Most of the surviving Prakrit manuscripts were produced in a variety of regional scripts during 1300–1800 CE. It appears that the scribes who made these copies from the earlier manuscripts did not have

602-526: Is the predominant language of the ancient Indian literature. Several modern scholars, such as George Abraham Grierson and Richard Pischel , have asserted that the literary Prakrit does not represent the actual languages spoken by the common people of ancient India. This theory is corroborated by a market scene in Uddyotana's Kuvalaya-mala (779 CE), in which the narrator speaks a few words in 18 different languages: some of these languages sound similar to

645-583: Is the seat of the ancient Bhattaraka Matha , belonging to the Desiya Gana lineage of Mula Sangh , from the Digambara monastic tradition . Bahubali College of Engineering is an educational institute at Shravaṇabeḷagoḷa. Shravanabelagola is also part of the route followed by the luxury tourist train, the Golden Chariot . The government of Karnataka showcased the statue of Gometashwara at

688-532: The Jain images when held on a large scale. The most famous of such consecrations is the anointment of the Bahubali Gommateshwara Statue located at Shravanabelagola. It is an important Jain festival held once in every 12 years. It is an integral part of the ancient and composite Jain tradition. The festival is held in veneration of a 17.3736 metres (57.000 ft) high monolithic statue of

731-747: The Republic Day Parade of 2005 where it received the first prize from the then President of India Honourable Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam . On August 5, 2007, the statue at Shravanabelagola was voted by the readers of Times of India as the first of the Seven Wonders of India with 49% votes in favor of the statue. Archaeological Survey of India has listed the group of monuments in Shravanabelagola as Adarsh Smarak Monument . International Phonetic Alphabet chart Legend: unrounded  •  rounded Symbols to

774-771: The Chandragiri and the rest can be seen in the Vindhyagiri Hill and the town. Most of the inscriptions at the Chandragiri date back before the 10th century. These inscriptions include texts in the Kannada. The second volume of Epigraphia Carnatica , written by B. Lewis Rice , is dedicated to the inscriptions found here. It is said to be the oldest Konkani inscription. The inscriptions are written in Purvahalagannada (Ancient Kannada) and Halegannada ( Old Kannada ) characters. Some of these inscriptions mention

817-509: The Jain canonical literature, stories about Jain figures, moral stories, hymns and expositions of Jain doctrine. Prakrit is also the language of some Shaiva tantras and Vaishnava hymns. Besides being the primary language of several texts, Prakrit also features as the language of low-class men and most women in the Sanskrit stage plays . American scholar Andrew Ollett traces the origin of

860-467: The Sanskrit Kavya to Prakrit poems. Some of the texts that identify their language as Prakrit include: The languages that have been labeled "Prakrit" in modern times include the following: Not all of these languages were actually called "Prakrit" in the ancient period. Dramatic Prakrits were those that were used in dramas and other literature. Whenever dialogue was written in a Prakrit,

903-719: The Siddha Bahubali. The anointing last took place in February 2018, and the next ceremony is going to take place in 2030. During this festival, the statue is then bathed and anointed with libations such as milk, sugarcane juice, and saffron paste, and sprinkled with powders of sandalwood , turmeric , and vermilion . The event has been attended by multiple political personalities including Krishna-Rajendra Wodeyar in 1910, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951, Indira Gandhi in 1967 and 1981, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2006, and Narendra Modi and Ramnath Kovind in 2018. Shravanabelagola

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946-489: The Vindyagiri hill (called Dodda Betta in local Kannada language. On the base of the pillar, on the north side, is an inscription in old Kannada language of the same period. The Sasana Basadi, Savitagandharva Basadi, Terina Basadi and Santiswara Basadi are other important temples on the Chandragiri hill. The Mahamastakabhisheka (Grand Consecration/The Great Indian Festival), refers to the abhiṣheka (anointment) of

989-491: The capital of Karnataka and 222 km (138 mi) from Mangaluru . Sacred places are spread over two hills, Chandragiri and Vindyagiri , and also among the villages at the foothills. Shravanabelagola "White Pond of the Shravana " is named with reference to the colossal image of Gommaṭa - the prefix Śravaṇa serves to distinguish it from other Belagolas with the prefixes Hale- and Kodi-, while Beḷagoḷa "white pond"

1032-671: The common people – as well as the converse influence of Sanskrit on the Prakrits, gave Prakrits progressively higher cultural prestige. Mirza Khan's Tuhfat al-hind (1676) characterizes Prakrit as the language of "the lowest of the low", stating that the language was known as Patal-bani ("Language of the underground") or Nag-bani ("Language of the snakes"). Among modern scholars, Prakrit literature has received less attention than Sanskrit. Few modern Prakrit texts have survived in modern times, and even fewer have been published or attracted critical scholarship. Prakrit has been designated as

1075-643: The earliest forms of Pāli, the language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon. The most prominent form of Prakrit is Ardhamāgadhı̄, associated with the ancient kingdom of Magadha, in modern Bihar, and the subsequent Mauryan Empire. Mahāvı̄ra, the last tirthankar of 24 tirthankar of Jainism, was born in Magadha, and the earliest Jain texts were composed in Ardhamāgadhı̄. Almost all the native prākrit grammarians identify prākṛta to be named so because they originate in

1118-402: The few languages suitable for composition of literature. Mirza Khan's Tuhfat al-hind (1676) names Prakrit among the three kinds of literary languages native to India, the other two being Sanskrit and the vernacular languages. It describes Prakrit as a mixture of Sanskrit and vernacular languages, and adds that Prakrit was "mostly employed in the praise of kings, ministers, and chiefs". During

1161-416: The full grammar of Ardhamagadhi first, and then define the other grammars with relation to it. For this reason, courses teaching 'Prakrit' are often regarded as teaching Ardhamagadhi. Medieval grammarians such as Markandeya (late 16th century) describe a highly systematized Prakrit grammar, but the surviving Prakrit texts do not adhere to this grammar. For example, according to Vishvanatha (14th century), in

1204-578: The independent development of these languages, often separated from the history of Sanskrit by wide divisions of caste , religion , and geography . The broadest definition uses the term "Prakrit" to describe any Middle Indo-Aryan language that deviates from Sanskrit in any manner. American scholar Andrew Ollett points out that this unsatisfactory definition makes "Prakrit" a cover term for languages that were not actually called Prakrit in ancient India, such as: According to some scholars, such as German Indologists Richard Pischel and Oskar von Hinüber ,

1247-553: The languages spoken in modern India; but none of them resemble the language that Uddyotana identifies as "Prakrit" and uses for narration throughout the text. The local variants of Apabhramsha evolved into the modern day Indo-Aryan vernaculars of South Asia. Literary Prakrit was among the main languages of the classical Indian culture. Dandin 's Kavya-darsha ( c.  700 ) mentions four kinds of literary languages: Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha , and mixed. Bhoja 's Sarasvati-Kanthabharana (11th century) lists Prakrit among

1290-469: The modern Prakrit grammar. Prakrita Prakasha, a book attributed to Vararuchi , summarizes various Prakrit languages. Prakrit literature was produced across a wide area of South Asia. Outside India, the language was also known in Cambodia and Java. Literary Prakrit is often wrongly assumed to have been a language (or languages) spoken by the common people, because it is different from Sanskrit, which

1333-502: The patronage of Western Ganga dynasty of Talakad . Chandragupta Maurya is said to have died on the hill of Chandragiri , which is located in Shravanabelagola, in 298 BCE after he became a Jain monk and assumed an ascetic life style. Gommateshwara statue , Akkana Basadi , Chandragupta basadi , Chamundaraya Basadi , Parshvanath Basadi and inscriptions of Shravanabelagola group of monuments are listed as Adarsh Smarak Monument by Archaeological Survey of India . Shravanabelagola

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1376-414: The reader would also be provided with a Sanskrit translation. The phrase "Dramatic Prakrits" often refers to three most prominent of them: Shauraseni Prakrit , Magadhi Prakrit , and Maharashtri Prakrit . However, there were a slew of other less commonly used Prakrits that also fall into this category. These include Prachya, Bahliki, Dakshinatya, Shakari, Chandali, Shabari, Abhiri, Dramili, and Odri. There

1419-422: The right in a cell are voiced , to the left are voiceless . Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced , to the left are voiceless . Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Legend: unrounded  •  rounded Prakrit Prakrit ( / ˈ p r ɑː k r ɪ t / )

1462-805: The rise and growth in power of the Western Ganga Dynasty , the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysala Empire , the Vijayanagara Empire and the Udaiyaar dynasty . These inscriptions have helped modern scholars to understand the nature and development of the Kannada language and its literature. Tyagada Brahmadeva Pillar is a decorated freestanding pillar ( lit , Stambha ), 2.3 m (7.5 ft) tall, commissioned by Chamundaraya . The pillar dates to around 983 CE and exists on

1505-428: The source language (prakṛti) which is Sanskrit . Thus the name prākṛta indicates that they depend on Sanskrit for their origin and are not themselves the prakṛti (or originary languages, originating independent of Sanskrit): The dictionary of Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), and other modern authors, however, interpret the word in the opposite sense: "the most frequent meanings of the term prakṛta , from which

1548-471: The statue is anointed with Water, Turmeric, Rice flour, Sugar cane juice, Sandalwood paste, saffron, and gold and silver flowers. Recently Mahamastakabhisheka was held in 2018 during feb month. The next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held in 2030. Shravanabelagola, nestled by the Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri Hills, protected by the monolith Bhagwan Bahubali , and home to over 2,300 years of Jain heritage,

1591-642: The story of the first settlement of Jains at Shravanabelagola. That this village was an acknowledged seat of learning is proved from the fact that a priest from here named Akalanka was in 788 CE summoned to the court of Himasitala at Kanchi where having confuted the Buddhists in public disputation, he was instrumental in gaining their expulsion from the South of India to Ceylon. More than 800 inscriptions have been found at Shravanabelagola, dating to various times from 600 CE to 1830 CE. A large number of these are found in

1634-555: The term "Prakrit" refers to a smaller set of languages that were used exclusively in literature: According to Sanskrit and Prakrit scholar Shreyansh Kumar Jain Shastri and A. C. Woolner , the Ardhamagadhi (or simply Magadhi ) Prakrit, which was used extensively to write the scriptures of Jainism , is often considered to be the definitive form of Prakrit, while others are considered variants of it. Prakrit grammarians would give

1677-427: The word "prakrit" is derived, are "original, natural, normal" and the term is derived from prakṛti , "making or placing before or at first, the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". Modern scholars have used the term "Prakrit" to refer to two concepts: Some modern scholars include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the rubric of 'Prakrits', while others emphasize

1720-542: The works written by Jain authors do not necessarily belong to an exclusively Jain history, and do not show any specific literary features resulting from their belief in Jainism. Therefore, the division of Prakrit literature into Jain and non-Jain categories is no longer considered tenable. Under the Mauryan Empire various Prakrits enjoyed the status of royal language. Prakrit was the language of Emperor Ashoka who

1763-507: Was a strict structure to the use of these different Prakrits in dramas. Characters each spoke a different Prakrit based on their role and background; for example, Dramili was the language of "forest-dwellers", Sauraseni was spoken by "the heroine and her female friends", and Avanti was spoken by "cheats and rogues". Maharashtri and Shaurseni Prakrit were more common and were used in literature extensively. Some 19th–20th century European scholars, such as Hermann Jacobi and Ernst Leumann , made

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1806-464: Was dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya, was originally built there by Ashoka in the third century BCE. Chandragiri also has memorials to numerous monks and Śrāvakas who have meditated there since the fifth century CE, including the last king of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta . Chandragiri also has a famous temple built by Chavundaraya . The 58-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshwara

1849-463: Was patron of Buddhism. Prakrit languages are said to have held a lower social status than Sanskrit in classical India. In the Sanskrit stage plays , such as Kalidasa 's Shakuntala , lead characters typically speak Sanskrit, while the unimportant characters and most female characters typically speak Prakrit. While Prakrits were originally seen as 'lower' forms of language, the influence they had on Sanskrit – allowing it to be more easily used by

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