The Real Bahubali, the history and legend.

Legend

Bahubali was the second son of the founder of Jainism, King Rishabha. After Rishabha decided to become a monk, he decided to divide his kingdom among his 100 sons. The eldest Bharata -after whom India is named- was assigned the city of Ayodhya and Bahubali the city of Taxila. Bharata later decided to usurp the city-states from his brothers to unite it into a single empire.

The battle between Bharat and Bahubali, pictured at a painted wooden book-cover of c. 12th century CE from the Sarabhai Nawab Collection. Reference: Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India, Ahmedabad: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab, 1949: Fig. 199.

Bahubali was the only one who could defy him and he challenged Bharata, the world conqueror to a duel. To prevent the terrible aftermath of such a fight, the ministers in their court deliberated that since it was impossble to physically destroy the bodies of the brothers, the duel would comprise of a staring contest, a water duel and wrestling.

Bahubali in meditation, pictured at a painted wooden book-cover of c. 12th century CE from the Sarabhai Nawab Collection. Reference: Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India, Ahmedabad: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab, 1949: detail of Fig. 200

Bharata lost to his younger brother Bahubali in all three contests. Defeating his brother for material gains filled Bahubali with despair and he decided to renounce everything and become a monk. He pursued enlightenment with great resolve but was not able to achieve it as worldly matters still troubled him. His sisters worried about him and approached tirthankara Adinath for advice. Adinath told the sisters that Bahubali was standing on an elephant and he would be able to achieve enlightenment as soon as he steps off it. The sisters approached Bahubali with this message and he immediately realized that the elephant was his ego and he had not managed to let go of his pride. Soon after this realization he attained enlightenment.

History

Gommateshvara Bahubali during sunset.

There are 5 statues of Bahubali erected in the Deccan. The largest of which is called the Gommateshwara statue at Shravanbelagola, Karnataka. It is ~55ft high statue carved out of single piece of granite rock and is regarded as the largest monolithic statue in the world. It was commisioned by Chavundaraya, a commander in the Talakada dynasty.

Old Kannada inscription at the base of the Gomateshwara monolith in Sharavanabelagola (981 CE Western Ganga Dynasty)

More than 800 inscriptions in Kannada, Sanskrit, Marathi, Konkani, Tamil, Marwari and Mahajani languages have been found at Shravanbelagola and is the earliest record of Konkani script.  These inscriptions indicate that the Western ganga dynasty was an important and powerful dynasty with a lot of diversity and culture. The inscriptions are also historical in nature describing the rise of the Western Ganga, Hoysala, Rashtrakuta, Wodeyar dynasties and the Vijayanagar Empire.