Kumbhoj Jain temple

Kumbhoj Bahubali
28 feet Bahubali statue, Kumbhoj
Location within Maharashtra
Religion
Affiliation	Jainism
Sect	Digambara
Deity	Bahubali
Festivals	Mahavir Jayanti, Diwali
Location
Location	Kumbhoj, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India
Coordinates	16°49′17.9″N 74°26′41.5″E
Architecture
Established	1156 AD
Temple	14

Kumbhoj Jain temple is a Jain pilgrimage centre near Kumbhoj in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India. The site is particularly known for a large marble statue of Bahubali and for its Digambara Jain temples.

Location

The pilgrimage centre is situated near the town of Kumbhoj in the Hatkanangale area of Kolhapur district. The site is associated with the wider Jain religious landscape of southern Maharashtra.

History

Kumbhoj has been associated with the Digambara Jain tradition for several centuries, although the precise history of the present pilgrimage complex is not securely documented in the archaeological sources located for this article. Claims that the site or its principal image dates to the 12th century are found in modern Jain pilgrimage literature, but have not been independently corroborated by a sufficiently strong archaeological source.

The modern development of the Kumbhoj Bahubali centre is particularly associated with its large image of Bahubali. The statue was installed in 1963.

Bahubali statue

The principal landmark of the site is a standing image of Bahubali in the kayotsarga posture. The statue is approximately 28 feet (8.5 m) high and is made of marble. Kajri Jain records the Kumbhoj Bahubali among major monumental Jain statues in India and dates the statue to 1963.

The statue belongs to the modern period and is considerably later than the medieval monolithic images of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola, Karkala and Venur. It forms part of a modern revival of monumental Jain imagery in India.

Temple complex

The Kumbhoj pilgrimage centre contains several Digambara Jain temples and religious buildings associated with the Bahubali shrine. The complex has developed around the principal Bahubali image and functions as a centre of Jain worship, pilgrimage and religious activity.

Modern descriptions of the complex mention additional shrines dedicated to Jain Tirthankaras, as well as facilities for pilgrims. However, detailed architectural information about these buildings is not sufficiently documented in the independent scholarly sources used here and is therefore not included.

Religious significance

Bahubali occupies an important place in Jain religious tradition as the son of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, and as a figure associated with renunciation and liberation. Monumental images of Bahubali have consequently become important Jain pilgrimage objects.

The Kumbhoj statue belongs to the modern expansion of this monumental tradition. Its 28-foot height places it among the larger modern Jain images of Bahubali in India.

See also

• Gommateshwara statue, Karkala
• Gommateshwara statue

References

Sources

• Sangave, Vilas Adinath (1981), The Sacred ʹSravaṇa-Beḷagoḷa: A Socio-religious Study, Murtidevī granthamālā, vol. 8, Mumbai: Bhartiya Jnanpith, ISBN 9789326355599
• Jain, Kajri (2021). Gods in the Time of Democracy: The Sacred, the Secular, and the Political in India. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478012887.