Dharmasthala (Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka), 10th September 2018: The 4th Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsava of Lord Bahubali on the Ratnagiri hill at Dharmasthala will be held in February 2019. Dr. D.Veerendra Heggade, the Dhrmadhikari of Dharmasthala has informed this while speaking to reporters after the initial preparatory meeting that was held at Dharmasthala. He further informed that Chief Minister of Karnataka Sri H D Kumaraswamy had promised of laying a ring road to reduce the traffic on Dharmasthala Road during Mahamasthakabhisheka. PWD Minister H D Revanna has issued directions to the department officials in this regard, he said.
“The Mahamasthakabhisheka will be held in the presence of Acharya 108 Sri Vardhamanasagar Muni Maharaj, Acharya 108 Sri Pushpadantasagar Muni Maharaj and other Jain Munis. Jain ascetics and the Bhattarakha Swamiji’s (pontiffs) of the Jain Math’s in Karnataka will be invited for the event. The dates are yet to be finalized. The Mahamasthakabhisheka will be held for three days followed by the Panchakalyana Mahotsava. After the main three day event, Mahamastakabhisheka will be performed every Saturday and Sunday”, he informed.
Social Welfare Programme – Removing Silt from 200 Lakes: As a part of the Mahamasthakabisheka’s social welfare schemes Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), in association with the state government, will take up the work on removing silt from 200 lakes in the state. It can be recalled here that Sri Heggade had started SKDRDP and Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) to commemorate the first mahamasthakabhisheka in 1982.
He said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had promised of laying a ring road to reduce the traffic on Dharmasthala Road during Mahamasthakabhisheka. PWD Minister H D Revanna has issued directions to the department officials in this regard, he said.
The preparatory meeting was attended by His Holiness SwastiSri Lalithakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Karkala Jain Math, SwastiSri Charukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Moodabidri Jain Math and other members of the Jain community.
D Surendra Kumar will be the chief convener of the event, D Harshendra Kumar will be the convener, K Mahaveera Ajri and A V Shetty will be the secretaries. Various committees too will function under them.
Consecration of Bahubali Idol – The Bahubali idol was sculpted in 1973 by the famed sculptor Renjala Gopalkrishna Shenoy under the aegis of Shri Ratnavarma Heggade. The statue was then positioned atop the Ratnagiri Hill in February 1982 by Dr.D.Veerendra Heggade, after Shri Ratnavarma Heggade left to the heavenly abode. The mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Bahubali has since been performed thrice in 1982, 1995 and 2007. – Jain Heritage Centres News Service