Statue of Bharata (photo)

Shravanabelagola is a city located in the Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 158 km from Bangalore. Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul toward divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called a jin. The Chamundarayaraya basadi is the finest and one of the largest temples on the hill. It is a homogeneous structure consisting of a garbhagriha with an upper storey and a tower over it, an open sukhanasi, a navaranga and a porch with verandahs at the sides, all built of fine grained hard granite. Bharata was born in the Solar Dynasty, in the line of Manu Svayambhuva, the eldest of a hundred sons of a saintly king by the name of Rishabha Deva (Jain First Tirthankara), who ruled over the earth. Bharata, the older brother of Bahubali is a Chakravati king, who eventually attained nirvana.