The Shravanabelagola tour from Bangalore begins with hotel pickup at 7:30 am in a private air conditioned vehicle. The three hour drive southwest brings you to Shravanabelagola by mid morning.

The climb begins at the base of Vindyagiri hill, 600 granite steps cut into the hillside over many centuries, each one worn smooth by the feet of pilgrims who have made this journey for a thousand years. The climb takes approximately 45 minutes and the views from the top over the Deccan plateau are extraordinary in their own right. Shoes must be removed at the base of the hill.

The statue of Gomateswara greets you at the summit in its full extraordinary scale. At 58 feet tall it towers above everything around it, the face serene and perfectly proportioned, the body covered in the symbolic details of Bahubali’s enlightenment story. The creepers climbing his legs, the anthills at his feet, the birds nesting in his hair are all carved from a single unbroken block of pale granite. Your guide tells the complete story of Gomateswara: his birth as the son of Vrishaba Deva, the first of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras, the great war he fought and won against his brother, the sudden renunciation of everything he had won, and the centuries of motionless meditation that followed. It is one of the great human stories in any religious tradition.

The hilltop also contains figurines of all 24 Jain Tirthankaras as well as inscriptions spanning a thousand years from 800 to 1800 AD, a remarkable record of the pilgrims, kings, and scholars who visited across the centuries.

Every twelve years Shravanabelagola hosts the Mahamastakabhisheka, the great head anointing ceremony, when the Gomateswara statue is anointed with milk, saffron, turmeric, and gold from scaffolding erected around it, drawing millions of pilgrims from across the world. Your guide will explain this extraordinary ceremony and what it represents in the Jain tradition.

Hotel drop in Bangalore by 5:30 pm.

This private Shravanabelagola tour from Bangalore is fully inclusive. We take care of hotel pickup and drop in a private air conditioned vehicle, your English speaking cultural guide throughout the day, all entry fees and a South Indian vegetarian lunch.