Siddhakshetra Bawangaja

Bawangaja is a famous Jain pilgrim center in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh in India. Its main attraction is the world's tallest statue,(carved out of mountain) of the first Jain Tirthankara (saint) Adinatha. The statue is 84 feet (26 m) high, and was created early in the 12th century. The statue is supported from the back unlike one at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, India. The center is located in the Satpura ranges and is 8 km from a Barwani town.

The mountains of Satpura had been the favorite place of great ascetics and preceptors for practicing penance. The land of Bawangaja had been the land of penance for several great religious dignities. In the middle of the Satpura, at the height of 4,000.6 ft (1,219.4 m). is the idol of the founder of Jainism the first Tirthankar Rishabh Dev, carved on single stone, with height of 25.6 metres. (84 ft). This place is known as Bawangaja. The idol here is the highest in the world and rich in art. For hundreds of years this captivating idol, standing in the posture of meditation, exhibits the heights of detachment, quietness, art and expressions.

The huge magnificent tallest idol of India at Chulgiri Siddha Kshetra is made by carving live rock. This 84 feet (26 m) high Khadgasan idol of Bhagwan Adinath is made in brown stone. As no written evidence is available regarding its construction it is very difficult to say anything about its construction period. The idol of Bhagwan Adinath (Rishabhdev) stands on base of mountain just like the idol of ‘Gomteshwar Bahubali’ of Shravanbelgola. The hands of idol are not joined with legs but are made separate. The structural art & style of this idol is unique and it is in perfect proportion. The various parts of idol are quite symmetrical. There is balanced image of all emotions like joy, mercy & separation on the face of this idol. On the left side huge idol of Bawangaja Bhagwan Adinath the 4 armed ‘Gomukh Yaksha’ & on the right side the very artistic idol of 16 armed ‘Yakshi Chakreshvary’ is established. Because of the large size of idol one can not got complete view of idol by standing on feet of this idol. Therefore in order to get complete view one has to stand a little distance away from the idol.

MEASUREMENT OF THE IDOL (Details of the idol)
Total height. 84 feet.
Expansion between two hands 26 feet.
Length of hand. 46'-6 "
Length between waist and heel 47'
Circumference of head. 26'
Length of foot. 13'-09 ”
Length of nose. 03'-03 ”
Length of eye. 03'-03 ”
Length of ear. O9'-08 ”
Distance between the two ear. 17'-06 ”
Width of foot. 05'
Image http://bawangaja.com/bawangaja/e/images/Bawangaja_front.gif
The idol of Bhagwan aadinathji carved artistically on a stone slab present here is also quite worth seeing. The Chulgiri temple is also situated on the Hilltop & this temple is also called as Siddha Bhoomi. The Indrajeet, Kumbhakaran & various other scholars attained emancipation through the self-meditation. This is ancient & spired temple whose construction & restoration according to inscription was done in Samvat 1116, 1223 & 1508. The 3 ancient foot images of Indrajeet, Kumbhakaran & the other are present in this temple. Except foot images the 2 idols of Bhagwan Mallinath & Chandraprabhu are installed in the main altar. Moreover the several idols are installed on both sides in the main assembly hall (Mahamandap).