In
an open quadrangle stands an impressive image, 58 feet and 8 inches
high. Massive in size majestic in its conception. It is the only free
standing monolithic figure of this size in the world. Other larger
figures, like the now non-existant Buddhas at Bamiyan, or the Sphinx
in Egypt,but neither of them have been carved in the round or executed
from a single piece of rock. In both these aspects the Gommata statue
is unique. The colossus stands nude and in the kayotasarga pose, a
yogic position where the body is under complete control needing no
sustenance nor performing any bodily functions. It symbolises complete
detachment from the world. It expresses perfectly the concept of successful
withdrawal from a world of desire and suffering, weakness and worry,
and from the inevitability of birth and death. His serene smile radiates
the successful achievement of total peace through the conquest of
the inner turmoil. Although Bahubali is not a Tinhankara the Jains
revere him as the first soul that attained moksha during this cosmic
- cycle. On the ant-hills are inscriptions - in Kannada, Tamil, and
Marathi - stating that Chamundaraya commissioned this image. On either
side of the Gommata are the chauri-bearers.
