Shravanabelagola Jain Mutt pontiff visits Aggalaiah Gutta in Hanamkonda

Impressed by the development of this Jain Basadi, the seer appreciated Warangal West MLA and Government Chief Whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar for his special interest in developing the place.

Warangal Urban: Pontiff of the Shravanabelagola Jain Mutt, Swasthishri Jagadguru Charukeerthi Swamiji has visited the Aggalayya Gutta in Hanamkonda here on Saturday. Impressed by the development of this Jain Basadi, the seer appreciated Warangal West MLA and Government Chief Whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar for his special interest in developing the place.

The site has a 30-feet-tall engraved statue of the 16th Jain Tirathankar Shanthinatha and a 13-feet-tall statue of 23rd Tirthankar Parshvanatha on a huge boulderstone on a hillock. The site was developed with Rs 1.3 crore under the HRIDAY scheme by the KUDA. As a part of the development, entrance plaza, staircase engraved on the rock, railing, a platform and viewpoint were developed, said MLA Vinay Bhaskar, who accompanied the seer during the visit and added it was indeed a great privilege that Charukeerthi Swamiji had arrived here.

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“Though the Shravanabelagola in Karnataka has a history of 2,000 years with regard to Jainism, Warangal too had a great history as the Jainism flourished here 3,000 years ago. Even the early Kakatiya kings followed the Jainism before embracing the Shaivism,”  the MLA said adding that Aggalayya (Aggalaiah) was known as great physician at that time.

“The Shanthinatha statue is the second tallest Tirthankaras statue in South India after Karnataka’s Bahubali Tirthankara,” he said.

“With the improvement of the facilities on the Aggalayya Gutta (hillock), this site has reached status on par with the historic Thousand Pillar temple and Warangal Fort,” Charukeerthi Swamiji said. Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA) chairman Marri Yadava Reddy, PO E Ajit Reddy, EE Bheem Rao, RDO Vasu Chandra, Tahsildhar Raj Kumar, Jain community leaders Anil Jain, Prakash Jain and Kishor Jain were present.

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