Karkala Gommateshwara Statue
A 41-foot monolithic 16th-century statue of Bahubali atop Gomatagiri hill, one of only a handful of colossal free-standing Gommateshwara images in India.
Carved from a single block of granite and installed in 1432 CE under the patronage of the Jain chieftain Veera Pandya, the Karkala Gommateshwara statue stands roughly 41 feet tall atop Gomatagiri hill, making it one of the tallest monolithic Bahubali images in India after Shravanabelagola. Like its more famous counterpart, it depicts Bahubali, son of the first Jain Tirthankara Rishabhanatha, standing in meditative stillness with vines climbing his legs.
The statue is the focal point of a Mahamastakabhisheka anointment ceremony held roughly once every twelve years, drawing large gatherings of Digambara Jain pilgrims, and it sits amid a cluster of other basadis that make Karkala, alongside Moodabidri, one of the great Jain heritage towns of coastal Karnataka.
Getting there: The statue crowns a granite hillock at the edge of Karkala town; the Karkala Head Post Office is in the town center below, a short drive from the hill’s stepped approach.
The site itself
Where to get your stamp cancelled
This may not be next to the site itself — some post offices serve several nearby landmarks.
- Post office
- Karkala Post Office
- Pincode
- 574104
- Address
- Karkala Head Post Office, Gomateshwara Road, Karkala, Udupi District, Karnataka
Sources
- Project maintainer transcription of the physical Philately Passport booklet (district/landmark/post office list)
- Karkala pincode/post office record — Pincode.net.in