You have to climb 650 rock cut steps BAREFOOT to reach the colossal statue of Lord Bahubali standing nearly 60 foot tall. This is the largest freestanding statue in the World carved in the round in 981AD so that it predates the sculptures of the Western World by five hundred years!
The colossus stands nude in a yogic position where the body is in complete control needing no sustenance nor performing any bodily functions. It symbolises complete detachment from the World.
Every 10 to 12 years the Jains, who gather in their hundreds of thousands, perform special rites at the site. The next one is due on 6 February 2006.
This should be a World Heritage Site!