1. Mahamastakabhisheka

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• It is the head anointing ceremony of the Bahubali which is observed once every 12 years in the Digambar Jain tradition.

• The Gomateshwar statute is dedicated to Bahubali, the son of Rishabhanath, the first in the line of the 24 Jain tirthankaras.

• The statue has been depicted in kayotsarga posture. Kayotsarga means to give up one's physical comfort and body movements, thus staying steady, either in a standing or other posture, and concentrating upon the true nature of the soul.

• The statue is said to be built by Chavundaraya who was the commander-in-chief as well as the Prime Minister of the Ganga King Rachamalla during the later period of 10th century A.D.

 

About Shravanbelgola

• A group of Jain monks under the leadership of Bhadrabahu migrated from Ujjain to Shravanbelgola in response to a serious famine during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.

• The group of monks that migrated came to be known as Digambaras (sky clad or naked) and the group of monks who stayed in the north under Sthulabhadra came to be known as Shvetambara (White-robed)

• Later Chandragupta Maurya handed over his kingdom to his son Bindusara and chose to spend his last days at Sravanbelagola.

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1.1. World Cities Cultural Forum

Recently, Mumbai became the first Indian city to be a member of World Cities Cultural Forum (WCCF). More form news Mumbai is a cultural centre which promotes culture through its entertainment and fashion industry, museums, temples etc. It would allow Mumbai to share ideas, technology, challenges and access cultures and art of other cities and broaden its perspective. World Cities Cultural Forum WCCF is the biggest forum of global network which provides a platform for 33 cities to share their culture, data-driven research and intelligence while exploring the vital role and impact of culture in future prosperity.

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1.2. More Than 40 Languages In UNESCO's Endangered List

According to a list prepared by the UNESCO, 42 languages in India are endangered and maybe be headed for extinction. These languages are spoken by less than 10, 000 people. Facts There are 22 scheduled languages in India mentioned in the Eighth Schedule (Article 344(1) and 351) of the Indian Constitution. Apart from the 22 languages, there are 31 languages that have been given the status of official language by state governments and union territories.

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UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication.

The UNESCO has categorized languages on basis of endangerment as follows:-

Vulnerable Definitely Endangered Severely Endangered Critically Endangered According to a Census Directorate report, there are 100 non-scheduled languages which are spoken by one lakh or more people Government Initiatives Government of India launched a scheme known as “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India” in 2014. Under this Scheme, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore works on protection, preservation and documentation of all the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 speakers keeping in mind the degree of endangerment and reduction in the domains of usage. Under the programme, grammatical descriptions, monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, language primers, anthologies of folklore, encyclopedias of all languages or dialects especially those spoken by less than 10,000 people are being prepared.

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