While we’re on the subject of the Jain religion (previous post), here is a picture of some hibiscus flowers that have been left at the feet of a giant statue of a Jain saint, Gomateshwara,  at Karkala, India. It dates from the same time as the aforementioned ‘Thousand Pillar Temple’, 1432 CE. The statue itself is 42 feet in height and made of granite. The story goes that Gomateshwara meditated for so long in a standing position that vines began to grow around his body. These are depicted on the statue itself. The drama of the site is also that this statue stands atop a high rock outcrop of a hill. A perfect place for a monumental cult statue. Every 12 years a great scaffolding is built behind the statue so that milk and ghee can be poured over the statue in veneration, along with myriad other votive powders and liquids. There’s an even taller statue of this same saint at a place called Shravanabelagola. At 57 feet it’s the tallest of all Jain saint statues. It too undergoes veneration at the 12 year cycle.