Bahubali with Sundari and Brahmi worshipping him

The painting represents Bahubali, a Jina, not a Tirthankara, though enjoying Tirthankara-like status. Bahubali was one of the hundred sons of Rishabha, the first Jain Tirthankara. Rishabha's other illustrious son was Bharata. This land gets its 'Bharatavarsha' name from him. When in his advanced age, Rishabha distributed his empire equally amongst all his sons and renounced the world. Bharata inherited Koshal and Bahubali, Takshashila. Bharata later ousted his ninety-eight brothers and annexed their territories. He was, however, defeated by Bahubali. This greed to possess disillusioned Bahubali and led him to renounce the world. For many long years he remained standing without food or water, defeating his desire and everything that bound him to the world. Creepers grew on him but nothing obstructed him from attaining arhantahood - a state beyond bondage. The two female monks on either side, Sundari and Brahmi, are his sisters. Bahubali and Sundari, born of Sunanda, one of the wives of Rishabha, were twins. Similar twins were Bharata and Brahmi, born of Sumangala, Rishabha's another wife. Influenced by their brother Bahubali they too renounced the world and joined him.

Not so much in the north, Bahubali is one of the highly worshipped Jain divinities in the South. His colossal fifty-eight feet high image situated at the 400-500 meter-high rock at Shravana Belagola in Karnataka is one of the world's tallest images.