The sutra of rules
Sanskrit kalpa (rule, ritual) + sutra.
A Jain text, attributed to Bhadrabahu, that tells the lives of the Tirthankaras. The Svetambara tradition recites it during Paryushana.
Diwali is a five-day season at the Kartika new moon (October-November). This sets out the days, the Padma Purana and al-Biruni, and which stories are later.
The twenty-four Tirthankaras in order, stories of the faithful, the teachings and the practices: forty-two Jain stories arranged in four groups.
Mahavir Jayanti marks Mahavira's birth on the bright thirteenth of Chaitra. This article sets out the day, what the Kalpa Sutra tells, and where the traditions differ.
The holiest Jain festival of the year — eight to ten days of fasting, scriptural study, and self-reflection, culminating in Samvatsari and the universal plea for forgiveness, Micchami Dukkadam.
Kevala Jnana is the infinite knowledge that dawns when a soul destroys all four Ghatiya karmas, the omniscience every Tirthankara attained before teaching.
The fourth Tirthankara, born with golden radiance to King Samvara and Queen Siddhartha at Ayodhya, traded his throne for the harder crown of liberation.