Jainism
Topics
Ahimsa Paramo Dharma
The Path of Universal Compassion
Navkar Mantra
The Universal Jain Bow to Virtue
Paryushana and the Day of Forgiveness
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.
Philosophy
Katha
Abhinandananatha, the Golden Tirthankara of Ayodhya
The fourth Tirthankara, born with golden radiance to King Samvara and Queen Siddhartha at Ayodhya, traded his throne for the harder crown of liberation.
Acharya Bhadrabahu and the Compilation of Jain Scripture
Bhadrabahu, the last Shrutakevali to hold the Jain canon complete in memory, presided over the famine that split Jain memory of him between Karnataka and Nepal.
Ajitanatha, the Invincible Tirthankara
Ajitanatha, born to King Jitashatru and Queen Vijaya at Ayodhya, became the second Tirthankara whose name declares victory over inner enemies, not outer ones.
Anantanatha, the Infinite Lord
The fourteenth Tirthankara, born to King Sinhasena and Queen Suyasha at Ayodhya, renounces a vast kingdom for the boundless liberation his name had promised.
Aranatha, Third of the Warrior-Kings
Aranatha, the eighteenth Tirthankara, is recorded in Kalpa Sutra chapter 1 as one of three Tirthankaras who reigned as Chakravartin before renouncing empire.
Bahubali and Bharata
A Tale of Renunciation
Chandanbala
Mahavira's First Female Disciple
Chandraprabha, the Moonlit Tirthankara
Chandraprabha, born at Chandrapuri under the sign of the moon, became the eighth Tirthankara whose name, moonlight, teaches that calm is liberation's foundation.
Dharmanatha, Lord of Righteousness
Dharmanatha, the fifteenth Tirthankara, born to King Bhanu and Queen Suvrata at Ratnapuri, carries in his own name the word that anchors this land's moral vocabulary.
Digambara and Svetambara
The Two Jain Traditions
The Five Mahavratas
Jain Monastic Vows
Ahimsa
The Heart of Jain Doctrine
Jain Cosmology
The Three Worlds of Lok Purush
Kunthunatha, the Emperor Who Renounced the World
Kunthunatha, the seventeenth Tirthankara and sixth Chakravartin, who renounced a universal empire with nothing left to conquer, to seek liberation.
The Life of Mahavira
Prince to Omniscient Teacher
Neminatha
The Twenty-Second Tirthankara
Parshvanatha
The 23rd Tirthankara's Compassion
The Life of Rishabhanatha, First Tirthankara
Rishabhanatha, the first of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, taught humanity the arts of civilization before renouncing his kingdom to attain liberation.
Mallinatha and the Golden Statue
Mallinatha used a golden statue hollowed with rotting food to teach six royal suitors the impermanence of beauty, becoming the 19th Tirthankara.
Munisuvrata, in Whose Age Rama Lived
The story of the twentieth Tirthankara, born to King Sumitra and Queen Padmavati at Rajgir, in whose distant era Jain tradition places the events later retold in its own Ramayana, the Paumacariya.
Naminatha, the Lily Untouched by Mud
Naminatha, the twenty-first Tirthankara, born at Mithila and remembered by the blue water lily that rises clear from the mud that feeds it.
The Navkar Mantra
Jainism's Central Prayer
Padmaprabha, the Lord of the Lotus
Padmaprabha, born at Kosambi under the sign of a red lotus, became the sixth Tirthankara, a life whose symbol teaches that purity rises untouched from worldly mud.
Paryushan Parva
The Jain Festival of Forgiveness
Pratikramana
The Jain Practice of Introspection and Repentance
Pushpadanta, the Tirthankara of Two Names
Pushpadanta, the ninth Tirthankara, born at Kakandi, is remembered by two names: Pushpadanta for his flower-like teeth, and Suvidhinatha for his unwavering right conduct.
The Three Jewels of Jainism
Ratnatraya
Sallekhana
The Jain Vow of a Peaceful Death
Samayika
The Jain Practice of Equanimity
Sambhavanatha and the Return of Plenty
The third Tirthankara was named Sambhavanatha, possibility, after his conception in Queen Susena's womb coincided with the end of a famine gripping Shravasti.
Shantinatha, the Lord of Peace
Shantinatha, born at Hastinapur the instant an epidemic vanished, ruled as a Chakravarti emperor before becoming the 16th Tirthankara, revered as the queller of calamity.
Shatrunjaya Hill
Jainism's Sacred Mountain
Shitalanatha and the Cooling Touch
The tenth Tirthankara, born to King Dridharatha and Queen Nanda, named for a cooling touch that Jain tradition holds relieved his father's incurable fever.
Shreyansanatha, Lord of the Highest Good
The eleventh Tirthankara, born to King Vishnu and Queen Vishnadevi at Simhapuri, near the ground where the Buddha would later give his first sermon.
Sthulibhadra
Self-Restraint and Scripture's Guardian
Sumatinatha and the Wisdom in the Womb
Queen Mangala, pregnant with the fifth Tirthankara, settles a bitter custody dispute with a ruse worthy of Solomon, and names her son for the wisdom it revealed.
Suparshvanatha and the Falling Leaves
Suparshvanatha, born at Varanasi, renounced his throne after watching leaves fall, becoming the seventh Tirthankara through the plainest of life's lessons.
The Twenty-Four Tirthankaras
Jainism's Ford-Makers
Varshitap
Jainism's Year-Long Fasting Practice
Vasupujya, the Prince Who Never Was King
Vasupujya, the twelfth Tirthankara, renounced the world as a prince and reached liberation at his own birthplace of Champapuri, per Kalpa Sutra chapter 1.
Vimalanatha, the Stainless Lord
Vimalanatha, born at Kampilya, was named 'the stainless lord' for a purity visible even before birth, becoming the thirteenth Tirthankara.
Puja Vidhi
Sacred Places
Dilwara Temples of Mount Abu
Marble Jain Sanctuaries
The Five Sacred Tirthas of Jainism
The Shwetambara Pancha Tirth, five peaks where Tirthankaras attained liberation, draw pilgrims on foot in fasting and non-violence toward Moksha itself.
Hastinapur Jain Tirth
Birthplace of Three Tirthankaras
Kundalpur and Bade Baba
Seat of Bhagwan Rishabhanatha
Moodabidri and Karkala
Jain Heritage of Tulu Nadu
Mount Kailash
The Abode of the Adi Yogi
Pavapuri and Rajgir
Jal Mandir of Mahavira's Nirvana
Ranakpur Jain Temple
The Marvel of 1,444 Marble Pillars
Shikharji
The Supreme Mountain of Twenty Tirthankaras
Shravanabelagola
Abode of Bahubali Gommateshwara
Sonagiri
The Golden Hill of 103 Jain Temples