Pavapuri

Pavapuri  :- 
 Pavapuri   known as Pava and Apapapuri was a city in ancient times forming a part of Magadh territory. Nearly  2500 years ago during the reign of  Ajathashatru, Hastipal was the king of this city. of Magadh Desh. At that time Bhagwan Mahavir walking from Champapuri had arrived here and was spending his “Chaturmas” at the Rajjugashala of  king Hastipal. 

   In the morning of Karthik Krishna 14,the final sermon of Lord Mahavir commenced in the presence of nine kings of Malla dynasty, nine kings of Lichchhavi dynasty and many other devotees. After speaking for 16 “prahars “  explaining “Uttaradhyayan Sutra” Bhagwan finally attained Moksha during  Swati Constellation in the last moments of the last “Prahar” of the Amavasya night. God led by Indra celebrated this occasion of beneficence as “Nirvan kalnayak”. 

  According to Digamber Jains’ tradition, Sri Bhagwan attained Moksha in the last moments of the last “prahar” on Karthik Krishna 14 and therefore they celebrate this 14th day as the day of Moksha and in obeisance offer Laddos in the Lake-temple. The Swetamber followers celebrate the 15th day by holding a festival and on that night in the last moments of the last “prahar” offer Laddus. 

Pawapiri temple

Pawapuri, an important centre of Jain faith, is situated in the Nalanda district of Bihar and forms a part of the golden triangle of tourism (Rajgir, Nalanda and Pawapuri). It is at 101 km from Patna and 14km from the district headquarter , Bihar Sharif. Nalanda is at a distance of 14 km and Rajgir at 36 km from here. It was here that the 24th Tirthankar, Lord Mahavir , spent his last Varshavaas or Chaturmas (stay during the 4 monsoon - monts)  and attained nirvan in 527 A.D. 

A huge Jal Mandir (water- temple) is situated here. This white marble temple houses the Lord's foot marks imprinted on a black stone. Indrabhuti Gautam met Lord Mahavir at this place and after being impressed with his persona , embraced Jainism and renounced the world. Later he became Mahavir's first Ganadhar (disciple)

The first temple here was built on Mahavir's foot prints by none other than this elder brother , Nandivardhan.

It is believed that here Lord Mahavir gave sermons for 16 days continuously before his nirvan and inducted 11 Brahmins and 4400 other commoners into Jainism. The lotus pond is believed to have been formed due to the rush among the devotees to collect the soil and the ashes from Lord Mahavir's nirvan site

According to the Jain beliefs, the sins of a devotee visiting the place are destroyed in a moment. Hence it has been referred to as Apapuri in various texts.A description appearing in the Harivansh puran and the Kalpasutra      suggest  that all the God and Goddesses were present in Pawapuri aat the time of Lord Mahavir's nirvan and they illuminated the entire Pawa- region with lamps. The festival of Diwali began sice then .

The Uttar Puran by Acharya Gurubhadra , Kalpasutra by Bhadrabahu and the Harivansh Puran by Acharya Jinsen have detailed description about Lord Mahavir's nirvan and the importance of Pawapuri.

Jal Mandir :-

Jal Mandir Jain temple

This temple made of white marbal is situated amdist a pond full of lotuses and colourful fish. Here the foot marks of Lord Mahavir are imprinted on a black stone. A bridge is built on the pond for entering the temple. it is believed that after the funeral rites of Lord Mahavir , The devotees collected the soil contaning his ashes, resulting in the formation of this pond.

According to the Jain texts, Bhagwatisutra and Anguttar-Nikay, the Pawa region was under the Magadh Mahajanpad (state). There were many villages by the name of Pawa in this region. To differentiate from them, this one was  known as Madhyam Pawa. King Bimbisar  and his son , Ajatshatru were contemporaries of Lord Mahavir. The jain Scriptures refer to them as Shrenik and Kunik respectively . They were followers of jainism.

Lord  Mahavir attained nirvan at the place of Haspital, a local king of this state of Magadh. The first temple here was built immediately after Lord Mahavir's nirvan by this elder brother, Nandivardhan. The grand, new temple of Samosharan was built in 1956 A.D. under the supervision of Acharya vijay Ramchandrasuriji. 

Samosharan temple:-

Samosharan temple

Samosharan is a holy temple for the Jains, which is located in Pawapuri in Bihar. It is located to a distance of 101 km from Patna. It was place from where Lord Mahavira left the earth and his body was burnt to ashes at about 500 BC. 

These ashes were taken by many Jain devotees and his funeral created a water tank in this place. Later a temple made up of marble was built in the centre of the tank. This temple was popularly named  as "Jalmandir". Close to this temple there lies the temple Samosharan, which the tourist comes to admire during their tour to Bihar.

The Samosharan Temple is a popular tourist attraction in Bihar and has its own significance for the Jains. It is one of the pilgrimage places for the devotees of Lord Mahavira. Apart from the religious point of view, the Samosharan Temple attracts many tourists because of the architectural marvel. That’s the reason why tourists from the entire globe come to witness the Samosharan Temple during India tour.