Pawapuri

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Replica of Pavapuri temple at Pansara. Mahavira attained Nirvana at Pava.

Pawapuri in the state of Bihar is a holy site for Jains, located 38 kilometers from Rajgir in Nalanda district and 90 kilometers from Patna, the capital of Bihar.

Around 500 BC, Lord Mahavira, the last of the 24 Tirthankaras and one of the founders of Jainism, breathed his last here. This is the place where Lord Mahavira achieved Moksha or Nirvana (Salvation from the endless cycle of life and death). He was cremated at Pawapuri, also known as Apapuri ("the sinless town"). There was a great rush to collect his ashes, with the result that so much soil was removed from the place of his cremation that a pond was created.

Now, an exquisite marble temple in the middle of a lotus pond, the Jalmandir, stands magnificently on a rectangular island. Another Jain temple, called Samosharan is located here, where the Lord Mahavira delivered his last teaching.

• Pawapuri Photo Gallery 45+ Photographs