Pawapuri

Pawapuri
पावापुरी
town

Jal Mandir, the famous Jain temple at Pawapuri
Pawapuri

Location in Bihar, India

Coordinates: IN 25°05′30″N 85°32′20″E / 25.09167°N 85.53889°E / 25.09167; 85.53889Coordinates: IN 25°05′30″N 85°32′20″E / 25.09167°N 85.53889°E / 25.09167; 85.53889
Country  India
State Bihar Sharif
District Nalanda
Founded by Raja Dharmpal
Government
  Type JDU
Languages
  Official Magadhi, Hindi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Nearest city Patna
Website www.pawapuritirth.org

Pawapuri (Hindi: पावापुरी) or Pava is a holy site for Jains located in the Nalanda district in the Bihar state of Eastern India. It is located about nineteen kilometers from Rajgir and 101 kilometers from Patna, the capital of Bihar.[1]

History

During ancient times about 2600 year ago, Pawapuri was one of twin capital of Malla Mahajanpad which later became the part of Magadha Kingdom and was called "Madyama Pawa" or "Apawapuri", Ajatshatru, who was one of the greatest disciples of Lord Mahavira was the King of Magadh during the lifetime of Mahavir. During the reign of Ajatshatru, Hastipal was the King of Pawapuri. When Lord Mahavira came to Pawapuri he stayed in King Hastipal's "Rajikshala".[2]

Around 5th Century BCE, Mahavira, the last of the twenty-four Tirthankara attained Nirvana or moksha (liberation). 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.[3]

Now, an exquisite marble temple in the middle of a lotus pond, the Jal mandir, stands magnificently on a rectangular island. Another Jain temple, called Samosharan is located here, where the Lord Mahavira delivered his last teaching.[3]

Economy

Banks

Educational Institute

Transport

Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (Bihar Tourism) provides travel facility from state capital Patna to visit Buddhism circuit, Jain Circuit(Rajgir, Pawapuri) and Sikh Circuit in Bihar. Also, Corporation owns hotels and circuit house at respective tourist places.

The Bakhtiyarpur-Tilaiya line provides improved rail connectivity to several places.

Gallery

References

  1. "Destinations :: Pawapuri ::Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation". Bstdc.bih.nic.in. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  2. "Digambar Jain temple Pavapuri or Pawapuri". Digambarjainonline.com. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  3. 1 2 "Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation". Pawapuri. Retrieved 2009-03-14.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pawapuri.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.