Pāvapuri and its Temple Prasasti

Summary

Pavapuri, located approximately 7 miles south of Patna in Bihar, is a small village of about 300 houses, primarily inhabited by Bhamihars. It holds significant religious importance for Jains as the site where Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, attained Nirvana around 527 BCE. According to tradition, Mahavira spent his final rainy season in a hall belonging to the local chief Hastipala. He renounced the world on the new-moon night of Kartika, leading to the construction of a temple by gods and later by King Nandivardhana to commemorate the event. The current temple houses footprints of Mahavira and images of other Tirthankaras, including Gautama and Sudharma. A 600-foot stone bridge in the shape of a *vimana* connects the temple to a tank surrounded by lotus flowers, believed to mark Mahavira’s cremation site. The temple’s dedicatory stone, restored and deciphered, dates to 1641 CE under Emperor Shah Jahan, with inscriptions crediting the Svetambara Sangha and Kharatara Gaccha. The temple’s architecture features intricate wall paintings and colossal Dvarapala statues, reflecting traditional horizontal composition methods.