Barakar River
The Barakar River is the main tributary of the Damodar River in eastern India. Originating near Padma in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand it flows for 225 kilometres across the northern part of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in a west to east direction, before joining the Damodar near Dishergarh in Asansol, Bardhaman district of West Bengal, it has a catchment area of 6,159 square kilometres. The main tributaries and Usri, flow in from the south and north respectively. Apart from the two main tributaries some fifteen medium or small streams join it; the Barakar skirts the northern portion of Parasnath Hills, 1,350 metres above sea level, the highest hill in the region, located in Giridih district of Jharkhand and a centre of Jain pilgrimage. The river flows in all fury during the rains in its upper reaches and has washed away two bridges constructed successively on the Grand Trunk Road; the great stone bridge across the river near Barhi, in Hazaribagh district, built around 1848, was washed away in 1913, after a fall of 250 millimetres of rain in 24 hours.
The narrow iron bridge, built to replace it, withstood the strains of troop movement during the Second World War, but gave way in 1946, with another great flood. A new bridge built in the 1950s has withstood the fury of the river. There is another bridge on the Grand Trunk Road, across the Barakar, connecting Barakar a neighbourhood in Asansol having the same name, in Bardhaman district of West Bengal with Chirkunda in Jharkhand. With heavy traffic in the heart of the coal belt, the bridge built in the mid-19th century is in need of repairs. A new bridge has been built, to the north, on the bypass running from Kalipahari in Asansol to Nirsa in Dhanbad district; the huge volume of monsoon water was carried down the valley and created havoc with floods in the lower Damodar basin. Annual rainfall over the basin varies between 765 and 1,607 millimetres with an average of 1,200 millimetres of which 80 percent occurs during the monsoon season from June to September. In order to harness the river, the Damodar Valley Corporation planned and implemented independent India's first multipurpose river valley project.
The first dam of the project was constructed across the Barakar at Tilayia. DVC's first dam, Tilaiya Dam, was across the Barakar at Tilaiya, in Hazaribagh district of Bihar, now in Koderma district of Jharkhand, it was inaugurated on 21 February 1953. The dam is 30.18 meters high from the river bed level. Tilaiya hydel power station is located on the left bank of the river Barakar; the structure is of reinforced concrete. It has two generating units of 2 MW each with a provision for a third future unit of the same capacity. DVC's second dam was across the Konar, a tributary of the Damodar, in Hazaribagh district, the third was across the Barakar at Maithon in Dhanbad district of Bihar, now Jharkhand; the river forms the boundary between West Jharkhand in that area. The dam was inaugurated on 27 September 1957; the dam is 4,860 meters long and the concrete dam is 43.89 meters high above the river bed level. The unique feature of Maithon is that the hydel power station is located underground in the left bank of the river and is the first of its kind in India.
The Power Station has a total generating capacity of 60 MW with three units of 20 MW each. About 13 kilometres downstream from Maithon, the Barakar joins the Damodar at Dishergarh. Maithon Dam is 48 kilometres around 25 kilometres from Asansol. Other neighbourhood and suburbs in Asansol namely Rupnarainpur and Kulti-Barakar-Neamatpur-Dishergarh lie still nearer, it receives a daily stream of tourists. In order to augment the meagre hydroelectric power generation DVC has gone in for both gas turbine and thermal power generation. While most of its facilities for such generation lie in the Damodar region, Maithon in the Barakar regions is a major focal point. Maithon Gas Turbine Station was commissioned at Maithon in 1989; the station has an installed capacity of 82.5 MW with three units each of 27.5 MW capacity. The 2 X 500 MW Maithon Right Bank thermal power station is under implementation, it is a joint venture of Tata Power and DVC. A 2 X 500 MW greenfield thermal power station has been proposed for Koderma.
DVC is working on the proposal for a third dam across the Barakar at Balpahari in Jharkhand. Planned as part of its network of dams and barrages in the valley region, the Balpahari project was conceived with the objective of reducing siltation problems at Maithon, increasing the reach of canal irrigation and adding to hydro-electric generation capacity by 20 MW from the existing 144 MW. After the construction of the four dams at Tilayia, Konar and Panchet by DVC, it was observed that the rate of silt inflow into the reservoirs were much higher than what was anticipated earlier, it threatened the longevity of the reservoirs. The catchment area of these reservoirs spread over the undulating terrain of the Chota Nagpur plateau is affected by soil erosion. Large volumes of silt in the form of coarse and fine sediment is removed from the area by erosion under the impact of the water flow caused by torrential rain, which runs down the numerous stream channels during the monsoon, thus the problem of reservoir siltation assumed great importance in the case of DVC.
In order to prolong the life of the reservoirs, there was need for soil conservation and silt control. DVC set up a Soil Conservation Department at Hazaribagh to tackle the twin problems of reservoir siltation and soil deterioration in 1949; the reservoirs at Tilaiya and Mai
Indian Railways
Indian Railways is India's national railway system operated by the Ministry of Railways. It manages the fourth largest railway network in the world by size, with 67,368-kilometre route.. Routes are electrified with 25 kV AC electric traction while thirty three percent of them are double or multi-tracked. Indian Railway runs more than 20,000 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, from 7,349 stations across India; the trains have a five-digit numbering system. Mail or express trains, the most common types, run at an average speed of 50.6 kilometres per hour. In the freight segment, IR runs more than 9,200 trains daily; the average speed of freight trains is around 24 kilometres per hour. As of March 2017, IR's rolling stock consisted of 277,987 freight wagons, 70,937 passenger coaches and 11,452 locomotives. IR owns coach-production facilities at several locations in India; the world's eighth-largest employer, it had 1.308 million employees as of March 2017. In the year ending March 2018, IR carried 8.26 billion passengers and transported 1.16 billion tonnes of freight.
In the fiscal year 2017–18, IR is projected to have revenue of ₹1.874 trillion, consisting of ₹1.175 trillion in freight revenue and ₹501.25 billion in passenger revenue, with an operating ratio of 96.0 percent. The first railway proposals for India were made in Madras in 1832; the country's first train, Red Hill Railway, ran from Red Hills to the Chintadripet bridge in Madras in 1837. In 1845, the Godavari Dam Construction Railway was built by Cotton at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry, to supply stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River. In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River. India's first passenger train, hauled by three steam locomotives, ran for 34 kilometres with 400 people in 14 carriages on 1,676 mm broad gauge track between Bori Bunder and Thane on 16 April 1853; the Thane viaducts, India's first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854.
Eastern India's first passenger train ran 24 miles from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The first passenger train in South India ran 60 miles from Royapuram- Veyasarapady to Wallajah Road on 1 July 1856. On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8-kilometre tram opened in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street. On 9 May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between Parel. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by many railway companies. On 3 February 1925, the first electric passenger train in India ran between Victoria Terminus and Kurla; the organisation of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951, when the Southern and Western zones were created. Fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in all passenger classes in 1951, sleeping accommodations were introduced in coaches. In 1956, the first air-conditioned train was introduced between Howrah and Delhi. Ten years the first containerized freight service began between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi. In 1988, the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Jhansi. Two years the first self-printing ticket machine was introduced in New Delhi. In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier coaches and a sleeper class were introduced on IR; the CONCERT system of computerized reservations was deployed in New Delhi and Chennai in September 1996. In 1998, coupon validating machines were introduced at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus; the nationwide Concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999. In February 2000, the Indian Railways website went online. On 3 August 2002, IR began ticketing. Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country's entire rail network would be electrified by 2022. Indian Railways is headed by a seven-member Railway Board whose chairman reports to the Ministry of Railways. Railway Board acts as the Ministry of Railways; the officers manning the office of Railway Board are from organised Group A Railway Services and Railway Board Secretariat Service.
IR is divided into 17 zones, headed by general managers. The zones are further subdivided into 68 operating divisions, headed by divisional railway managers; the divisional officers of the engineering, electrical and telecommunication, accounts, operating, commercial and safety branches report to their respective DRMs and are tasked with the operation and maintenance of assets. Station masters control individual stations and train movements through their stations' territory. In addition, there are a number of production units, training establishments, public sector enterprises and other offices working under the control of the Railway Board. IR is a major shareholder in 16 public sector undertakings and other organizations that are related to rail transport in India. Notable among this list include:Financing and project implementation: IRFC, RITES, IRCON, MRVC, RVNL Land and station development: RLDA, IRSDC Rail infrastructure: DFCCIL, PRCLPassenger and freight train operations: KRCL, CONCOR IT and communications: CRIS, RCIL Catering and tourism: IRCTC Staff are classified into gazetted an
Jainism
Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient, non-theistic, Indian religion. Followers of Jainism are called "Jains", a word derived from the Sanskrit word jina and connoting the path of victory in crossing over life's stream of rebirths through an ethical and spiritual life. Jains trace their history through a succession of 24 victorious saviours and teachers known as tirthankaras, with the first being Rishabhanatha, who according to Jain tradition lived millions of years ago, twenty-third being Parshvanatha in 8th century BC and twenty-fourth being the Mahāvīra around 500 BCE. Jains believe that Jainism is an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every cycle of the Jain cosmology; the main religious premises of Jainism are anekāntavāda, aparigraha and asceticism. Devout Jains take five main vows: ahiṃsā, asteya and aparigraha; these principles have impacted Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle that avoids harm to animals and their life cycles.
Parasparopagraho Jīvānām is the motto of Jainism. Ṇamōkāra mantra is the most basic prayer in Jainism. Jainism has Digambaras and Śvētāmbaras; the Digambaras and Śvētāmbaras have different views on ascetic practices and which Jain texts can be considered canonical. Jain mendicants are found in all Jain sub-traditions except Kanji Panth sub-tradition, with laypersons supporting the mendicants' spiritual pursuits with resources. Jainism has between five million followers, with most Jains residing in India. Outside India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Suriname and the United States. Major Jain festivals include Paryushana and Daslakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, Diwali; the principle of ahimsa is a fundamental tenet of Jainism. It believes that one must abandon all violent activity, without such a commitment to non-violence all religious behavior is worthless. In Jain theology, it does not matter how correct or defensible the violence may be, one must not kill any being, "non-violence is one's highest religious duty".
Jain texts such as Acaranga Sūtra and Tattvarthasūtra state that one must renounce all killing of living beings, whether tiny or large, movable or immovable. Its theology teaches that one must neither kill another living being, nor cause another to kill, nor consent to any killing directly or indirectly. Furthermore, Jainism emphasizes non-violence against all beings not only in action but in speech and in thought, it states that instead of hate or violence against anyone, "all living creatures must help each other". Violence negatively affects and destroys one's soul when the violence is done with intent, hate or carelessness, or when one indirectly causes or consents to the killing of a human or non-human living being; the idea of reverence for non-violence is founded in Hindu and Buddhist canonical texts, it may have origins in more ancient Brahmanical Vedic thoughts. However, no other Indian religion has developed the non-violence doctrine and its implications on everyday life as has Jainism.
The theological basis of non-violence as the highest religious duty has been interpreted by some Jain scholars not to "be driven by merit from giving or compassion to other creatures, nor a duty to rescue all creatures", but resulting from "continual self-discipline", a cleansing of the soul that leads to one's own spiritual development which affects one's salvation and release from rebirths. Causing injury to any being in any form creates bad karma which affects one's rebirth, future well being and suffering. Late medieval Jain scholars re-examined the Ahiṃsā doctrine when one is faced with external threat or violence. For example, they justified violence by monks to protect nuns. According to Dundas, the Jain scholar Jinadatta Suri wrote during a time of Muslim destruction of temples and persecution that "anybody engaged in a religious activity, forced to fight and kill somebody would not lose any spiritual merit but instead attain deliverance". However, such examples in Jain texts that condone fighting and killing under certain circumstances are rare.
The second main principle of Jainism is anekāntavāda or anekantatva, a word derived from anekānta and vada. The anekāntavāda doctrine states that reality is complex and always has multiple aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is not possible to express it with language. Human attempts to communicate is Naya, explained as "partial expression of the truth". Language is not Truth. From Truth, according to Mahāvīra, language returns and not the other way round. One can experience the truth of a taste, but cannot express that taste through language. Any attempts to express the experience is syāt, or valid "in some respect" but it remains a "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete". In the same way, spiritual truths are complex, they have multiple aspects, language cannot express their plurality, yet through effort and appropriate karma they can be experienced. Since reality is many-sided the great error, according to Jainism, is ekānta where some relative truth is treated as an absolute truth to the exclusion of others.
The anekāntavāda premise of the Jains is ancient, as evidenced by its mention in Buddhist texts such as the Samaññapha
Giridih
Giridih is headquarters of the Giridih district of Jharkhand state, India. The literal meaning of Giridih is the land of hills and hillocks – giri, a Hindi word, means hills and dih, another word of the local dialect, indicates land of. Before 1972, Giridih was part of Hazaribagh district. Giridih is a centre of the prestigious Indian Statistical Institute. Giridih is one of the six Data Processing Centres of Data Processing Division of National Sample Survey Office. Giridh district was a part of Kharagdiha estate till the late 18th century. During the British Raj Giridih became a part of Jungle Terry. After Kol Uprising in 1831, the parganas of Ramgarh, Kharagdiha and Kunda became parts of the South-West Frontier Agency and were formed into a division named Hazaribag as the administrative headquarters. Giridih district was created on 6 December 1972 by carving some parts of Hazaribagh district. In 1999 part of it became Bokaro district, it is a part of the Red Corridor. Land of Giridih is rich in coal, once Giridih was boomed by mica industry which exported to Japan.
There are many big mines of coal found in Giridih. Giridih is located at 24.18°N 86.3°E / 24.18. It has an average elevation of 289 metres. Śrī Sammeta Shikharji known as the Parasnath Hills, located in Giridih is the highest mountain peak in Jharkhand. It is a conical granite peak located 4,477 feet above the sea level. Giridih District is geographically divided into two natural divisions, which are the central plateau and lower plateau; the central plateau touches the western portion of the district near Bagodar block. The lower plateaus have an average height of 1300 feet. In the north and north-west, the lower plateaus form level tablelands until they reach the ghats when they drop to about 700 feet; the district has vast forests. Sal tree is the most predominant trees here. Among other common trees are bamboo, Mahua, kusum, Asian pear and bhelwa. Giridih district is divided into two main water heads -- Usri rivers. Giridih is rich in mineral resources and has several large coal fields with one of the best qualities of metallurgical coal in India.
Mica is found in abundance near the blocks Gawan. Mica is of importance not only to India and other countries as well; the climate of Giridih is dry. It is pleasant during winter season between March. Summer season starting April, is hot, with May being hottest when temperature rises up to 47C. High temperature is accompanied by high humidity levels, specially during June when premonsoon rain falls, it rains maximum during July and August, rainy season continues up to mid October. Nageshwar Prasad Sinha was the first MP from Giridih, when the town declared as separate district from Hazaribagh. Ravindra Kumar Pandey from the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Indian general election, 2014 from Giridih and is the present Member of Parliament. Giridih city forms the Giridih. Sri Nirbhay Shahabadiis the current MLA of Giridih Giridih is connected by Road and Rail link. Giridih Station is connected to Madhupur Junction located 38 km to the east by a single broad gauge railway line. There is a single passenger train which runs five times a day between the two stations and takes about an hour to reach Giridih.
Parasnath Station, on the Howrah-Delhi grand chord line, is 48 km from Giridih towards the west. The Giridih station is under the administration of the Asansol division of the Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways. There is a direct train service from Giridih to Kolkata and Patna Railway line between Koderma and Giridih is about to be completed, presently train is ferrying twice between Koderma and Kowar. In few years to come it will reach Giridih Cit One new rail line is proposed between Giridih and Parasnath which will cater to the needs of locals and Jain Tourists coming to Madhuban, Parasnath; the NH 19 /Grand Trunk Road passes through Giridih district but away from the city. Giridih has a bus terminus in the center of the town; the bus stand is divided into platforms for private buses. A Government Bus terminus is just adjacent to the main bus terminus. There are regular bus services from the city to other parts in the district. Bus service to Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Asansol, Kolkata, Patna and Jamshedpur is available.
Private cars and taxi facilities are available in the city. Other transport is trekkers, autos and mini buses. By air, there is a landing airstrip known as Boro aerodrom at the district headquarters of Giridih. Giridih is well connected to some of the popular airports of Bihar and West Bengal and they are: Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi 155 kilometres Gaya Airport 169 kilometres Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Patna 223 kilometres Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata 309 kilometres As of 2011 India census, Giridih had a population of 143,529, it is the 8th largest city of jharkhand. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Giridih has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. In Giridih, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age; the language spoken is known as Khortha.( This town used to bustle with economic activity in the period from the 1960s to 1980s when the mineral mica processing and export community reaped tremendous gains through exports to the USSR.
However, since the decline of the USSR and its split into twelve CIS countries, the industry has slo
Śvētāmbara
The Śvētāmbara is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. Śvētāmbara "white-clad" is a term describing its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara "sky-clad" Jainas, whose ascetic practitioners go naked. Śvētāmbaras, unlike Digambaras, do not believe that ascetics must practice nudity.Śvētāmbaras believe that women are able to obtain moksha. Śvētāmbaras maintain that Māllīnātha, was a woman. The Śvētāmbara tradition follows the lineage of Sthulabhadra; the Kalpa Sūtra mentions some of the lineages in ancient times. The Śvētāmbara monastic orders are branches of the Vrahada Order, founded in 937 CE; the most prominent among the classical orders today are the Kharatara, the Tapa Gaccha and the Tristutik Gaccha. A major dispute was initiated by Lonka Shaha, who started a movement opposed to idol worship in 1476; the Sthānakavāsī and Terapanth orders are branches of this movement. Major reforms by Vijayananda Suri of the Tapa Order in 1880 led a movement to restore orders of wandering monks, which brought about the near-extinction of the Yati institutions.
Rajendrasuri restored the śramaṇa organization of the Tristutik Gaccha. Some Śvētāmbara monks and nuns cover their mouth with a white cloth or muhapatti to practise ahimsa when they talk. By doing so they minimize the possibility of inhaling small organisms; the Śvētāmbara sect was divided into different orders. First some saints left Śvētāmbara sect to form the Lonka sect in 1474, which led to forming of the Sthānakavāsī in 1653. In 1760, thirteen Saints started. So now at present there are three orders in the Śvētāmbara sect: Murtipujaka, Sthānakavāsī and Terapanth; the Sthānakavāsī believe in praying to Saints rather than to an idol in a temple, the same philosophy is carried on by the Terapanth. Other difference between Deravasi Jains and Sthānakavāsī Jains is that the saints of Deravasi do not wear a muhapatti near their mouth to cover it, they hold it in hand. Sthānakavāsī and Terapanthi saints wear muhapatti held in place by white cotton thread tied to their ears, they do not bow to the Pancha Mahamantar.
The Murtipujakas worship them. Tirth Pat Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions, p. 130 Dundas, The Jains, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X Media related to Svetambara at Wikimedia Commons
Parshvanatha
Parshvanatha known as Parshva and Paras, was the 23rd of 24 tirthankaras of Jainism. He is the earliest tirthankara, acknowledged as a historical figure. Parshvanatha's biography is uncertain, with Jain sources placing him between the 9th and 8th centuries BC and historians saying that he lived in the 8th or 7th century BC. Parshvanatha was born 350 years before Mahavira. With Mahavira and Neminatha, Parshvanatha is one of the four tirthankaras most worshiped by Jains, he is popularly seen as a ford-maker, who can save. Parshvanatha died on Mount Sammeta in an important Jain pilgrimage site, his iconography is notable for the serpent hood over his head, his worship includes Dharanendra and Padmavati. According to Jain texts, Parshvanatha was born in India. Renouncing worldly life, he founded an ascetic community. Texts of the two major Jain sects differ on the teachings of Parshvanatha and Mahavira, this is a foundation of the dispute between the two sects; the Digambaras believe that there was no difference between the teachings of Parshvanatha and Mahavira.
According to the Śvētāmbaras, Mahavira expanded Parshvanatha's first four restraints with his ideas on ahimsa and added the fifth monastic vow. Parshvanatha did not require celibacy, allowed monks to wear simple outer garments. Digambaras disagree with Śvētāmbara interpretations. Śvētāmbara texts, such as section 2.15 of the Acharanga Sutra, say that Mahavira's parents were followers of Parshvanatha. Parshvanatha is the earliest Jain tirthankara, acknowledged as a historical figure. According to Paul Dundas, Jain texts such as section 31 of Isibhasiyam provide circumstantial evidence that he lived in ancient India. Historians such as Hermann Jacobi have accepted him as a historical figure because his Chaturyama Dharma is mentioned in Buddhist texts. Despite the accepted historicity, some historical claims have led to different scholarly conclusions, he is claimed in Jain texts to have been 13.5 feet tall. Parshvanatha's biography is legendary, with Jain texts saying that he preceded Mahavira by about 250 years and that he lived 78 years.
Mahavira is dated to c. 599 – c. 527 BC in the Jain tradition, Parshvanatha is dated to c. 850 – c. 772 BC. According to Dundas, historians outside the Jain tradition date Mahavira as contemporaneous with the Buddha in the 5th century BC and, based on the 250-year gap, date Parshvanatha to the 8th or 7th century BC. Doubts about Parshvanatha's historicity are supported by the oldest Jain texts, which present Mahavira with sporadic mentions of ancient ascetics and teachers without specific names; the earliest layer of Jain literature on cosmology and universal history pivots around two jinas: the Adinatha and Mahavira. Stories of Parshvanatha and Neminatha appear in Jain texts, with the Kalpa Sūtra the first known text. However, these texts present the tirthankaras with non-human physical dimensions, their bodies are celestial, like deva. The Kalpa Sūtra is the most ancient known Jain text with the 24 tirthankaras, but it lists 20. Early archaeological finds, such as the statues and reliefs near Mathura, lack iconography such as lions or serpents.
Parshvanatha was the 23rd of 24 tirthankaras in Jain tradition. He was born on the tenth day of the dark half of the Hindu month of Pausha to King Ashwasena and Queen Vamadevi of Benares. Parshvanatha belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Before his birth, Jain texts state that he ruled as the god Indra in the 13th heaven of Jain cosmology. While Parshvanatha was in his mother's womb, gods performed the garbha-kalyana, his mother dreamt fourteen auspicious dreams, an indicator in Jain tradition that a tirthankara was about to be born. According to the Jain texts, the thrones of the Indras shook when he was born and the Indras came down to earth to celebrate his janma-kalyanaka. Parshvanatha was born with blue-black skin. A strong, handsome boy, he played with the gods of water and trees. At age eight, Parshvanatha began practicing the twelve basic duties of the adult Jain householder, he lived as a soldier in Benaras. According to the Digambara school, Parshvanatha never married. Heinrich Zimmer translated a Jain text that sixteen-year-old Parshvanatha refused to marry when his father told him to do so.
At age 30, on the 11th day of the moon's waxing in the month of Pausha, Parshvanatha renounced the world to become a monk. He removed his clothes and hair, began fasting strictly. Parshvanatha meditated for 84 days before he attained omniscience under a dhaataki tree near Benares, his meditation period included strict vows. Parshvanatha's practices included careful movement, measured speech, guarded desires, mental restraint and physical activity, essential in Jain tradition to renounce the eg
Shikharji
Shikharji, Giridih district, India, is located on Parasnath hill, the highest mountain in the state of Jharkhand. It is the most important Jain Tirtha for the Jains, believed to be the place where twenty of the twenty-four Jain tirthankaras along with many other monks attained Moksha, according to Nirvana Kanda and other texts.. Its distance to cover is 23 kms by walk and takes to climb up and down the hill. If a short route is taken it takes approx 12 hours to complete.. Shikharji means the "venerable peak"; the site is called Sammed Śikhar or Sammet Shikhar "peak of concentration." Because it is a place where twenty of twenty-four Tirthankaras attained Moksha through meditation. The word "Parasnath" is derived from Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Jain tirthankara, one of those, believed to have attained Moksha at the site. Shikarji is located in an inland part of rural east India, it lies on NH-2, the Delhi-Kolkata highway in a section called the Grand Trunk road. Shikharji rises to 4,429 feet making it the highest mountain in Jharkhand state.
The earliest reference to Shikharji as a tirth is found in the Jñātṛdhārmakātha, one of the twelve core texts of Jainism. Shikharji is mentioned in the Pārśvanāthacarita, a twelfth century biography of Pārśva; the popularity of Shikharji as a site of pilgrimage followed that of Vulture Peak, where it is believed the Buddhist Sariputta attained enlightenment. Jharkhand acquired Shikharji under the Bihar Land Reforms Act. Use of Shikharji as a tourist destination impacts on the religious beliefs of the Jain; the pilgrimage to Shikharji is a round trip of 27 km through the Madhuban forest. The section from Gandharva Nala stream to the summit is the most sacred to Jains; the pilgrimage is made on foot or by a litter or doli carried by a doliwallah along a concrete paved track. Along the track are shrines to each of the twenty four tirthankaras and vendors of tea, water and snacks. There is an option for parikrama of a pilgrimage of 54 kilometres; the parikrama path is walking only. The temple at Shikharji is a new construction with some parts dating to the eighteenth century.
However, the idol itself is old. Sanskrit inscriptions at the foot of the image date to 1678. At the base of Shikharji is a temple to Bhomiyaji. On the walls of the Jain temple at the village of Madhuban, there is a mural painting depicting all the temples on Parasnath Hill. Temples along the track include: In Jainism, the building of replica temples is seen as auspicious and worthwhile. On August 13, 2012, the world's first to-scale complete replication of Shikharji was opened in Siddhachalam in New Jersey over 120 acres of hilly terrain. Called Shikharji at Siddhachalam, it has become an important place of pilgrimage for the Jain diaspora. There is a small scale replica of Shikharji at Mehrauli; the nearest railway station named "Parasnath Station" is situated in Isri Bazar, Jharkhand. Its around 25 km from Madhuban, at the base of Shikharji. Parasnath station is situated on Grand Chord, part of Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line. Many long distance trains have halts at Parasnath Station.
Daily connectivities to Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Allahbad, Jammutawi, Kalka etc. are available. 12301-12302 Howrah Rajdhani Express via Gaya Junction has a halt on Parasnath station which run 6 days in a week. By Airway. Durgapur has direct flights from Kolkata and Delhi "Save Shikharji" is a protest movement by Jain sects who are against the state's development plans for Shikharji. Jain community members have opposed the plans of the state government to improve the infrastructure in the hill to boost tourism as alleged attempts to commercialize the Shikharji hill; this movement is headed by Yugbhushan Surishwarji, demands Shikharji Hill to be declared as a place of worship by Government of Jharkhand. List of Jain temples Tirth Pat Nirvana Kanda Tourist Places in Giridih Parasnath Hills travel guide from Wikivoyage
India
Poorva Express passes Parasnath Hill
Parasnath Hills travel guide from Wikivoyage