Jain tirths

The journey in one line

6 stops in India so far. The first rung is 3 of them, and the list keeps growing.

A tirth is a crossing place. In Jain use it is ground where a Tirthankara reached liberation, or taught, or where the tradition has built in their memory. Most of the great ones are hills. Shatrunjaya above Palitana carries about nine hundred temples. Parasnath hill at Shikharji is where twenty of the twenty four Tirthankaras are held to have reached liberation. Girnar belongs to Neminatha. Shravanabelagola has the seventeen metre Bahubali. Pawapuri is where Mahavira died, and Dilwara at Mount Abu is the finest marble work the tradition produced.

Jain pilgrimage is physical in a particular way. Shatrunjaya is about 3,500 steps and Shikharji is a twenty seven kilometre walk, usually begun before dawn. The hills are also emptied at night. Nobody stays on Shatrunjaya after dusk, which is a rule about who the place belongs to. Digambara and Shvetambara traditions both claim most of these, and at Shikharji and Girnar that has led to long disputes over management.

The season is October to March almost everywhere on this list. Shatrunjaya closes during the monsoon. Shikharji is reached from Madhuban at the foot of Parasnath hill and needs a full day. Palitana needs an early start to beat the heat on the steps. Shravanabelagola's Mahamastakabhisheka happens once every twelve years and draws enormous crowds.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A visit means reaching the temple precinct, including the summit where the tirth is a hill. Fasting, vows and any observance are separate and are not recorded. The journey is complete when all six are visited.

1. 1

   Shatrunjaya

   શત્રુંજય

   Palitana, India

   

   Shatrunjaya hill above Palitana carries about nine hundred marble temples built over nine hundred years. Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, is said to have preached from the summit. Nobody stays on the hill overnight, so the temples are left to the deity after dusk.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple city on the summit, reached by about 3,500 steps from Palitana.

   Access

   The climb is roughly 3,500 steps and takes two to three hours. Leather is not carried up. The hill closes during the monsoon. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

2. 2

   Shikharji

   श्री सम्मेद शिखरजी

   Giridih district, India

   

   Twenty of the twenty four Tirthankaras are held to have reached liberation on Parasnath hill, which makes Shikharji the most important Jain pilgrimage place. Shrines called tuks stand along the ridge for each of them. The full circuit is about twenty seven kilometres of walking, usually done in one day starting before dawn.

   What counts as a visit

   The ridge path and the tuks on Parasnath hill.

   Access

   A long uphill walk from Madhuban with a 1,350 metre summit. Leather is not carried onto the hill. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

3. 3

   Girnar

   ગિરનાર

   Junagadh, India

   

   Girnar is where Neminatha, the twenty second Tirthankara, is said to have reached liberation. A group of Jain temples stands on the first summit, the oldest from the twelfth century. Hindu shrines occupy the higher peaks, so the hill is shared.

   What counts as a visit

   The Jain temple group on the first summit of Girnar.

   Access

   About 4,000 steps to the Jain group, with a ropeway serving the Ambaji peak above. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

4. 4

   Dilwara Temples

   દેલવાડા

   Mount Abu, India

   

   Five marble temples stand at Delwara above Mount Abu, built between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The Vimal Vasahi and Luna Vasahi carry ceilings cut so thin the marble is translucent. The plain outside walls give no hint of the work inside.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple interiors during visiting hours for non-worshippers.

   Access

   Photography is not allowed inside. Leather items are left at the entrance. Visitor hours are shorter than worship hours. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

5. 5

   Shravanabelagola

   ಶ್ರವಣಬೆಳಗೊಳ

   Hassan district, India

   

   A seventeen metre figure of Bahubali stands on Vindhyagiri hill at Shravanabelagola, carved from one block of granite around 981. Every twelfth year the Mahamastakabhisheka anoints it from scaffolding. The town below has been a Digambara centre since the third century BCE.

   What counts as a visit

   The Vindhyagiri summit with the Bahubali statue, and the Chandragiri temples opposite.

   Access

   About 650 rock cut steps to the summit, climbed barefoot. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

6. 6

   Pawapuri

   पावापुरी

   Nalanda district, India

   

   Mahavira, the twenty fourth Tirthankara, died at Pawapuri in about 527 BCE and was cremated here. The Jal Mandir stands in the middle of a lotus tank on the cremation site, reached by a stone causeway. Diwali is kept here as the anniversary of his liberation.

   What counts as a visit

   The Jal Mandir, its causeway and the surrounding tank.

   Access

   Leather is left outside. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

Respect and access

Leather is not carried onto any of these hills. Belts, wallets and camera straps count. Photography inside the Dilwara temples is not allowed at all, and several others restrict it. Jain monks and nuns walk barefoot and own almost nothing. Do not photograph them, do not offer them lifts, and do not assume they will speak to you. Food is not carried onto Shatrunjaya.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• gujarattourism.comhttps://www.gujarattourism.com/saurashtra/bhavnagar/palitana-and-shatrunjaya-hill.html · checked September 17, 2026
• giridih.nic.inhttps://giridih.nic.in/tourist-place/parasnath/ · checked September 17, 2026
• gujarattourism.comhttps://www.gujarattourism.com/saurashtra/junagadh/girnar-hill.html · checked September 17, 2026
• incredibleindia.gov.inhttps://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/rajasthan/mount-abu/dilwara-jain-temples · checked September 17, 2026
• karnatakatourism.orghttps://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/shravanabelagola/ · checked September 17, 2026
• tourism.bihar.gov.inhttps://tourism.bihar.gov.in/en/destinations/nalanda/jal-mandir-pawapuri · checked September 17, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.