"Those who help to cross the ford", the ford which guides men towards Awakening (moksha). The Tirthankara are the 24 prophets of the Jain religion. Each Tirthankara statue has dictinctive features to recognize it. Each temple is dedicated to a particular Tirthankara. The first mythical of them, and the most important, was Adinâth. The 23 th was Pârshvanâth and the last, the 24 th, a contemporary of Buddha, was Mahâvîra, (which means "Great Hero") who founded the Jain religion

Means "ford-finder." Mahavira is considered the twehty-fourth and last "ford-finder" of this aeon. He, like the previous ones, found the way to gain release from the wheel and has shown this way to others.

Jain teacher. There were 24 of them from which the first was Adinatha. Photo: see travelogue - day 06, Jain temple in Lodhruva.

a greater phenomenon than an incarnation, because if the divine enters a human form it is good, but if a man makes a place for others to enter the divine, it is a far higher event