Pawapuri in Bihar is a holy site for Jains, located 38 kilometers from Rajgir and 90 kilometers from Patna, India. Bihar (बिहार in Devanagari) is a state of the Indian union situated in the eastern part of the country. ... The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolizes the Jain Vow of Ahinsa, meaning non-injury and nonviolence. ... Rajgir is an ancient town, and has reference in Mahabharata, Buddhist and Jain texts. ... Patna (पटना) is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. ...

Around 500 BC, Lord Mahavira, the last thirthankar and founder of Jainism, breathed his last here. 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. Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Mahavira (वर्धमान महावीर) or Mahavir (the Great Hero -- Also, Vardhamana (increasing) or Niggantha Nathaputta -- 599 BC-527 BC, though possibly 549 BC-477 BC) was the 24th, and last, Jainist Tirthankara. ... Pre-Kushana Ayagapatta from Mathura Jainism (pronounced in English as //), traditionally known as Jain Dharma (जैन धर्म) , is a religion and philosophy originating in the prehistory of South Asia. ...

Now, a marble temple, the Jalmandir, stands magnificently on a rectangular island in the middle of that pond. Another Jain temple, called Samosharan is located here, where the Lord Mahavira delivered his last teaching.