Shri Avanti Parshwanath Jain Shwetambar Tirth

Getting there

• By air

  Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore, is about 55 to 60 km away. Taxis and buses run from Indore to Ujjain.

• By train

  Ujjain railway station is about 1.5 km from the temple. Autos and e-rickshaws go to Dani Gate.

• By road

  Ujjain is about 56 km from Indore by road. The temple is in the old city near Dani Gate, close to the Kshipra river.

Rules to know

• Dress modestly; the trust has no strict code, but traditional clothes are suggested.
• The dharamshala is meant for Jain pilgrims, so call the trust office before you travel.
• The trust's website takes no bookings or advance payments for rooms.
• Bhojanshala meals follow Jain practice, and the last meal is served before sunset.

Why devotees come here

Shri Avanti Parshwanath Tirth is a Shwetambar Jain temple at Dani Gate in old Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Jain tradition dates it to about 2,300 years ago, and its black Parshwanath idol is linked to the Kalyan Mandir Stotra. Darshan runs in the morning and the evening, with a break in between.

Jain tradition tells of Avanti Sukumal, the son of a wealthy family of Ujjain. On hearing of the heavenly abode called Nalinigulma, he left his riches and took diksha as a monk. That same night he gave up his body in meditation at a cremation ground. His son Mahakal later built a Jinalaya on that spot in his memory, in the second century after Mahavira's nirvana.

Centuries later, Acharya Siddhasen Diwakar composed the Kalyan Mandir Stotra and recited it here before King Vikramaditya. The trust says the dark idol of Parshwanath appeared again during the recitation. The idol is about 120 cm high, seated in padmasana under a seven-hooded serpent canopy.

During invasions of Malwa, the Ujjain sangh hid the idol underground. It was reinstalled in V.S. 1761, about 1704 CE. From 1995 the temple was rebuilt in white marble without moving the main idol, and the new temple was consecrated on 18 February 2019.

Festivals

• December or JanuaryPaush Dashami

  Birth of Parshwanath, on the tenth day of the dark half of Pausha.

• August or SeptemberParyushan

  Eight days of fasting and prayer for Shwetambar Jains, ending in Samvatsari.

Tips for your visit

• Visit early in the morning on a weekday for the calmest darshan.
• The bhojanshala serves Navkarsi from 8 to 10 AM, lunch from 11 AM to 1:30 PM, and an evening meal from 4:30 PM until sunset.
• A Dadawadi, a shrine to the Jain Dada Gurus, stands opposite the temple.

Questions people ask