Mahaveer Jayanti is one of the most important religious festival of Jain and other Santana Dharmic community, the birth of Lord Mahaveer the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara of Avasarpiṇī. The festival is considered to be the most important one for Jains and marks the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the last Tirthankara which means savior and spiritual teacher, in Jainism. He was believed to be the 24th and the last tirthankara to the righteous path. As per the Hindu calendar, Mahavir Jayanti is celebrated on the 13th day of the month Chaitra..
Although the Jain community believe in simplicity and avoid grandiosity, there are some significant ceremonies that they uphold. One of the most significant traditions of this day is the visit to various Tirthankar and temples. There will be processions and Rath Yathras. devotees chant a variety of religious rhymes or Bhajans in praise of Lord Mahavir and his contributions. Monks and Priests share the teachings of Lord Mahavira and His life history. Many also observe a fast on this day. Since the day is considered to be special, people who belong to the community indulge in a number of charitable works in an attempt to give back to the society.

Lord Mahaveer was born in the palace of Vaishali to King Siddhartha and Queen Trisala. He took over the kingdom when he came of age and ruled it for over 30 years after which he decided to give up all the redundancies of life to seek enlightenment. He was a proponent of non-violence, and preached love and respect of all kinds of living beings, from the tiniest micro-organisms to the largest multi-celled creatures. He also advocated for a satvik diet that has a strict abstinence from onions and garlic. Their central idea of eating is to consume fresh meals made from natural means with minimum harm to living creatures. These values then translated into a religion that he found – Jainism.

He was born on 13th day in the Chaitra month in the Shukla Paksha during the 540 BCE. at Kundalagrama, Vaishali district, Bihar, India. That’s why Mahavir Jayanti is celebrated every year on 13th of April with great enthusiasm and joy. Mahavir, a 24th and last Tirthankara of the Jainism, was born in 540 BCE in a royal family in Bihar, India. It is considered that, during the time of his birth the whole nation was happy and became full of prosperity that’s why he is also known as the Vardhman means Vridhi.

He was born to the King, Siddhartha and Queen, Trishala. During the time of his birth his mother got a number of auspicious dreams about him that he would become an emperor or Tirthankara. After his birth he received the ritual bath with celestial milk by the God Indra denoting him a Tirthankara. There are many variations as well about his marriage, some says he was celibate whereas some says he married to Yashoda and had a daughter named Priyadarshana.

He went for a deep meditation after leaving his home at his 30 and faced lots of difficulties and distress. After many years he was enlightened with the perception, power, knowledge and bliss. After getting enlightenment, he travelled to people to teach them the philosophy of real life to elevate their quality of life and pleasure. The five ethical principles of him are Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Bramhacharya and Aparigraha. His died physically at the age of 72 and his purified soul was completely liberated forever leaving his body and attained Nirvana (Moksha). After Samadhi, his body was cremated at the Pawapuri which is now having a big and famous Jain temple, Jalmandir.