Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Modern · Jain · India

Ahichchhatra Jain Temples

Ahichchhatra, Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh · 28.3731°, 79.1183°

ParshvanathaModern
Sacred since
96 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Digambara temple rebuilt 1975; new shrines 2002–2007
Modern

History & significance

A Jain tirtha on the ancient mound of Ahichchhatra in Bareilly district, held to be the place where Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, attained kevala jnana. Both Digambara and Svetambara establishments stand here; the Digambara temple was rebuilt in 1975 and further shrines added in 2002 and 2007, on a site whose antiquities run back to the Indo-Scythian, Kushan and Gupta periods.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

While Parshvanatha meditated, a demon is said to have flooded him to the neck, whereupon the serpent king Dharanendra spread a thousand-hooded canopy above him and the goddess Padmavati coiled about his body to hold him clear of the water.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Modern